Chapter 7 Ch 7

Lee sat with me for an hour while I shoved high-calorie, processed foods into my unwilling stomach. I'd lost my appetite the moment she'd said misinterpret. So many humans had died for no reason because of a stupid fucking misunderstanding.

"He still set out to kill people," I muttered under my breath, breaking the long-standing silence.

She nodded with a sigh. "Not that I agree with him, but something had to be done. Something drastic."

"Like cutting off our electricity and internet wasn't enough?"

"That wouldn't have stopped bombs from being launched. Many more would have died that way," she said. "Basileus wasn't just looking for war. He was looking to reclaim what is his."

My head shook slowly from side to side. That was a stupid rationale. I couldn't argue with it, but I hated it. No one should've died. No one.

"Why did he have to reclaim what's his?" I asked. "Why couldn't he just leave things as they were?"

"Because he's a king?" she replied, her voice lightening at the end like a question. "There's something really important I don't think I've made clear for you. Everything in our world revolves around Nature. It gives us the basis for life. Our mates, our packs—everything. There was a prophecy written in some old ass scrolls somewhere about the return of the lycanthrope king, but it's been thousands and thousands of years so no one remembered it. In order for Basileus to come back from the celestial realm, there had to be some dramatic change coming for the wolf world. That was this war. Nature had enough of our polluting, toxic bullshit and brought him out of the celestial realm to fix it."

"Celestial realm?"

"I didn't know what that was either," she assured me. "From what I gather, it's Heaven. The blockhead still refuses to give me any details though."

What the hell? Heaven and prophecies and kings come back to life. This was a tale out of some Greek mythology or some shit.

"Can I ask a question?" I said. At her nod, I continued, "I know you keep saying I'm chosen. Does that mean I have to stay here? I mean, now that I know not every human was butchered everywhere, my family might still be alive. I'd like to see them."

Lee grimaced. "It's not that I don't want that for you. I'm sure your family is alive, Anna. We just have some other issues standing in our way in the meantime."

"Like what?"

"Well, um, like Basileus' new fascination with you. No one really knows what it is or what it's from. Lycans don't have mates, but his bond to you almost seems like a mate bond. And his affection for you is wholly different than the one he has for me."

"Peter told me he has a soft spot for you. That you're his weakness."

Scratching the back of her neck, she gave a forced smile and said, "Yeah, that's hard to understand too. Basileus is the best at shitting on everyone's expectations. I'm not his mate in any sense of the word, though, because Tandan is my mate. Basileus is linked to me through his vessel, who used to be my best friend."

"Vessel?"

"When Basileus returned to earth, he had to take a body. He ended up taking my friend's. His name was—is—Matt."

"So what happened to your friend?"

"He's kind of trapped in Basileus' body. We don't really understand how it works."

"But you don't think I have the same connection to Basileus as you do?" I clarified because all of this shit was hard to follow.

"Right." She chuckled before getting serious again. "But anyway. Basileus isn't going to let you go anywhere without him. He'll raze cities if you even try. Trust me."

I pursed my lips, trying to hold my tongue. Once the anger passed and I no longer felt like bolting, I asked, "So am I never going to be able to leave him? It's going to be like this forever?"

The look on her face told me right away what I wanted to know. Blowing out a sigh between my teeth, I got up from the bed and shook my head.

"This is such bullshit," I muttered.

"I know how you feel."

"Can I . . ." My throat struggled to swallow while I built up the courage to voice my mind. "Can I talk to him? To Basileus?"

Lee now rose from the bed. She picked at the trash from my binge eating to distract her gaze. "The language barrier might be an issue. Unless you can speak ancient French."

Damn, I hadn't considered that.

"Angelica would give you the gift of tongues, but her energy has been sapped since we last needed her."

"Her energy?"

"She's an oracle," Lee told me. "I don't really know how it all works, but I think she has the ability to harvest energy from the earth. Kinda witchy, but not really. She can't hurt anyone with it."

"Oh. Well, maybe you can translate for me then?"

She perked up at that but then shook her head. "Now isn't a good time. He's, um, dealing with some things. Maybe tomorrow, though?"

I shrugged.

"I'll see if I can get a hold of him later and find out if he can talk. He's usually busy nonstop when we reach a new city."

"Why does he travel so much?"

"To make sure things like this don't happen again," she said. "Basileus is a bit of a micromanager because he doesn't trust anyone. So he likes to move around to ensure things are running how he wants."

That was interesting. Big, buff werewolf is a control freak, huh? I thought with a grim smile.

"I'm going to go check on Tandan and see if he needs anything." Lee headed to the door. "Please, don't wander too far."

I saluted her and watched the door close. At least she knew I wouldn't stay here. Absolutely not. This room was starting to feel like a cage already.

After waiting a few minutes, I left the room and headed to the stairs. I trekked down to the lobby and eased out. It still felt like I was running away. The burning in my blood wanted me to, practically begged me to, but I knew I wouldn't get far. A few looks were pointed my way as I walked. They could all smell my human reek, apparently. I was still contemplating where I should go when a holler of pain caught my ear.

It was coming from the stairwell Tandan had dragged Nathan down earlier. I felt my feet carrying me towards the sound without much regard. No-one stopped me.

The staircase itself was clearly a staff passage because it was dim and plain. My nose wrinkled at the moldy odor. The yelling I heard died down for some time, and I didn't hear anything until the stairwell ended at a door. I tested the handle and found it unlocked. This seemed like a bad idea. Like horror-movie-bad.

So of course I had to continue. Pulling the door open, dark dampness swept up to attack my face. I choked on the horrid smell before a scream scared the hell out of me. If I hadn't already been cupping my face, I would've screamed too.

Now I was doubting my ability to go forward. My legs felt like boulders, securing my feet to the floor. The sound of claws scuffing the floor made me tense and then it was too late.

Two flame-blue orbs glowed out in the dark like a shapeless nightmare. My breath caught. Basileus stepped into the dim circle of light from a shifting lightbulb overhead. His ears almost brushed the ceiling. Something dripped from his bared set of razors, the color indiscernible in the lighting. I felt that familiar prick in my pounding chest. My ankle almost gave out because I turned so quickly and darted back up the stairs.