Page 49 of Unseen Eye (Aetherian Chronicles #1)

He doesn’t flinch. His gaze steady and unwavering as he says, “She deserves to know,” his voice resolute, leaving no room for argument.

My head spins, but before I can ask more questions, Izzy interrupts.

“What if someone from Astermiri finds out?” Her tone has softened, but the concern is real.

Her eyes dart to me with a look I can’t place.

“I’m not saying you’d slip and tell them, but let’s not forget their mind affinities over there. ”

Callon raises an eyebrow, a smirk curling his lips, but the edge in his voice remains. “And what makes you think she’d ever go back there?”

Izzy’s gaze sharpens. “I’m not an idiot, Cal. I know where you were.”

The room feels heavy, suffocating. I can’t seem to breathe properly, the tension pressing in on all sides. “What is she talking about, Callon?” My voice cuts through the silence, sharper than I intended, but I can’t help it.

His jaw tightens at the question, the frustration visible.

But then he sighs, runs a hand through his hair.

“Later,” he mutters, then seems to reconsider.

Taking a deep breath, he looks me in the eye, his expression serious.

“Baron requested an audience with us a few days ago. My father declined and sent me in his place. He wants you back—no surprise there. He was willing to cut any deal it took—money, armies, even land.”

I feel a lump form in my throat, my heart thudding hard in my chest. “And what did you say?” My voice feels tight, every muscle in my body on edge.

His eyes darken, but there’s a quiet fury in them that’s reserved for those who’ve crossed him.

“I told that son of a bitch that I am not keeping you captive. If you wanted to return to Astermiri, I would blink you there myself. He could take all his money and land and shove it. It’s all worthless compared to you.

And to think that any of that could equal what your life is worth proves just how little he values you.

” His voice softens slightly, but the smirk returns.

“And finally, I told him that if he ever wanted to have this conversation again, he’d better have the balls to invite you himself. ”

Izzy groans, rubbing her temples like she’s warding off a headache. “That might have been a tad dramatic,” she mutters, but the sarcasm doesn’t mask the worry in her eyes.

My breath catches. The flutter in my chest is back again, but this time, I don’t push it away.

“Thank you,” I say, my voice soft but sincere.

I don’t have the words for how much it means that he’s willing to fight for me.

For once, I feel like I’m worth fighting for, and that realization hits me harder than I expected.

In all my time here, with everything that’s happened, not once have I felt like I was just some pawn to be used.

Callon sees me—really sees me—and that’s not something I can easily ignore.

Izzy steps forward, her expression hardening. “And what happens if he comes after us next?”

“We fight back,” Callon replies, his voice steady, but with an undeniable tension beneath it. “We’re not going to let him tear this apart. Not for something like this.”

I feel the weight of their words settle over me. The tension in the room is palpable. I thought I was caught in a dangerous web before, but now I can see it—the true cost of Baron’s obsession. There’s no turning back now.

“And Izzy,” I add, my voice firm, “I am never going back there. Baron is a monster, and his sons are no better.”

Izzy’s head snaps up, her eyes narrowing. “Sons?” she echoes, her tone suspicious.

Shit. It takes me a second to realize I’ve slipped up. I was planning on telling Callon later anyway, but I guess there’s no better time than the present. Bracing myself, I take a step back and sit on the table, mimicking Callon’s usual pose.

“So,” I start, working to keep my voice steady despite the gravity of what I’m about to reveal, “the whole reason I ended up down here is that I had a dream last night. I was in the mountain passage between here and Astermiri.”

I glance at each of them. Izzy’s face drains of color, as if she already knows where this is going.

Theo’s expression hardens, the kind of steel I’ve only ever read about in stories of warriors bracing for battle.

And Callon... he’s gone quiet, his usual mask of indifference settling back over him, but I can see the storm brewing in his bright blue eyes.

“What did you see?” Callon presses, his eyes finding mine with an intensity that makes it hard to look away.

“I saw them,” I whisper. The words heavy, tremulous on my tongue.

“I saw your mother, Aaliyah.” I glance at Izzy, my eyes pleading for her to understand.

“And your father, Erik.” The images flood back—vivid, brutal—each one slicing into me like a shard of glass.

Eamon’s betrayal, the fight that had been lost before it even began.

My breath hitches, but I force myself to continue. “They fought for their lives... until there were just too many.” My chest tightens, my throat thick with emotion, but I keep going. “They were overrun. They were too strong... too many.”

My voice falters, the enormity of what I’ve witnessed nearly crushing me, threatening to swallow me whole.

Callon’s expression doesn’t change, but his fury is palpable. “Tell us everything,” he urges, his voice unexpectedly gentle.

I begin to recount what I saw: the anguish on their faces, the unmistakable features of Erik, the grim details of the trap as best as I can recall.

Each word is a struggle, tears spilling down my face, and I know it’s not just for me.

It’s for them—Aaliyah, Erik, their final stand, lost in the chaos.

Theo holds Izzy, whose grip is barely holding, both standing in silent grief. The tension in the room is suffocating. Callon’s gaze never leaves me. It’s as if he’s trying to hold himself back, but the storm in his eyes keeps gathering momentum.

“Fucking bastard,” he snarls, low and guttural. “I should’ve killed Baron when I had the chance.”

And then, without warning, the window shatters.

The deafening crash fills the room, and glass shards explode into the air like a shower of deadly rain.

But a swift breeze, almost like a tempest answering Callon’s rage, redirects them, sending them harmlessly skittering across the floor.

The ground beneath us trembles, and bookshelves topple, books swirling around us in a storm of chaos.

“Cal!” Izzy’s voice cuts through the madness, sharp, desperate. “Control yourself!”

Callon barely registers her words, his expression locked in fury.

Izzy whirls around, eyes blazing as she steps between Callon and me. “You,” she snaps, her voice sharp, “need to get a grip. We’d all love to storm into Astermiri and rip Baron to shreds, but you don’t see us destroying the room.”

Callon’s rage flickers, the storm around us losing some of its intensity as Izzy’s words seem to get through.

“All these years,” Theo mutters bitterly, his voice like gravel, “they lied to us. It was a fucking setup.”

“I’m sorry,” I whisper, the words barely audible. “This isn’t how I wanted to tell you.”

Izzy rolls her eyes but steps closer to me, her expression softening slightly. “It doesn’t matter how it came out,” she says firmly. “What matters is that we know now. We can deal with it. But Cal here? He needs to take a breather before we end up without a roof over our heads.”

Callon’s eyes soften, and the chaos in the room finally begins to settle as Izzy keeps her fierce gaze on him. “This is the first real account we’ve heard in over a hundred years,” he mutters, the anger still simmering beneath the surface.

“That long ago? But how could I know this?”

Callon steps closer, placing his hands on my shoulders as he says, “Because you’re a seer. Gods, I should have seen it sooner. It all makes perfect sense now—your stories, how your geography aligns, how you know all of this.”

“But I thought seers were unheard of,” I say, struggling to process this new reality.

“I said they were extremely rare, not unheard of,” he patiently corrects.

“But… how?” My voice falters, the shock still fresh. “I thought my affinity was light, not seer.”

“You’re both,” Callon says, a smile breaking through the tension. “Being a seer was never considered an affinity; it’s a gift from the gods.”

I try to make sense of it, my mind racing. “Could one of my parents have been a seer?” I ask.

Izzy speaks up, her expression contemplative. “It’s unlikely,” she says. “Seers are so rare, and their abilities can’t be inherited. The gift doesn’t follow bloodlines—it’s something the gods choose to bestow.”

“But is it normal to see all this in dreams?” I ask, still trying to wrap my head around it. “I thought seers had visions or something like that.”

Izzy shrugs. “Each seer’s abilities are different. Some see the past, others the future, some both. Maybe your dreams are just how you experience it.” She winks, trying to cut through the tension. “Don’t let it go to your head.”

I glance at Theo, who’s staring at me like he’s seeing me for the first time. When he finally speaks, there’s a note of realization in his voice. “It makes sense. I’ve never mentioned my father, not even what he looked like.”

“A wanderer walks, caught in a dream,” Izzy says suddenly, her voice urgent. “Cal, the prophecy.”

“Well,” Theo mutters, running a hand through his hair, clearly overwhelmed, “I wasn’t expecting this today.”

Then something clicks in my mind. “In lands of whispers and forgotten lore, she’ll find the keys to open the door.” I say the words to no one in particular. “That’s me coming here. It has to be. All the stories I knew… they’re real. But what keys? What could that be referring to?”

“I need a drink,” Theo says, making a beeline for the stash we’ve been collecting in the corner. Callon, on the other hand, has been unnervingly silent through the entire exchange.