Chapter Eight

Calix

Upon waking up, I immediately started making plans. I knew if things went as I expected, Asteria was going to have an emotional day. So I went straight to Delia and Ilta, who were having breakfast together out on one of the patios overlooking the gardens. The bright and colorful backdrop was always one of their favorites on the grounds.

I sank down into one of the white wicker chairs beside them, grabbing one of the rolls from their breadbasket and getting my hand slapped for my trouble. I stuffed it in my mouth, raising a brow at Delia, but her scowl didn’t lessen.

One of the many reasons I loved my friends. They didn’t care about my station and treated me the same as everyone else. Slapping me for my poor table manners included.

“I need your help,” I confessed, looking to them both, and while Delia watched with knowing eyes, Ilta bounced out of her relaxed slump, her wide eyes gleaming with excitement.

“What’s going on, Calix?” Ilta demanded, leaning toward me like she might shake me for answers.

I huffed a laugh. “Today is going to be emotional for Asteria. I was thinking that it might be a good idea to go out tonight. Let her blow off some steam, you know?”

Ilta clapped her hands together, “Oh, yes! That sounds like a perfect idea. I’ll plan it out!”

“Why, exactly, is today going to be emotional for Asteria?” Delia raised a brow at me, leaning forward and grabbing my hand suddenly. “Please tell me you aren’t going to force a confrontation, Calix?”

I shook my head, “It’s not like that. I spoke with her last night.” Delia cocked her head, her eyebrows furrowing, and I continued before she could ask any follow-up questions. “She agreed to meet today so I could explain some things to her. It’s important we figure out her magic. And if she is who I think she is.”

“What does that mean?” Ilta asked, mystified, and I looked between the two.

Before I could answer, I heard another voice interrupt, “Calix knows who Asteria really is. Only he isn’t telling.”

I glared at Eryx as he plopped down next to Delia, giving her a soft smile that she was too shocked to return.

“What do you mean?” she asked, flustered by Eryx’s sudden appearance.

I sighed, tilting my head back, as Eryx continued, “I mean, he knows who her parents are.”

I felt something hit my chest and tilted my head back up to find Delia had thrown a piece of bread at me. I raised a brow incredulously as she glared back at me.

“How could you keep that information a secret?” she ground out, and I blinked, surprised to see Delia angry. She was usually more even-tempered, but apparently, she let her claws loose when it came to defending her friends.

Surprisingly, Ilta smiled at me until Delia kicked her foot, and Ilta kicked back, starting a foot war between the two that had me rolling my eyes. Eryx snickered, getting the two of them to turn their attention to him. I smirked as he raised his hands in surrender at their dual glares.

“What are you smiling about?” Delia finally demanded of Ilta.

She sighed, rolling her eyes, “Think about it, Dee. He hasn’t told any of us, and he’s arranged to talk to Asteria about it. I’ve worked as Calix’s secretary for years, I know how he thinks. And he very obviously thinks Asteria deserves to find out that information first.” She turned to smile at me. “Which is absolutely correct, by the way.”

Delia deflated a bit, her cheeks turning a rosy hue as she blushed. Eryx watched her, his eyes going a bit out of focus as she colored. I’d been fairly distracted by Asteria during the Festival of Faunus, but I distinctly remembered the two of them together that night. It had been years since the last time they’d gotten together, but I knew Eryx still watched her whenever he thought he could get away with it.

“She’s right, you know.” Baach dropped in from out of nowhere, landing in the chair at Ilta’s other side. She gave him a charming smile that he returned. Eryx watched them enviously, looking back at Delia with moon eyes.

If at least one pairing could get their heads out of their asses, I’d consider it a miracle.

“I thought you were right behind me?” Eryx raised a brow at Baach, who nodded.

“I was. I just figured I’d see if what you were talking about was interesting enough to stick around.” He winked, and Eryx rolled his eyes.

“But as I was saying, that’s definitely information Asteria should hear first. Especially from her mate,” Baach continued, and I nodded in agreement.

Ilta sighed happily, “It’s so amazing that you two are mates. I was rooting for you both, you know.”

“You were?” I couldn’t help asking. Harpina and Titan had made their own feelings clear. Both thought that I had to honor my mate and stay clear of any distractions. Eryx just didn’t want me to hurt Asteria. I hadn’t realized any of them had actually been in favor of Asteria and me.

“Of course!” She giggled, her eyes cutting to Baach, before looking back at me. “I could see the chemistry between you right away. I knew you’d be good together. It was just a matter of you realizing. Dummy.” She pushed my shoulder playfully, and I rolled my eyes.

“I always knew that,” I admitted quietly, and the others seemed to fall silent in turn.

“Good.” Ilta finally nodded decisively. “Now, how are you going to show her that?”

The others leaned in as I tilted my head in thought. Trying to think of ways to show Asteria, to prove to her as I claimed I would, that she was it for me, and that I was a worthy mate for her in turn.

A slow smile came to my face. I knew how to start, if nothing else. What she really needed now, was to come to terms with the changes in her life.

And I could certainly help with that.

* * *

Watching Asteria shift from foot to foot, clearly anxious to be face to face after our shared dream, felt like someone stabbing me with my own sword. The magic blade digging deep before being twisted. I sighed, shaking my head almost imperceptibly, reminding myself I needed to go at her pace. Unleashing all of my wants on her wasn’t fair.

I knew this. I did .

But it didn’t stop my body from rebelling against me. I could feel my heart rate pick up at the sweet scent of raspberries and vanilla that always drove me to distraction, now underlined more heavily with the scent of starlight. It didn’t stop my hands from twitching, wanting to reach out and pull her against me.

It certainly didn’t stop my cock from twitching at just the sight of her.

I took a step closer to her, and she stilled momentarily before shaking her head and squaring her shoulders. Her head snapped up to look at me straight on. I had to smother the smile that automatically came to my face at her defiance.

Her rage was like a siren song, no matter how it manifested. And it so matched the rage I felt. That I’d long since seized control of. That I now used to fuel my darkness and my fire.

Her rage called to mine and reminded me of all the things that enraged me.

My parent’s deaths. Being left to control an entire kingdom before I was ready. Having to raise my sisters alone. The pressure of the prophecy given at my birth. The people who tried to get close to me for all the wrong reasons. The precarious balance tipping toward chaos, threatening our realm and our magic. The corrupt leaders dragging the realm toward it. Humans being enslaved and tortured.

Which, thinking about it in retrospect, I now realized a few things about why I became so obsessed with freeing humans.

But as I looked at my soulmate, my rising rage over the things I couldn’t control was instantly soothed. I had learned to funnel my rage into control and action long ago. But it seemed I had another method now. One I hoped would work similarly for her.

I looked into Asteria’s eyes, blue skies stretching out far and wide as she looked at me, the stars shining in a swirling tempest. The magic in her gaze so like mine in reverse it was uncanny.

“I need to see your magic again, along with your shift animal. What I saw from you was confusing,” I admitted. “It’s only a matter of time before things come to a head, so it’s best if we figure this out now and help you gain control of it.”

I watched as her eyes narrowed, a heartbreaking uncertainty swimming in their depths.

“Confusing?” She echoed, her tone indicating how unimpressed she was at the lack of any true information. I managed to catch my lips before they turned into a smirk, but barely.

“Yes, confusing.” I let myself smirk truly then, just to see her reaction.

Any reaction was better than nothing. I’d rather have any bit I could than the cold nothingness she’d been attempting to give me. “Which is why I need to see your power.”

Watching her bite her lip as she stared at me, wide, innocent eyes drilling into mine as I struggled to stop myself from launching at her and taking that lip for myself.

The mate bond called to me. It desired nothing more than for me to solidify the bond between us. The mark on my back seemed to burn with it. But I forced the feeling down, knowing this had to be handled carefully.

“I’m fairly sure I know who your parents are.” My words landed harder than I meant them to, if her flinch was anything to go by.

“You—you do?” The shake in her words had me softening immediately. I could see the nervous anticipation clashing with her rage and fear.

I nodded slowly, “I believe so. But I would like to prove it true before giving you information that may be incorrect. It’s a theory. A solid one, maybe, but still a theory.”

I walked closer until she had to tilt her neck back to look up at me, even from her elevated spot on the Dragon Cliff’s incline. Taking her hands, and thanking the gods she allowed me this outside our shared dream space, I squeezed them and brought them up to cradle against my heart. “Call to your magic.”

She looked at me, jaw working back and forth. Her eyes skittered back to where her hands were held against my chest.

“I don’t know how,” she murmured, shoulders slumping. The frustration in her tone was telling, but I knew she was capable of much more than she was giving herself credit for.

“Look inside yourself. The magic is a part of you, my réalta. You just need to bring it to the fore, and then push it outward. Your intention, your will , that is what we use to control our magic.” I let shadows coalesce around where our fingers were entwined, and made them snake up her arms. Her breathy gasp turned my mind in another direction. Remembering how she gasped so prettily while my cock split her open.

I shook my head— it was definitely not the time for that. No matter how she shivered at the touch of my magic.

I let my shadows gently slither around her arms and up her shoulders, brushing her skin in a light tease as I brought them back down to her wrist before letting them dissipate. She looked at me in absolute wonder, and I wanted to capture that look in my mind forever. Silver stars flecked over the blue skies in her eyes, seeming to go on forever.

Infinite .

“Your turn.” I nodded somewhat gruffly before I got lost in her eyes and forgot what we were supposed to be doing here.

Asteria cleared her throat, her breathing still heavy, like maybe she had been just as affected as I was. She let go of my hands, and I stepped back, giving her space to try summoning her magic.

She raised her hands and closed her eyes, calling to the magic that had always lived inside of her.