Page 68 of The Last One Standing (Rogue X Ara #4)

ROGUE

C alypso’s beads jingled as she crossed her arms, the midday sun catching the sea glass in her jewelry.

She appeared a few hours after Ara and I had fallen asleep, bitter but oddly cooperative. She kept a careful distance from Ara, which I appreciated but found almost too cautious.

Iaso had led her and Thana to the mouth of the cave where we met them, all wrapped in heavy furs. Thana won quite a bit of my favor when she pulled a thick coat from her satchel and handed it to Ara. Though the sky was clear and the air still, winter lingered, sharp and frigid.

“What does that mean?” Ara asked.

“It means,” Calypso said, “that you two are quite literally inseparable.”

“Safe, here, and alive,” were the last words she uttered to herself before blowing her blood onto the mark, and blood magic worked in a very literal sense. Those exact words had tied the oath between us, and Calypso read them clear as day.

I bit back my grin. She’d used my own words to tie herself to me, and now, she couldn’t leave me.

Calypso lifted her hand and began counting on her fingers.

“Safe: you’re safe from each other and potentially anyone else.

Your magics can no longer harm the other.

Here: as in side by side…which…good luck with that.

” She snickered and lifted her third and final finger.

“Alive: as long as you’re together, you live.

Your magics, combined with the blood oath, will make sure of that. ”

I stilled. “Are you saying we’re invincible?”

“I can’t be certain.” Calypso shrugged. “Fates change every minute of every day, but I’d say you’re pretty damn close— if you’re together. That’s important.”

Have you ever heard of such a thing? I asked the wyverns, and they answered with a resounding, No.

Fate, the Goddess, or some other supernatural entity must have aided the oath for that aspect, but whoever it was had my undying gratitude.

Calypso read the inscription on the oath, but it was Thana who saw the new connection between us. She held it in her hands, the glowing string that plunged into both of our chests.

“It’s thicker than most,” she muttered, then tugged at it. A growl crawled up my throat, and she dropped it with a flinch. The gold faded from existence at the loss of her touch. “Stronger, too. If normal oaths are string, this is rope.”

Calypso nodded, glancing at her sister. “Strange.”

“Exceptional,” Iaso bit out.

Ara stared at the sisters, her attention flitting between the two of them. “Are you two aware of how much you look like your mother?”

Both of their faces swiveled to Ara, who flinched back an inch.

“We’re aware.” Calypso’s cold gaze swirled like icy water, and a chill slithered down Ara’s spine and into mine. “The question is, why—or rather, how are you?”

I slid in front of her, cutting off Calypso’s view, crossing my arms over my chest. I’d already met her ice with my fire once, and I’d do it again in a heartbeat. Calypso couldn’t die, but she could hurt.

Ara gently placed a hand on my bicep and stepped from behind me to narrow her eyes at Calypso. “I met her,” she said plainly, as if it hadn’t been the most agonizing twelve hours I’d ever experienced.

I ground my teeth. She’d met her when she traveled to the land of the dead through one of the Goddess’s “trapdoors,” as she called it, temporarily ripping my heart out in the process. Intentionally or not, the journey through the veil severed our mate bond.

She had died , and I’d felt the moment she took our bond with her—a horrific experience I wouldn’t have to suffer again, not with her accidental, yet stunningly perfect blood oath.

Who needed chains when she could simply bind herself to me with something much stronger?

“You…met her,” Iaso said.

“That’s where she was—where I went,” Ara said. “The realm of the dead.”

Iaso’s eyes widened to saucers, her mouth agape, Calypso’s expression a mirror image.

“You expect us to believe you truly had no idea about the pools?” Ara asked, crossing her arms over her chest in a way that highlighted her cleavage.

Fuck me , I internally groaned. As if hearing my thoughts, she glanced up with a grin, and suddenly, I had no thoughts at all.

Should we just return to the cave?

I paused, waiting for her answer on the off chance she really could read my mind, but unfortunately, none came. Pity.

Calypso lifted a brow. “The pools?”

“Yes, the pools.” Ara pointed at the cave. “Like the Silver Hollow, this one, Goddess knows however many more there are. They’re tears in the veil. Passageways to the other side.”

“No,” Iaso breathed, shaking her head. “No, we didn’t know—well, I didn’t.”

“Neither did I,” Calypso said, then scoffed and threw her hands out to the side at Iaso’s glare. “Honestly, Iaso. A portal to the dead would be a great bargaining chip for even the most altruistic. Don’t you think if I had known, I would’ve used that bit of knowledge?”

“How do we know you haven’t?” I asked.

Her lips curved in a subtle smile. “I suppose you don’t, though secret keeping is not man’s strong suit. If I had told one or two, they’d all know by now, and we’d undoubtedly see some greedy bastard selling tickets out front to speak with dead loved ones.”

“Not too far from what you would’ve done,” Iaso said. “Profit is profit, be it money, leverage, or knowledge.”

Calypso’s smirk slid from her face. “Right. Well, I didn’t know.”

Ara slid her hand through the crook of my elbow, her fingers curling around my bicep. “She pulled Adonis’s magic from my head— your son’s magic.” If Calypso was cold before, this was a mask of solid ice, hard and emotionless. “We intend to kill him.”

“As do I,” Calypso said.

Ara’s fingers tightened, and I rested my hand over hers.

“Have you learned anything new regarding the weapon?” I asked, sending a wave of warmth into Ara’s frozen fingers. “I sent a wyvern to search the cavern, but?—”

“Oh,” Ara breathed. “Alden found a secret room in Draig Hearth’s library, and in there, he discovered a book that spoke of a weapon.” She met my gaze. “A weapon named Sacrifice.”

“It wasn’t just a word carved in the cave,” Calypso said. “It was a name.”

Ara nodded. “I don’t know what else is in the book yet. He didn’t have a chance to tell me, but I’ll find it. He told me where the room was…sort of.”

With a scowl at Calypso, I said, “Well, it has to contain more information than we know as of now.”

Calypso sneered. “Your wyvern didn’t find anything?”

“No. There wasn’t a trace of who took it, and they can usually detect a scent up to a year old, so it’s been at least a year, if not more.”

Calypso eyed me for a beat too long. “Why do you trust me?”

“I don’t,” I said, “but knowing that my wyvern didn’t find anything isn’t exactly a life-endangering secret.”

“We know he’s cleaving you from your magic.” Iaso stepped in, and Calypso turned her cold stare onto her sister. “Balance, Cal. There must be balance, and if not you, then him—not both. Two cannot hold your power.”

Her throat bobbed, but she kept her expression neutral. “And how do you know that?”

Delphia materialized behind her. “I told her.”

Calypso rolled her eyes with a sigh, not bothering to turn. “I figured as much.”

Delphia’s presence triggered my magic. Scales rippled down my skin, shielding my neck, shoulders, and torso, but this time, they didn’t stop with me. They climbed over Ara, and she gasped, her muscles tensing as scales rapidly consumed her arm, then her shoulders, throat, and abdomen.

She wore armor made of red-black dragon scales, impenetrable, fireproof, and entirely mine.

“What…was that?” Ara asked, breathing heavily as she slowly unwound her arm from mine like she were afraid the scales would slice her.

I slid my fingertips over the dragonscale along her shoulder to her throat, fire burning in my chest. She sucked in a breath, her wide eyes flashing to mine as she flattened her palm over her sternum, then jerked her hand back when it met more scales.

She stared down at them, twisting her wrists back and forth, examining her newfound armor.

It hugged her form like a second skin, reaching down the backs of her hands, dispersing before they reached her knuckles.

Ara sputtered a few words, mouth hanging open, before looking to Iaso with raised brows.

Thana and Delphia hovered a few feet away, their fingers interlaced and mouths sealed. Thana’s eyes were round, but she nudged Delphia with her elbow.

“You don’t have to be afraid,” Delphia whispered and cleared her throat. Speaking to Ara, she said, “You can check my head. There’s no trace of him.”

“I have my memories back.” Ara’s voice was low but without rage, more regret than anything.

It made me want to claw Delphia’s heart out and offer it to her.

Ara cleared her throat, taking a half step forward that I instinctively halted with a tug on her hand.

“I’ve seen Alden. He’s with Vaelor and Ara.

He’s…as happy as he can be, given the circumstances. ”

“You have?” Iaso asked at the same moment Thana said, “Oh, thank Goddess.”

“Thank you.” Delphia released a shaky breath, sagging into Thana. “Thank you for telling me. I took him home. I-I buried him next to her… I had hoped it would make finding her a little easier. I wasn’t sure. That is so good to hear.”

Ara’s breath caught, a tentative smile tugging at her lips, and I pinched the bridge of my nose, stifling a groan.

Delphia had her, just like Thana had.

Fuck, my girl had to learn to leash her forgiveness.

The tears in Ara’s eyes tugged at my heartstrings as she asked, “You took him home?”

“Of course.” Delphia’s brows furrowed. “Of course, I took him home. He was… He’s Alden, for Goddess’s sake. He had to be buried in Nautia, next to her.”

Ara nodded, blinking a few times when a stray tear escaped.

Fuck.

My gaze slid to Delphia, and she tensed under it. Good. At least she understood the threat remained. Ara might have forgiven her, but I hadn’t.

Still, I said a quiet, “Thank you.”

She gave a subtle nod. “You’re welcome.”

We began the journey to Draig Hearth not long after.

Ara still didn’t know that I hadn’t stepped foot through the front gates since the night in Canyon, but I didn’t belong there without her. It wasn’t my home; it was ours, and without her, it would’ve just been a castle with cold stone rooms, devoid of life.

I had refused to return alone, and now, I didn’t have to. Ara was by my side, and she always would be—a blessing of her own making.

Doran joined us, along with Elora and Edana. I borrowed five horses from the camp I’d yet to tell the others about, which set off another round of questioning.

Where did I get these horses from? The tack and gear? The food? Why were they here in the first place?

I was sure Iaso and Ewan had an inkling, but that didn’t stop their prying…at first. Eventually, the incessant prodding ceased when they realized they wouldn’t get an explanation, and from what I could tell, Ara and Doran hadn’t told a soul either.

I’d tell everyone soon enough.

Iaso, Delphia, and Thana returned to Ewan’s ship before we set off. As we rode to Draig Hearth, they sailed with the others, namely Godrick, whom Ara still needed to learn of. Elora needed to hear of his survival as well.

Nearly a full day later, we came upon the front gates of Draig Hearth, and Ewan’s blue sails were a blip on the horizon.

I pulled my horse to a stop. “I need to speak with Ara and Elora before we go in.”

Ara sat straighter, her head swiveling to me with concern, but Elora looked downright terrified, stiff, her horse huffing and prancing under her too-tight grip on the reins.

“Don’t worry,” I said as fear drained the color from her cheeks. After the last few months, I should’ve known to choose my words more carefully. “It’s not bad news.”

She sucked in a slow breath and loosened her hold on the reins with a wince, running her hand down her horse’s neck.

As Doran and Edana continued into the bailey, we rode down to the docks.

A faint breeze blew in off the sea, sand crunching under hoof as sunlight sparked on the waves lapping at the shore.

Ara held her face to the sky, her cheeks and nose tinted pink from the cold. I could almost make out her freckles.

“Well, spit it out before you send me to an early grave,” Elora said with a nervous chuckle. “Humans aren’t as resilient as Fae.”

It was the most words she’d spoken to me in months.

I blinked once, twice, and released a bark of laughter. “Yes, ma’am. Well, it’s?—”

“Multiple decades,” Ara cut in. “Vaelor said, do not return to him a day before multiple decades.”

Elora’s arms fell limp at her sides, her horse slowing to a stop. “W-what?”

“He said he loves you, and that your bravery reaches him even there on the other side of the veil.” Ara’s throat bobbed as she reached over to hold her mother’s hand.

“He said, ‘Every day, my love,’ and that he knows you’ll return to him one day, but decades from now.

He stressed it was not to be a single day before you lived multiple more decades, so you cannot go to an early grave. You have to live with me.”

“You…You…” She clutched Ara’s hand, and I braced myself for the devastation surely to come, but nothing could’ve prepared me for her high-pitched, “You met him?”

She looked more alive than she had in months, and I released a sigh of relief, my shoulders sagging.

Ara grinned and recounted everything she’d explained to me in vivid detail, down to the severed mate bond, which sent echoes of that pain through my chest. Ara stuttered, glancing at me as she rolled her shoulders, rubbing her sternum.

My eyes narrowed on her hand. We were still learning the intricacies of this new blood oath, but I was pretty damned certain Ara felt what I did, at least wisps of it, and this wasn’t the first time.

“Well, what did you need to speak with us about?” Elora asked.

“And why did we need to do it here?” Ara leapt down from her horse, then stopped, squinting at the horizon with her hand over her eyes. “Is that Ewan’s ship?”

Taking a deep breath, I dismounted and held a hand up to Elora. “It’s time you tell Ara about Godrick.”