The Blood Boss by Davidson King

Chapter Ten

Cain

If looks could kill, and in some cases, they did, Sibell’s glare would have eviscerated me. I hadn’t seen or heard her approach, but even if every room wasn’t soundproof, it likely wouldn’t have mattered. The woman could move like the wind if she chose.

“I’ve been summoned, and I’m guessing it’s not for tea,” Sibell said once Jayce extracted himself from her.

“We can go to the great room; there’s more space there.” Without another word, I stormed out. Her mere presence made my anger try to surface. From beneath my flesh my blood boiled, it raged…it remembered.

I entered the great room and went over to stand by the large chair by the fireplace. Natalie, Emil, and Petru were all in attendance, and my seething over having the witch in my home was understood by them.

“Where are they?” Natalie asked.

“Coming, I assume.”

Sure enough, a minute later, Sibell and Jayce entered the room, heads close together, whispering.

“Thick as thieves,” I grumbled, but from the way Sibell’s gaze met mine, she’d heard me.

“Shall we compare sins, Cain?”

“Look, Sibell, we’re not here to start a war or to dredge up past wrongdoings.” Natalie gestured to some refreshments on the table. “Please, help yourself, and maybe we can talk civilly.”

Sibell gripped Jayce’s hand, and I could easily see from his flinch that it wasn’t delicate. “You have truly mucked things up this time, Cain. He was in your care for but a week, and look what you’ve done.”

“What I’ve done?” I took a step forward but stopped. I needed to control myself. “He wasn’t in my care, as you put it. He was paying a debt owed to me by his father. Jayce stepped up, unbeknownst to him, me, or anyone else what his walking through my front door could mean.”

“A debt you could have easily absorbed.” Sibell tsked and, with Jayce still glued to her hand, went to sit on the couch.

“Not the point and you know it. I can’t let things slide.”

“Can’t have anyone slipping through the cracks, can you?” She poured herself tea, offering some to Jayce but he declined with a quick shake of his head.

“Sibell, please, we need your help.” Emil sat across from the woman. “What happened at the bay, it was—”

“Terrifical enchantment, yes?”

Emil nodded. “Yes, it was also unexpected, and you know how much the unknown can hurt everything.”

“Enough fancy words!” I’d reached my limit of coaxing Sibell to explain. “You owe Jayce an explanation, and we should know how your lies have put us all in danger.”

“I owe you nothing, Cain. And as for Jayce, he would have lived a long life devoid of the treacherous horrors facing him now if you’d let the debt slide.”

“How you continue to breathe after all you’ve done is beyond me.” My voice trembled as anger began to win its way out.

“Me? You were never supposed to exist!” She rose from the couch, releasing Jayce’s hand.

“Yet here I am, motherfucker!”

“If I’d have had my way, you’d be the very ashes in the fireplace!”

“Enough!” Jayce’s shout overpowered us both, and the chandelier above us began to rock.

“Jayce,” Natalie whispered.

The power behind his voice shook the room, making the chandelier sway, and his eyes widened with the realization. “What’s happening to me?” I didn’t know if he was asking anyone or putting it out there in the universe and praying for an answer.

“No more yelling, have a seat.” Natalie went over toward the window, where a large pitcher of ice water was, and poured him a glass. “Perhaps something cold would be better.” She returned and handed it to him.

“Thanks.” He took a few sips before sitting.

“Maybe no more back-and-forth fighting.” Petru leaned against one of the large columns in the room.

“We need to know what’s going on. Sibell, can’t you just tell us…me?” Jayce reached for the woman, who sighed but sat beside him.

“You not knowing was never meant to be seen as a punishment; it was for your safety. But I do fear you’ll not see it that way. However, since certain somebodies have placed you in a fragile position, I agree lack of knowledge would be worse at this point.”

Sibell took a breath, sipped her tea, and began. “Have any of you heard of occultatum procidat deceptionem?”

“Hidden illusion?” I wondered, easily recognizing the Latin. A dead language to humans but for me, one I heard often.

“Exactly. It is also a spell. A strong one. It stays bound by a name.” She chuckled and tendrils of dread crawled up my spine. “It is no joke that the power of a name is great. It is the second most powerful thing we have in this universe.”

“What’s the first?” Emil asked.

“Love, of course.” Sibell smirked at him, but her gaze was back on Jayce a moment later. “Your parents told you how when you were left on their doorstep there was a note. But what you don’t know is the whole story. Yes, it read that your name was Jayce and to keep that, please. But they were told why. Your name is the binding spell keeping you hidden from those who want to destroy you.”

“Sable reacted to his name, to his voice. If it’s to keep him safe, then how was she so easily able to see through it?” Natalie sat in one of the vacant seats.

“In Jayce’s life, he will tell you that while the sea has always called to him, as a child his parents never took him there. And he never argued when they said no.”

“I’m guessing you had a lot to do with that?” I quirked a brow.

“I did.”

“You hid me? Lied to me because, why? Is it like Cain said earlier, am I of Siren blood?”

No one gasped, but the shock of Jayce asking was noticeable.

“He told you that, did he?” She glanced at me briefly. “Seems he has been digging where he shouldn’t. No point in lying. Yes, you are of Siren blood but not just.”

“He’s half human, half Siren…or would it be Triton?” Petru asked.

“Siren.” I watched as Sibell went to take Jayce’s hand, but he rebuffed her. “Your other half is not human, either. The story will sound so much like the folklore you read in school. But you must understand it’s true.”

“I’m realizing a lot about what I thought I knew wasn’t real, so what do I have to lose?” Jayce gulped and moved slightly away from the woman.

Sibell stood and moved to an open area of the room. “I will do much more than tell you, Jayce, I will show you.” She waved her hand and the air shimmered, the sun that was brightly cascading through the room dimmed, and stars filled the walls. The carpet glittered like the bottom of a seafloor, and we watched the story unfold while Sibell spoke.

“Your mother was a queen, Jayce. Born to rule the seas beside the king chosen by her father. But she was in love with someone else.” Another swish of Sibell’s hand and a star fell, and with a burst lit the room briefly.

“Your mother was a vixen, a minx; she was trouble for all merpeople. But she was Queen and therefore allowed to get away with more than most. One night she saw a burst through the veil of water and sought after it. She found a man shrouded in light. She told me that the second she laid eyes on him, she knew she’d found her king and her heart.”

“That’s beautiful,” Natalie whispered.

“His name was Rigil Kentaurus. He was what you’d call a god of the skies. Purely good in every way. And your mother, Queen Asherah, was born of dark creatures who dealt with dark dealings and everything opposing good. But Queen Asherah and Rigil, they knew no boundaries, only love. And from that great power, they created you.” She turned to look at Jayce.

“Me?” Jayce’s voice cracked and it was easy to see tears were streaming along his cheeks.

“Yes. Rigil believed your birth would make the good and bad parts of the universe balance. He thought wonderful things would come from what he and Asherah had created. But she knew better. Her father, her people, they would say all the right things and, in the end, never deliver. Your birth rattled the lines of creatures all over. Never have darkness and light collided in such a way to create someone like you.”

Sibell waved her hands, and we could see Asherah and Rigil smiling at a small bundle in their arms.

“On the night of your birth, Asherah received word that your death had been ordered. Rigil vowed he’d let the stars rain down on them if they dared come near his family. But when he called on them, there was silence. His own had forsaken him. Your mother and father had no one. Your life was seen as wrong; they feared you more than anything. A child born of the queen of the seas and a god of the skies…” she sighed. “They’d sooner destroy you than see what balance you could bring.”

The room cleared, and once more we were bathed in sunlight.

“Sable knew who he was?” Emil’s voice was low, a wondering whisper.

“I feel she suspected.” Sibell moved back toward Jayce.

“Do you think Rogos knows?” Emil was asking all the questions—it seemed no one else could even think, let alone make sense of everything she said.

“Oh, I’m certain he does. And I have no doubt he’s gathering forces.” Sibell looked over at me. “He gave you one month of free passage, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Then that’s as long as you have.”

“As long for what?” Jayce shook himself out of his daze.

Sibell cupped his cheeks. “You are Rogos’s and Sable’s biggest threat. You are the heir to the seas, Jayce, and the son of a god. You were supposed to die, and you live. Rogos…he was to be the one to marry your mother. He was the one sent out the night you were born to kill you.”

“But I didn’t die.”

“No, because I hid you with the occultatum procidat deceptionem. That night Queen Asherah named you, and from that name I bound you. I was the only one who could and the only one they trusted. An odd friendship it was, but Asherah and I spoke often, and for many years, and when everything began with Rigil, I was her confidant.”

“But why am I not with them? They just left me?”

“No, Jayce, no.” I couldn’t see Sibell’s face since her back was to me now, but I heard her sniffle. “They died for you.”