Chapter 16 Ch 16

We looked at Basileus. His enormous body was too large for the door frame, so he ducked and turned sideways. He filled up most of the small room, too. Lee stood up.

"Was that a secret?" I asked him.

Sighing, he knelt down beside the bed. His luminescent blue eyes stood out especially from his pitch fur right now. He almost looked handsome.

Wait, what?

"It wouldn't have been for much longer," he said.

"Do they know about the rest?" I glanced at Lee who looked like she wanted to leave.

He followed my gaze while shaking his head. "No, they don't. We haven't convened since we pulled you out of that prison."

"Since you rescued me."

"No," he spoke more loudly with certainty. "You were already rescuing yourself, Flower. You escaped yourself."

His breathing harshened. Leaning forward, he brought my head to his. A blast of heat surged into my skull. It streamed into my neck and then chest and out to my limbs.

"I knew you were strong." Basileus nuzzled his face against mine, against my unwounded cheek. "You are a survivor."

"No one has ever come to my rescue," I replied softly, not sure he even heard.

His furry arms slid around me and cradled me. "I will not come for you, Anna. I will always find you."

I clutched onto his neck and let my silent tears seep into his fur. He meant it. He had saved me three times now, including the moment he caught me in that street in Savannah. Peter hadn't been the promise I'd believed then.

"I don't mean to interrupt," Tandan said, "but I need to know what to do with the fucking maniac."

Basileus gently placed me back onto the bed and I felt an immediate coldness at the distance. What the hell was happening to me?

"I have allowed him to live for many millennia," he said, mostly to Tandan and Lee. "He was the last living family I had. I see now that he has a different vision."

"So let's kill his ass," Tandan snapped. "He wants to be a mortal so bad? Let's show him how brutal mortality can be."

Thinking back on what Peter said, about how the brothers are linked, I looked at Basileus. He felt my gaze and met it. It was the most human expression I'd ever seen on him. He looked vulnerable.

"You can tell them," I assured him. "They're your family now."

He nodded, reaching down to touch my hair.

"Tell us what?" Lee demanded.

"Peter and I aren't just brothers," Basileus said. "We are linked. Our lives are connected. That was how I could be connected to earth while in the celestial realm and how he stayed alive for so long. Our lives were bound just before I passed over."

"So what does that mean?" Tandan sounded doubtful. "We can't kill him without killing you?"

"Essentially, yes."

Tandan threw his hands in the air, yelling, "Jesus! Anything else you'd care to tell us?"

I shrunk back at the volume of his voice. It wasn't that I was afraid of him or anything. In fact, he deserved to be royally pissed off. He was Basileus' right-hand man and he hadn't known.

Basileus growled, the sound low and deep. My insides vibrated from its force. I didn't realize I'd grabbed his clawed hand until they all turned to look at me. He wasn't growling anymore either.

"Look," Lee said, "we can fight about this later. Right now we have to do something with Peter. He's stronger than the wolves holding him and he'll get out soon. We need to know what to do with him."

Basileus nodded. "We will have to hold him in a cell. As of now, there's isn't one strong enough, but we can have one built—"

"Angelica," I cut him off. It came back to me. I saw her lying on the floor in the chateau. "She was dying . . ."

"I'm not dead," quipped the familiar voice. She stood behind Lee, her flesh pallid and damp.

"What are you doing up!" Lee wrapped her arms around the woman, even though she was several inches shorter than her, and supported her weight. "You weren't supposed to leave the bed."

"I knew our Anna woke up," Angelica said. Her eyes shined as she looked at me. "I needed to see her."

Our Anna. My heart expanded with affection.

"About Peter"—she turned to Basileus—"a holding cell will never be enough. He has rallied people to his side. If he is able to speak, move or breathe, his people will have hope. They'll rise up against you again. I don't think any of us can take another round."

"We can't kill Peter," Lee spoke.

"I don't mean to kill him." Her crystal blue eyes bounced between us all. "I have never possessed the energy to break a blood link, but I know something else. I can encapsulate him in ice. If he is in his Lycan form, he will survive. It'll put him in a wakeless sleep. Like a hibernation. We can store his body somewhere no one will look. We can spread the news that the only other Lycan alive is now dead."

Basileus was quiet in thought for a moment. "This could work, so long as no one discovers what we've done. What do you need to do this?"

"She's too weak," Lee said, shaking her head in adamance. "Any oracle business will kill her."

"Lee, I'm already dying." Angelica opened the fluffy red robe she wore and showed us her bandaged abdomen. Crimson spotted the fresh white linen.

"What?" screeched Lee. "I thought his blood healed you—"

"I am an Oracle, dear. Earth allows me to use her energy, but there is always a price. I am no thief of her power. The price I pay is not being able to receive what I have borrowed for so long."

"You're the one," Tandan spoke. "The one who dies. To fulfill the prophecy."

We all turned to Basileus. He refused to speak but the bow of his head told me enough. I squeezed his massive hand.

"You knew?"

"Nothing is certain," he replied, "but I believed it was her."

"Why did you let her come into the chateau then?" Lee hissed. I'd never seen her face so red or eyes so cutting. "You knew it would be dangerous!"

"Don't be ridiculous." Angelica grabbed Lee's shoulder with fire in her eyes. "I had to protect you. You all needed me."

"You have a family! Grandchildren who love you, who are waiting for you to come home!"

The aged woman smiled sadly. "I haven't been young for a long time, Lee. It's better that I die than any of you. Allow me to do this last thing."

"Yes," Basileus said. "I trust your foresight and knowledge that this is the only way. He must be subdued. We have all made sacrifices and I regret that this must be yours, Angelica."

He turned away with a cry or growl and marched to the door, his face set in stone. Lee reached out to grab him but he snarled at her.

Lee's chin dipped back like she'd been slapped. "How could you be so cruel!" she yelled.

Without responding, he pushed past them and left. I heard his feet touch down on the floor as he bolted away on all fours. My heart sank into my chest. There was too much raw emotion for my mind to process and I felt like my insides were chipping away.

"He will come back," Angelica assured us. "He needs time to come to terms with this. For now, we need to plan. Peter must be iced."