Chapter Nine
Rogue
I saw nothing at the bar, outside of Ember and Lorcan. Well, I saw Calyx, too, but I didn’t see any additional visions when we touched. I only saw the memory of Ember’s meeting with her new mate.
Calyx’s skin is cold against mine as he links our fingers.
Sure enough, I’m pulled into a kaleidoscope of images never lasting longer than a second.
There are flashes of me with my family when I was a multitude of different ages.
Images of my father and mother in Faere come next.
These play out for longer periods of time, and an awareness of what I’m seeing seems to flood my consciousness as I watch history transpire.
Sometimes I get flickers of knowing what’s occurring during a vision, but never anything like the all-encompassing understanding I gain of my mother’s and father’s history in Faere.
It’s all things I’ve heard before, but relearning them in the vision or memory leads me to believe Calyx was also given all the complexities of my family’s history.
Well, I guess that explains why he calls me princess.
The past morphs into what I can only assume is the future as an intimate scene plays out.
Cohen lies on top of me in a bed with fluffy pillows and a plush comforter wrapped around his hips. I can’t see any of his parts with the material of the blanket covering his ass, but I’m outside of myself, watching as he moves.
It’s very clear what’s happening, and I’m not sure how I feel about it. He and I just met, but we are visibly having sex in the vision Calyx shares with me.
My mouth falls, and my breasts jiggle with each snap of Cohen’s hips. He groans, and the version of me in the vision sobs.
It’s always disorienting to view a vision through someone else’s eyes or as an outside party, but seeing the way my fingers dig into Cohen’s shoulders as he dips his mouth to mine is so intimate, it sends a shiver down my spine.
The image changes again, and this time I stare up at Calyx as he steps into a portal, dragging me with him. It’s just the two of us, and my whole body stiffens as his features melt and change until I’m looking at a completely different version of the lich.
This is his monster —the thought rings in my mind.
It’s easy to tell it’s Calyx, but a bluish tint graces his skin—in the places he still has it—it’s alarming.
All of his tattoos stay in the same places and his hair remains as it was, but his face becomes a skeleton with only several muscles or tendons keeping it together.
Seeing his eyeballs float in the black abyss of his eye sockets is a different kind of frightening.
I struggle, trying to back away from him, but his hand tightens on my lower back.
He chuckles darkly. “Now you know what a lich looks like.”
Back in the real world, Calyx breaks contact.
My jaw falls as my hand lands in my lap with a thunk . “Holy shit.”
“Does my true appearance frighten you?” Calyx asks, sounding amused.
“I’ve seen worse,” I say, forcing steel into my tone. “What I need is information about what was stolen from you.”
“My phylactery,” Calyx says, stretching back against chair he’s perched on.
“That would be the vessel that holds my heart.” He rolls his bright gray eyes.
“I suppose some would call it my soul, but I view it as the basis of my magic. I’m unable to portal my phylactery.
Who knows why? It would make life so much easier if moving and storing it through a portal was possible, but it’s just not. ”
“Someone stole your magic?” I ask, blinking repeatedly. “What kind of magic does a lich possess?”
“Someone stole a sliver of my magic,” Calyx corrects. “At one point, I was very much like you.” His shoulder rises as he shrugs. “I started as a high fae with oracle abilities.”
“You were a soothsayer?” Rogue’s eyes widen, and she carefully studies my features.
“A few thousand years ago, long before even your mother’s mother’s reign.” His messy black hair falls around his face as he nods. “Yes, but Unseelie. I abandoned my connection to Faere once in the human realm.”
“Your ears are round.” I tilt my head and lean to the side, trying to make sure I didn’t miss a set of pointy ears.
“They are,” he agrees. “This is far from the first vessel I’ve built for myself. If you’d like me to retain the pointed ears, I can make a mental note of that for next time I resurrect.”
“I don’t know what any of that means.” My heart thunders as my magic yearns to burst from my skin to brush over the tips of his ears.
It’s never been as insistent about wanting to be close to another person as it has been since meeting Cohen and Calyx.
It’s unsettling.
Normally I count on it to be on the same page as me.
When Cohen sighs from next to me, I turn his way. “Think of a vampire. They have the ability to heal their body from nearly any injury, no matter how grave. A lich is similar, but if their physical form becomes damaged past the point of no return, their magic will simply rebuild a new vessel.”
“A brand-new body?” I ask, trying to recall if I’ve ever heard of a creature who could do that.
“Exactly,” Calyx says. “As long as my phylactery remains safe, I will re-form close to it, which is why it’s imperative that I locate it.
If something or someone wished to eradicate me completely, they would first need to destroy the jar containing my soul and then damage this physical form beyond repair. ”
“So someone stole your special soul jar to control a tiny piece of your magic?” I ask to ensure I’m following along. “And if they destroy your jar, it’s the first step to killing you?”
Calyx booms a laugh. “Are you plotting ways to get rid of me already, darling?”
“Christ,” Cohen mutters.
“As long as one or the other remains unharmed, I would be fine. It’s a pain in the ass to go through the steps necessary to create a new phylactery, but if the jar itself was damaged, my essence would return to me.
In order for someone to wipe me out, this body would need to be destroyed completely before I had the chance to absorb my remaining magic.
It would have to be a very quick process.
” Calyx shrugs. “And yes, that’s my best guess.
Someone wanted to control my magic, and they concocted a plan to make that happen.
Very few people would even know what they were looking at if they stumbled across it, but that’s not what happened.
Whoever took it knew what they were after.
It was stolen from the boat we used to get to America. ”
Cohen takes over explaining how Anders’s sister’s mate was murdered. It prompted Anders to come support his sister and nephew as they grieved, which also brings up Aimes—the awful alpha Ember fought and won against earlier tonight.
My skull throbs as I try to comprehend how much has changed in the last twenty-four hours.
“Lorcan, Calyx, and I made the decision to come with Anders,” Cohen says, turning toward me. “Are you okay? You look exhausted. Would you like me to find you something to eat or drink?”
A grateful smile crosses my face. He’s very sweet, and we haven’t even had the chance to address the quick kiss that took place earlier. Every time his magic touches me, it feels familiar on a soul-deep level.
Could that be what prompted him to kiss me in the second abandoned house?
It’s possible.
My magic is as enamored with him as his seems to be with me.
“I’m okay,” I assure him. “What I really need is to get to the bottom of this.”
And to fall into a coma and sleep for about twelve hours once I do, but I keep that part to myself.
“It’s very simple, really.” Calyx raises a black brow.
“Lorcan and I are aware of the council’s interest—although we have differing opinions on what prompted said interest.” He looks at Cohen.
“While you’ve been watching over Anders, he and I have been searching for clues on where my phylactery is being kept.
I did wonder why he was so obsessed with playing games with the pretty agent tasked with bringing me in.
Knowing she’s his mate adds an additional layer of clarity to things.
” He chuckles almost fondly. “But that’s neither here nor there.
I believe whoever is behind the Market Heist Crew is also behind the theft of my phylactery.
It also explains why the council is after me when I’ve done nothing. ”
Cohen nods, shoving up his glasses. “Your magic residue would be all over the crimes, especially if they’re using your power to reanimate vessels to do their bidding.”
“Reanimate?” I whisper.
“Lich are powerful necromancers,” Cohen says, nodding at Calyx. “There are something like five or six left in the world.”
Wow.
I had no idea.
“How about a small presentation?” Calyx’s eyes glow.
“A presentation isn’t necessary,” I say, shoving myself off the couch.
I’m not sure where I plan to go, since I’m not capable of portaling myself out of here, but I have no interest in coming face-to-face with a zombie.
Cohen hits his feet next to me, but I whirl around as the front door opens deeper in the house.
It’s almost comically loud with how quiet this place is.
The clicking of nails on the wooden flooring of the hallway makes goose bumps rise on my skin.
There are a lot of things I conjure in my mind as possibilities for what could be coming down that hallway.
Not one of them is a brilliant white tiger.
My jaw falls, and I stumble back a step as its eyes meet mine. It looks like a living, breathing creature, but something in its milky white stare makes it easy to believe Calyx’s magic is flowing through its veins.
“That’s Ash.” Cohen’s hands land on my hips, and he gets close to my ear from behind. “She’s not a threat to you.”
“She could do some real damage if she wanted to, but Cohen is correct.” When Calyx leans back in his chair, the massive animal bounds into his lap like a house cat.
“Contrary to popular belief, white tigers are not albino, and they are not their own species. They come from a double recessive trait, and for many centuries, they were inbred to continue what was seen as a desirable appearance for personal collections.” The lich chuckles as the giant cat bumps her head against his.
He finally gives in and offers scratches as her tongue flicks out, lapping at his cheek.
“Ash was kept in extremely unfortunate conditions until I slaughtered her previous owners, rescuing her in the process. She was little more than a cub. She spent her entire life at my side until she was murdered trying to protect me.”
“You keep a zombie cat as a pet?” I choke out.
“Absolutely not,” Calyx says, sounding indignant.
“She’s a revenant. Fully capable of having her own thoughts and feelings.
My magic simply reanimated her, and through it she continues to live—albeit in short bursts.
Keeping her with me at all times would drain my magic much too quickly, but this is a happy medium for all of us. ”
Okay, so, that might be the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard. Especially with the fond way the tiger laps at Calyx’s cheek. She obviously trusts him completely because he wasn’t lying when he said she had her own thoughts and feelings. My magic would have sensed it if he was being deceptive.
“Down, you furry beast.” Calyx chuckles, patting Ash’s head.
The tiger’s claws click as they meet the wooden flooring once more.
The lich hits his feet next to the regal animal while I’m still frozen in shock.
“I need to introduce you to someone. Although, I’m sure you’ve already sensed the connection, as you did with Cohen. ”
Cohen’s hand tightens on my lower back.
“Ash, meet Rogue,” Calyx says, grinning a little too widely. “Mate, meet Ash. As I mentioned, she’s fueled by my magic. You have no reason to be afraid.”
Did he just say mate?
And why does my magic fly from my skin, aching to greet the revenant?