Lorenzo
Ivy stays snuggled into me as she talks with Skye. I'm so glad she found a new friend that she can connect to. Since the girls are quite close in age, they might be able to spend many years together, centuries even.
I saw Beast, sorry, Thea give Lia some book before the young human left to read it in peace in one of the bedrooms. It's been a few hours since she left and I can tell that Blake is on the verge of blowing up. The longer he spends without his girl, the more agitated he is. Their connection is as admirable as it is weird.
I feel my body tense up when I hear Lia crying in the bedroom before she rushes back to the rest of us, with her face stricken with tears and her body shaking terribly.
Blake is the first to react. He shoots up from his seat and pulls his girl into his arms, letting her cry into his chest as he holds her.
"I know everything! Everything!" Lia cries out. Whatever she found in that book shook her up badly. I've never seen her so upset.
Ivy, noticing her friend's state, gets up from her seat and goes to Lia, gently placing her hand on the human's shoulder. "Are you okay?" She asks worriedly.
I watch stunned as Lia lets go of her man and pulls Ivy into a tight embrace. "I'm so sorry!" She cries, softly stroking Ivy's hair. What the hell did she read?! Was it connected to my queen?
"Why are you sorry? Lia, what's wrong?" Ivy questions, rubbing Lia's back soothingly.
"This was all a plan. Everything, the Undeads, Thea, you, your parents, Armstrong... Everything!" Lia hiccups, pulling away from my mate. "I'm so sorry, Ivy. You don't deserve to go through more pain, but... I can't keep it a secret. You need to know."
"Then tell us. I promise I won't be mad. Neither will Ren, right?" Ivy turns to me with a stern look, as if saying 'you better agree'.
"We won't. Besides, it's not like you've ever had any problems with speaking your mind." I smirk, getting a quiet scoff from Lia as she hides herself in Blake's arms again after Ivy comes back to me.
I gesture at everyone to follow me to the lounge area, where we sit on the two couches that area facing each other. I pull Ivy onto my lap, just like Hunter does with Skye, Leo with Thea and Blake with Lia. It's quite funny how the women can never sit on their own.
"What did you learn, Lia?" I decide to ask once the young human calms down a bit.
"Where should I begin... - Lia sniffles - Thalia had, or has a sister. I don't know if she's still alive. They both had a plan to kill you. They had everything ready... even Ivy."
"What do you mean?" I snarl, tightening my arms around my queen in fear.
"Thalia's sister, Cornelia... - Lia hesitates - Maybe it's better to just read it out for you." She mutters, opening the small book in her hands. "Cornelia has found out who the king's mate is. She is not born yet, but we know when she will be. – she turns the page with shaky fingers – My sister left to the place where king's mate will appear to make arrangements. She has reached out to the greediest Alpha we know and explained our plan to him. He is to find the king's mate...- Lia swallows thickly - kill her parents, and leave her with people he trusts then stay in the girl's life until she is old enough to be marked. Once the king feels his mate being marked by someone, he will become considerably weaker and Thea will be able to kill him easily." She finishes quietly, letting out a shaky breath.
I feel my little queen tremble in my arms before she bursts out crying, burying her face in my neck as she clings onto me in despair. I can't say I know how she's feeling right now, but I know what she's feeling. Anguish. Pain. Sadness. Sorrow. Grief. Fear.
The cries that leave my mate are heartbreaking. I would rather feel it myself than let her be in such agony. If only I could take away the pain, I would do it in a heartbeat. But I can't. My poor mate is forced to go through this alone and the only thing I can do is to hold her and let her pour it all out.
"I'm so sorry, Ivy. I didn't mean to..."
"It's not your fault, Lia. You couldn't have known what you were going to find there." I tell her quietly, rubbing Ivy's back gently as she cries.
"Hold up! What do you mean, 'Thea will be able to kill him easily'?" Beast asks sternly and I see her eyes flash red for a split second.
"It's written here that Thalia wanted to use you to kill Lorenzo. She mentioned that when she found out about you being an Undead, she planned to use you because as a born Undead you're much stronger than the others, whatever that means. She also said that you being a werewolf's mate was an unexpected complication.
She talked a lot about the first Undead she created, how he was killed by the old king, how she couldn't control his son... The 'young Undead' as she called him had raped Susan, my grandmother, and impregnated her. Then, when Thalia found out about it, she searched for Susan and her child. She mentioned both your and my biological mother's names and said that the moment she sensed you were an Undead, she decided to take you from the hospital. Then she burned it down so no one would find out about her. She handed you over to a human couple, with clear instructions to treat you badly. She wrote that she was satisfied to see that their lack of affection, care and love made you stronger every time she visited you. But she deemed the progress too slow, so she handed you over to a guy named Davis..."
"You don't need to say more. I know the rest. – Thea cuts Lia off with a heavy sigh – So she really was my grandmother... And you are really my niece."
"Did she say anything about you?" Blake asks, playing with Lia's hair distractedly.
"No. The last entry was about Thea. She said that Thea is coming for her and she won't be able to win against her, so she's going to seal the journal so no one but a witch of her bloodline can read it."
"What about that Cornelia woman?" I implore suspiciously.
"Thalia wrote that she's leaving everything to her sister. What I found suspicious is that after she wrote about that 'young Undead' and what he had done to my grandmother – she makes air quotes with her fingers – she said he disappeared. Then there was no other mention of the guy."
"You think he's alive..." I conclude.
"Yeah."
I only nod at her, too worried about my sweet mate to bother asking about anything else. Ivy's been crying into my chest this whole time, absolutely heartbroken by what she just heard.
'My love? Talk to me.' I beg, feeling my chest constrict in pain with every tear that leaves my mate's eyes.
'Cornelia is the name of my mom!' Ivy reveals, shocking me to the core. You've got to be shitting me!
"Ivy said that Cornelia is actually her mother's name." I tell everyone, getting surprised looks from all of them, except for Lia and Thea. They don't seem to find this piece of information shocking but rather infuriating as their looks turn murderous.
"I'm going to kill that witch." Thea growls, flashing her eyes red.
"And I'm going to help you." Lia adds with a sneer. I don't show it, but their support is highly appreciated. I know they will stand by my queen's side no matter what.
I decide to take my girl away to let her get some much needed rest and carry her to the master bedroom, where I gently lay her on the bed, immediately getting in beside her. "Let it all out, my love. I'm here with you." I soothe, kissing her head lovingly. She needs to pour it all out before it tears her apart. I know exactly how hard it is to bottle up your feelings and I don't want my sweet queen to go through that.
Ivy cries for what feels like forever before she eventually falls asleep. I don't let go of her even for a moment and simply pull her into my chest, cradling her in my arms as she sleeps.
After a while I hear someone knock on the door to our room before Lia hesitantly walks in. "I just wanted to tell you that the crew brought out some dinner. Would you like some?" She asks quietly, throwing a worried glance at my little queen.
"I'm not hungry, but can you tell them to save one serving for Ivy for when she wakes up?"
"Sure." She smiles sadly then turns to leave.
"Lia?" I call her back.
"Yeah?"
"Thank you." I sigh gratefully, getting a small smile in response.
"No problem."