CHAPTER 189: TELL ME THE TRUTH...

[ Old World- Greater woods - inside the mist]

The flickering light in the mist caught the sharp lines of Kieran’s jaw as he watched Autumn.

She slowly pushed herself up, her body still trembling faintly from the nightmare...vision...whatever that had gripped her moments ago. Her hands went to her hair, sweeping it back as she faced him fully.

Her voice, when it came, was quiet, uncertain.

"Unbind my powers?" A pause. "What power...?"

Kieran didn’t answer immediately. His gaze lingered on her face as though trying to memorize every flicker of confusion, every blink that pulled her further from fear and closer to him.

Then, with the ease of something too natural...he reached out, letting his fingers trail through the loose strands of her hair.

"I always underestimated you,my love...forgive me for that..." he murmured, a smile playing at the corners of his lips.

His hand found her fingers.

He brought her hand to his mouth.

The kiss he pressed into her skin was soft, reverent, filled with warmth...but then his mouth shifted.

He drew her little finger into his mouth, slowly, tongue curling around it in a way that made her breath catch in her throat.

Her eyes widened slightly.

His were glowing faintly.

Still holding her gaze, he whispered in her mind. "Do you like this?"

Her cheeks flushed hot.

She shook her head, too quickly. "No! I mean...yes...I mean..."

But she faltered, words tripping, heart hammering. She switched to their bond instead, her voice echoing inside his mind as well...flustered? Yes... of course...

"You can’t just... distract me like that when we are having a serious conversation! Tell me...What powers you were talking about , Kieran?"

Seeing the desperation...perhaps even fear...lingering in her expression, Kieran’s teasing faded into something gentler...deeper.

He reached forward, pulling her gently onto his lap.

His arms wrapped around her waist, grounding her there, holding her steady. His fingers moved to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear.

"I told you once," he began quietly, "that your blood was precious."

She nodded, eyes still locked on his.

"And that the blood of Isolde runs through you..."

"Yes," she said, voice just above a whisper. "You said it had healing powers."

He gave a slow nod, eyes darkening with the weight of what he was about to share.

"It does. But not just healing powers, Autumn... You are more than a balm, more than a remedy...one who can heal the dead...what does that make you, Autumn??? Can you take a guess???"

He paused, his thumb brushing the inside of her wrist, as though reassuring himself that he could get through this without overwhelming her...

"...Your blood is an ancient reservoir of power, waiting to be cultivated..."

He rubbed his hand behind her back yet her breath caught in her chest.

"There are people...and things...who would give everything to have even a drop of it," he said, voice rough with tension. "They know the legends. They have heard the stories of what Isolde did in her life time... and what her descendants can do again. And that is why your ancestors...have preferred living in hiding...that’s why they have always been on the run...hunted to near extinction..."

Autumn’s fingers curled around the fabric of his pants. "But... I don’t know how to use any of that. I don’t feel powerful...never did..."

"Hhhmmm, you did...may be in bursts...it normally lays dormant unless awakened...especially after your coming of age....may be before...I am sure you can definitely think of a few such occasions."

Autumn’s gaze drifted as her eyes constricted... her mind stressed, trying to flip the pages of her life... The first instance she could think of was when she was so desperately trying to save Kieran... And then those sigils... Those patterns bursting forth from the tips of her fingers...those patterns she drew on the floor of that attic...her mind started reeling.

And then all of a sudden a memory floated right in front of her eyes... a memory she had long buried... A memory she didn’t want to revisit... the day when she survived but lost Lyla... and then she remembered that storm... when the boat had capsized, she had tried desperately... "Lyla... Lyla... give me your hand... can you hear me... ??? "

She had heard no response but the weather sure had turned worse...the storm...those waves...and now that she let herself feel it... that sensation... it was exactly like when she tried saving Kieran... " No!!! How could that be... "

Kieran nodded because he knew exactly what was going inside her head. "It is... you have felt it before... you just didn’t know what it was... "

" But... but that was... I wasn’t even old enough... does that mean... I actually killed Lyla? No! No way! She came back... Didn’t she? I didn’t kill her if she came back..." Autumn smiled, then frowned... Then looked around as if asking for help and then turned back at Kieran.

He pulled her closer... knowing exactly what she needed. The truth...but not harsh... served slowly. " You might have... or it might have just been an accident... but at some point, your sister, did lose her life, her connection with this world... "

Autumn said nothing... She just kept staring straight at Kieran’s face.

" Then how did she come back? I know she was gone... I cried a million tears bidding her goodbye... "

" I... honestly don’t have the complete answer, Autumn... but knowing Roanoke and his trade...his notorious necromancy practices...I can take a guess... but I am not certain... "

Autumn raised a brow. " You are suggesting he brought my sister back from her grave? Like that isn’t my sister... just her body walking and talking??? "

" I said that is a possibility... I am not certain... I tried to find out but Roanoke works in shades... besides I didn’t want to tip him off or piss him off too much... not as long as he has my ... I am wait for that one moment when he no longer has any hold on me..."

" This... this doesn’t make any sense... if what you say is true... if he can bring back the dead... Why didn’t he bring back my mother? He loved her so much... Why would he let her die if he had so much power?! "

Autumn wriggled in Kieran’s arms... but he held her firm.

" Your mother carried the same blood like you... you don’t know for sure what exactly happened to her, do you? "

Autumn paused... on a second thought... she actually didn’t know much about her mother’s death... damn... she did not...

"That is one of the reasons I sealed your powers, Autumn, " Kieran added, his tone suddenly too heavy. I wanted to be sure you didn’t suffer the same fate like your ancestors...I bound it the night I sent you with Dax to the fortress."

Her eyes widened. " So I was right... something did happen to be that day... "

"I had to," he said, guilt flashing in his voice. "I was prepared to give up everything to protect you, Autumn... my power, my rank, my pack’s security...the hybe consciousness of Blackmoon hierarchy. Everything. But..."

He looked away.

She reached for his face, cupping his chin, gently but firmly turning him back to her.

"Don’t look away. Tell me."

His jaw tensed.

"...I couldn’t give up my father...I mentioned that before..."

She settled for a moment, she nodded.

"But what about your father, Kieran?" she whispered. "Tell me everything."

He swallowed hard. "The power surging through you, Autumn... it’s not just spiritual or elemental ...it’s old magic. Blood magic. And to bind it, to keep it from making you a target, I needed a counterweight...a huge reservoir of source energy."

Her brows furrowed. "What kind of source?"

He met her eyes.

"The hive consciousness of my ancestors. Their tethered souls...the ones trapped in the fortress."

He paused. "That was the reservoir."

Autumn inhaled shakily, her mind racing.

"But I didn’t want to lose my father to the seal. I wanted him to stay alive... just a little longer. Just until I could find a way to break the curse without killing him...show him that it was possible to fight the darkness..."

He looked haunted now. "To do that... I needed help. And the only one who could manipulate soul based contracts on that level was..."

"Roanoke...," Autumn finished, voice cold. "That goddamn..."

He nodded.

Her chest rose and fell with heavy breaths.

"And he demanded... what you know too well..." Kieran gave a bitter smile.

"He demanded everything. Including our bond. A marriage. A tie so complete it would threaten every instinct I had to protect you."

Autumn was still now, too still. She scooted closer on his lap, her fingers brushing the curve of his jaw.

"And that is why you said yes to Lyla?"

His voice was tight. "I said yes to a lie. To a place holder. To a papered bond that I never planned to take root. But yes... I still accepted the offer...to save you...and also the last of my family...But in trying to save you ," he whispered, his voice trembling, "I lost you..."

Kieran closed his eyes, agony crossing his face.

"In trying to protect you," he rasped, "I hurt you more than anyone else ever could."

He looked down at her, eyes stormy. "If I could go back... if I could trade every crown, every inch of power, every breath of my cursed bloodline...I would do it. I would do it for one chance... one chance to never let you walk away from me with tears in your eyes...especially when you were so weak...fighting with our babies..."

Autumn’s throat burned.

"But we don’t get to go back," she whispered.

"No," Kieran said, leaning his forehead against hers,fingers fidgeting around her tailbone...and hips, "but maybe we still get to go forward."

She searched his face, her hands curling against his chest. "And what happens now...how do we go forward?"

He let out a slow breath. "Now... I will start unbinding what I sealed. Bit by bit. I will help you remember what your bloodline has always known. I will help you own it.We will fight it together...the darkness...and whatever else comes our way...but I can not do it here...We will find a way to do it once I take you back..."

"Take me back?" Autumn asked.

"Yes.Back home," he said simply.

He wrapped his arms tighter around her, pulling her closer against him.

" I will train you...I will prepare you for what is coming...so when it does come, it will find a very different version of you waiting."

Autumn stared into his eyes, her voice soft but fierce.

" Kieran,who said I wasn’t home already???"