Macy POV
The next morning at breakfast, it is awkward. My parents and Nyx are missing, and Cassian and Roland are silent. Edward has a stupid grin, and he won't wipe it off his face. Winston is, well, Winston. Silent and stoic.
No one is prepared to talk about the elephant in the room, but we can't avoid it forever. Clearing my throat, I gain everyone's attention. "Where are my parents?"
Cassian doesn't look up from his plate. "They have been returned to the Human Realm."
I choke on my water, spewing it on the table in front of me. "What do you mean they have been returned?"
"Their memories were changing," Cassian replies. "It was time for them to leave."
"Oh," I feel confused and wounded. "Did they not want to say goodbye?"
"It was better this way," Roland interjects. "You will be free to visit them in the future. That is if you don't lose your memories of them."
I bite my tongue. They want me to lash out. Or else they wouldn't be baiting me in such a way. "I see."
Edward shuffles beside me. "What is this about memory loss?"
"The Immortal Realm can make you forget things," I whisper. "You have to hold tightly to what you find dear in the Human Realm. Or it could be lost forever."
"When were we going to be told this?" Edward snaps.
"Now," Cassian grumbles into his plate.
Edward opens his mouth, but I dig my elbow into his side. Now is not the time. There are more pressing matters.
"Will there be a funeral for Arabella?" I speak in no more than a whisper. The silence that follows my question is thick. No one dares to look at me.
"No," Cassian responds after a labored silence.
"Was she not a princess?" I ask louder this time.
"Not at the time of her death," Cassian snarls. He slams his hands down on the table, and I flinch. "Leave us."
I stand to leave, but Cassian holds up his hands. "Not you."
"I am not leaving her," Edward laughs.
"How brave of you to think you have a choice," Cassian rolls his eyes. "You have no power here. Or did your failed shift teach you nothing last night?"
"I did not fail," Edward growls. "Or did they fang marks in your sister's neck miss your gaze."
Cassian is on his feet, the tips of his wings glowing a bright red. Edward pushes me behind him, and his claws slip from his fingertips. A continuous rumble of growls fill the dining room. I press my hands to my ears, desperate to block out the fighting.
"STOP!" I shriek.
The blood through my wings is pulsating, and they feel heavy. The lights in the room flicker before encasing the whole room in darkness. I don't dare to move or even breathe.
"Well done," Cassian grumbles. "Turn the lights back on."
"I don't know how," I admit. "Did I do this?"
"Of course, you did, Foolish Girl," Roland hisses before throwing an orb of light in the middle of the table.
The orb casts an eerie hue over the room. Illuminating it just enough for me to see Roland shuffling out. Edward and Winston are standing side by side. Ready to fight.
"Leave us," I sigh. Edward growls. "For once, do as I ask."
Winston flops his arms to the side in defeat and pulls his brother out of the room. "I will be right outside the room," Edward shouts.
"Noted," Cassian growls.
Lowering myself back into the seat, I look at Cassian. "I am sorry for what happened to Arabella. I have made some poor decisions, but none that I regret more than the one I made last night."
"What's done is done," Cassian sighs. "Perhaps if I had given you more information when you arrived, these mistakes wouldn't have been made."
I want to scream from the mountain tops in vindication. Finally, he is starting to make sense, but I keep my mouth shut. If I have learned anything, maybe it is that I talk too much.
"Selene's moon used to shine brightly in the Immortal Realm. It had phases, just as it does in the Human Realm, but it was larger here. Brighter. It was a sight to behold. Beautiful and glorious. My father used to love to bathe in its light, and he loved Selene for giving it to us. The nighttime was for the Fae Creatures to mingle and party. My father threw huge parties in Selene's honor. She would come from the sky and join in the merriment. They had a love affair that was supposed to last forever. All was perfect. Then, my father fell in love.
"A werewolf stumbled into the Immortal Realm by happenstance. I am told she was beautiful with jet black hair and stunning blue eyes. As soon as she laid eyes on my father, she claimed him to be her mate. For many years, they were happy, but Selene was not.
"The parties that my father threw were no longer in Selene's honor but in honor of my mother. Selene whispered into my father's ear. Torturing him. Reminding him that she will one day die and he will be left alone. The thought of losing my mother drove him insane. So, he asked my sister for help."
"Arabella?" I ask.
He nods. "Before my mother came, Roland had many lovers. Arabella was a child born of my father and a witch. She was as beautiful as she was terrible." Cassian pauses to reflect on his sister. A single tear drips from his eye, and I hold his hand. He squeezes my fingers before continuing the story.
"Arabella said she could change my mother into a creature that would never die. She failed, and it cost my mother her life. But she became obsessed with the idea and didn't stop. She slipped into the Human Realm and stole werewolves in the night. Experimenting on them until she finally achieved what she wanted. A lycan.
"When Selene found out what Arabella was doing, she cursed her— turned her into a Gray Creature. She captured other Fae and did the same to them. She did it on purpose, like a scorned lover. My father had no choice but to banish her from the Immortal Realm. When she left, she took the moon with her, and the lycans could no longer shift. There have not been any new lycans until your mates were born."
"Where are the lycans now?" I dare to ask.
"In a city just south of here, but we don't dare to visit them. They have become feral without the moon. They are as dangerous as the Gray Creatures."
I don't believe it. I refuse to believe it. "Why lie to everyone? Why make up some stupid fairy tale about Fae and their mates? Why not tell everyone what Selene and Roland have done?"
"It was easier than the truth. It hurt less."
Cassian and I sit in silence, holding hands. He has been put in an impossible position. Roland's actions cursed the Immortal Realm, thrusting it into darkness. He is doing the best he can with what he has been given. It all makes sense. Nyx was not seeing the Human Realm burn. No. The realm on fire is the Immortal Realm.
"War is coming," I whisper. "Selene is coming. I need to go to the lycan city. I need to meet them."
"I will go with you," he sighs.
"No," I shake my head. "It is better if I meet them alone."