“Because! Because you’re older, and you see everything. Isn’t that what happened? The Council cursed you with seeing everything. Maybe if you told me the best outcome...”
She reaches out and touches my hand. My shoulders drop, and I feel my heart thundering in my chest. There’s a measure of despair growing inside me, eating me up. I shake my head to dispel it.
“Our universe is but one of many. I slip into the multiverse, yes, and I have lived long.” The corners of her mouth turn downward and her eyes grow sad. “It doesn’t mean I can see the future and, even if I did, that wouldn’t be of use. The future is always changing, Cassandra. Destiny and Fate are being undone and redone all the time.”
Folding my fingers around her hand, I tighten the hold, her warmth grounding me. “But what should I do to keep them safe? What can I do to make sure they won’t get hurt?”
She squeezes my hand. “You can never be sure. That’s the price of living. The price of loving.”
My heart drops into my stomach. I feel sick. “So there’s nothing I can do.”
Giulia turns her head to one side, as if listening to something I can’t pick up. She stays that way for a moment, then turns back to me. “You’re a survivor, Cassandra. In many timelines, you’ve already perished. In others, the world has already broken under your power.” Her words bring even more fear to my heart, but she doesn’t wait for me to ask about them. “There is one thing that never changes. Your men. They’re with you through thick and thin.”
I curl my nose and try to tug my hand away, but she doesn’t let me. “The mating bond forces them, and I don’t want it to take them to their death. That wouldn’t be fair, Giulia.”
Another squeeze. “The mating bond is merely a guide. They’re not forced to stay if they don’t want to.”
“They feel forced...”
“You don’t know, Cassandra. You don’t know how they feel about it. Have you thought that, perhaps, they’re here because they want to keep you safe too?”
Looking away, I twist my lips. My heart pitter-patters in my chest, and images of possible outcomes of this entire thing cross my head. The death of any of them, of more than one. Of Kayn capturing me and using me to kill other people, or whatever his plans are. Of the Collector taking vengeance on my mates, hurting them. I press my eyes closed and ride the pain, feel it washing over me.
I remember my father and his loving face, my mother’s loving eyes. They died for me. They died because of me, and to protect me. I won’t allow it to happen again.
Peeking at Giulia’s face, I know she won’t accept any of my arguments. She won’t agree I should let them go, and she’ll defend their right to protect me in return. Even if that kills them, and I can’t accept that. Can’t accept the possibility of their deaths.
Even if it’s Donatello. Even if it’s someone who betrayed me, and almost killed the others.
Giulia squeezes my fingers in hers, then lets my hand go. She sits back, stretching her spine. “Let them choose, Cassandra. Let it be their choice.”
“I don’t know if I can live on if any of them dies protecting me.” Not again. Not another loved one. “So much can happen. So much can go wrong.”
Giulia smiles, that look on her face of someone who knows more than I can ever understand. “You only need to trust them. Trust their love. Their strengths. You only need to trust, and all else will work out.”
Shaking my head, I press my feet to the ground to haul myself up. “How can I trust when all of them are in danger?” And I stand up.
Giulia sits there, blinking at me with a knowing smile to her face. She seems to read me, to analyze every small thing about me. “You and Donatello need to reconnect. To find each other again.” Her smile tilts to the side, stretching into the shadow of a smirk. “There is a place in here. It never changes, no matter the timeline. Museum number thirteen. It’s my favorite number.”
“Witch humor?” I tease, stepping away, ferns caressing my arms.
“Of course.” Giulia stands up too, picking up the cup and saucer without any problem. “Invite Donatello there. Take some time off. Talk it out.” And she starts up a corridor. I follow her, because it’s near impossible not to get lost here. “I’m sure it will help.”
And as we turn into the main entrance, my men burst into the room, all talking over one another, asking about me, about the memories, if I’m alright. They circle me and embrace me, touching and brushing their hands down my arms and face and hair. I can’t help but chuckle. However Giulia managed to keep them away, I’m impressed. Even Oreo comes galloping, trying to lick at my hands.
I meet Donatello’s eyes, and my heart skips a beat. Tonight. Tonight I’ll take him to museum number thirteen and I’ll force all the truth out of him. For my heart’s sake, and for my men’s safety.
CHAPTER14
CASSANDRA
Donatello doesn’t hesitate for a second when I ask him to guide me somewhere in the house. He’s been here before, so it comes as something natural and expected. What I don’t expect is the face he makes when I tell him where we’re going.
“The number thirteen?” he repeats, arching an eyebrow. His lips tremble in the corners. Like he’s holding something back.
I narrow my eyes. “Yeah... Shouldn’t we go there?”
Maybe the museum has something that would make everything clear? Proof of Donatello’s lies? A vital link to Kayn, an explanation to all these things I don’t understand? In the memory Giulia unlocked, Kayn said things that I haven’t figured out. He almost tried to be civil.