Marked Claws (Mystic Bonds #2) | COMPLETED

29. Cara

"Cara. How wonderful to see you again."

"Why did you do it?" My voice was sharp and cut through her fake pleasantries.

She rose a brow and I smiled at her.

"Whatever do you mean?" She blinked sarcastically and I chuckled at her attempt to rile me up.

"I'm not in the mood for your games right now, Kesla." I politely spoke before my smile dropped. "I've been seeking answers for a while now."

She sighed forlorn and gave me a look of faux sympathy. "I simply chose the winning side, Cara."

I rose a brow, "And how was Killian's side going to be the winner?"

Her dark eyes connected with mine. "I'd help him, of course. But he promised me more than you ever could. Our ideals simply differed too much, Cara." Her eyes narrowed. "And you had your eyes on my son. To steal him." Her voice dropped.

I couldn't help the bark of laughter that escaped me at the irony of her statement.

"Is that why you're subjecting Damien to this?"

No one else could know.

Her lips pursed. "I made a promise and now it was time to fulfill it."

My lip curled upwards. "You will not be taking Britt with you. Nor Keely. And you will lose."

Kesla silently stared at me. "I betrayed you for my own good and I have no qualms about accepting that."

I bit the inside of my cheek to keep my anger in check.

Her betrayal had cost us the war. Had cost me so much more than she'd ever even realize. Everything she did was for mere power. Her greed had always put me off and I'd never had trusted her with a secret, a ritual that important if I had any other options.

I had to take that gamble.

And I paid for it in blood, tears and time.

I raised my chin and hardened my stare. "Simply because of that reason, you risked everyone's future?"

A crease formed between her brows for once. "You weren't meant to survive. We had other plans. Alas." She shrugged unapologetically.

I scoffed.

Kesla had been the Vampire whose blood had been used in the five point ritual that gave me the power to disintegrate into light and magic until the correct time came and I could return with my full powers.

Kesla had not been my first choice. Or the second. She'd arranged it so she was my only chance at that point, the day before everything was destroyed in the war.

It was a good thing I always had back up plans and no one ever knew the full extent of all my plans.

But the very memory of how I'd died five hundred years ago only brought me pain.

To seal the gate of the otherworldly, I had to give all of my power. And as soon as I started to weaken and took birth, Killian too got stronger.