Chapter 261: _In Her Magic
"If he’s in your head... then we might be too late."
A cold shiver ran down my spine after Althea said that.
However, when I parted my lips to speak, a deep voice reverberated through the garden.
"Too late for what?"
I swerved my head and couldn’t help but smile warmly when I saw Kaelos walking toward us from the garden’s entrance.
His shoulder-length black hair was a little damp, and the shampoo wafting from him told me he had just finished bathing.
He also wore a long red coat with golden buttons and black pants, causing my face to heat up with a blush.
I almost forgot about the serious conversation with Althea.
Almost.
"Do you find my question amusing, dear wife?" Kaelos asked with genuine curiosity, but there was also a hint of playful sarcasm which I would be damned to ignore.
I fluttered my eyelids at him when he finally got to the table, placing his right hand on my shoulder and then slowly walking to my back.
"No, dear husband. I’m just wondering why you still dress so... formal when you aren’t even heading out of the mansion’s premises."
His fingers gripped my shoulder ever so slightly but I was able to notice it and didn’t realise when I subconsciously leaned in closer to his touch.
I could feel Althea’s silent gaze on me and Caroline’s eye roll but I ignored them both.
"I’m a businessman as well as an Alpha King, wife." Kaelos echoed behind me with a voice smooth as silk. "Just because I rarely attend to my companies personally doesn’t mean—"
"But you don’t." I interrupted, placing my right hand on his knuckles. "Come on, I’ll dress you up one of these days then we’ll go to one of the malls in the pack. What do you say?"
I glanced back at him, only to meet his silver eyes scrutinising me. His gaze was deep, as if he could see right through my soul.
I hated that and loved it at the same time. It made me feel safe, knowing I had someone who seemed to know me to my core. But it also meant I could rarely hide my true feelings from him.
"I say..." Kaelos cleared his throat, slowly lowering his head and bringing his lips dangerously close to my ears. "You’re trying to use this conversation to stall. To ignore the nightmare last night and whatever it is you and your aunt are discussing here now."
Crap...
’Caught in HD.’ Sirena mocked in my mind as Kaelos withdrew his hand from my shoulder, patting my face from behind one last time before drawing out a seat.
"Which brings me back to my first question." He leaned his head back, crossing one leg on top another before staring directly at Althea. "Who is in my wife’s head and why is it too late? Too late for what?"
I clenched my jaw, swerving my head to Althea.
She only hesitated for a few seconds before she sighed, using her right index finger to swirl her tea.
She explained everything about the Vein and about her theory that all this time, the mission in Mexico was just a cover for the true Lord of the North to infiltrate my mind.
She also told him about my dream, even though I had already told Kaelos last night when I couldn’t sleep.
"The Lord of the North is in her head..." Kaelos muttered, slowly turning his head to me.
I stiffened at his gaze, feeling the withheld anger simmering inside him.
Then he swerved his head back to Althea. "What can be done? Why is it too late?"
My aunt let out a sigh as I also waited along with Kaelos to hear an answer.
"I guess I should show you." She muttered, getting on her feet and then walking to my side. She placed her right hand on my shoulder, causing me to blink with confusion.
Then without warning, her fingers glowed with a blue light and a warmth surged through me that was hard to explain with words.
But then that warmth disappeared as fast as it had come and got replaced by a numbing cold that caused me to gasp.
"What the..." Kaelos blurted with a stunned voice.
I frowned, raising my arms when Althea withdrew her hand from my shoulder. It was then that I saw what they were seeing.
Sigils... Glowing not on my skin but deep inside me, coiling like snakes and pulsing with a dark energy that made my heart skip a beat.
"Those aren’t regular sigils. They’re reeking of powerful blood magic that connects Odessa to something dark." Althea explained calmly, her voice solemn. "And my worst fear is that the Lord of the North didn’t even place them on her. At least, not directly."
"What do you mean?" Kaelos nearly snapped. "The bastard used his raven witch to brand my wife like some supermarket item. And you’re telling us he—"
"That’s the thing you aren’t understanding, Alpha King." Althea’s voice became more serious as Caroline walked closer.
The sigils slowly faded and no longer glowed but I could feel them. They were still coiling underneath the surface, their purpose unknown to me.
"Those sigils are tied to Odessa’s magic. Her being. They’ve always been in her blood and all the raven witch did was use them as a medium to allow the Lord of the North entrance into Odessa’s mind." Althea walked away from the table now, her black hair blowing slightly into the wind.
"Her hybrid blood has been experiencing a... Rare awakening I’ve only heard of in myths and prophecy. I don’t know how yet but those sigils in Odessa... Connect her to the Vein."
I felt like she’d just thrown a bucket of ice on me.
I stared into nothingness, my fingers trembling as I parted my lips repeatedly, unsure of what to say or what to think of this.
The Vein... An ancient source of chaotic magic underneath the continent that made several witches mad or twisted them into monsters... Is connected to me.
To my magic.
I glanced at Kaelos and felt how his mind reeled, as if he was questioning everything. He didn’t even look at me but the tension was enough to send across his feelings.
"Pardon, but I think I’m catching on to something," Caroline remarked just then, causing all eyes to turn to her. "Does this mean that each time Odessa uses magic now, the sigils become more... Powerful? Engraved into her?"
I swallowed hard when Althea nodded.
"If Odessa taps too much into her magic now, she not only risks the judgment of the Luminari Coven elders... She risks awakening power from the Vein itself."