Page 21 of Scion of Chaos

When Benedetta frowns, Salem explains, “They’re a native tribe. Most North American native tribes are tied to the ursa, but some are more attuned to other elements and other higher races. The Makah are known for their affinity with all the elements.”

Her eyes light up again and my stomach flips. “I thought my bloodline was from that nymph who went mad thousands of years ago and did all those awful experiments on the higher races, forcing them to breed and stuff.”

“That’s how most human members of the bloodline come by their powers, yes. The nymph-who-shall-not-be-named infused humans with the blood of the higher races, hoping to create an immortal vessel for her own soul. She wanted to achieve godhood herself. Deva Rainsong was at the center of it, bred for it. She was supposed to be that vessel, but the leaders of the higher races banded together and managed to destroy the nymph before she could possess her. But the humans she experimented on over the centuries passed those traits down to their offspring, so there are thousands of Bloodline humans in the world today. It’s odd, though, because if your bloodline is natural, passed down through generations of an Indigenous people’s communion with the elements, why would you have the powers of chaos?”

“I take it Deva doesn’t?” I ask, unsure where she’s going with her line of thought. It wasn’t like I got to choose.

“Deva possesses fate magic. Fate and Chaos are two sides of the same coin, though—two elements all their own.” She nods enthusiastically and starts to pace, waving her hands as she talks. Flames occasionally trail from her fingertips, and I watch in fascination. “Perhaps that means one or the other would manifest when all four of the other elements are present. And since there must be balance, chaos is what manifested in you.”

“Okay, so what the fuck do I do with it?” My voice comes out shrill, and Benedetta stops pacing and turns to look at me.

Her eyes are literally aflame with her excitement when she says, “Everything. Chaos can doeverything.”

12

Vesh

Istep onto Bear Island again without issue, though my spine tingles with awareness of the fate magic surrounding the place as I pass through the barrier. This side of the island is far enough from the school that I doubt I’ll be seen. Still, I opt to obscure myself from sight. I don’t want to catch the eye of any of those Shadows I saw patrolling.

On my last visit a few days ago, I didn’t have time to fuck around; I flew straight to the cabin where Pan and Nemea were fucking. This time I pause on the beach, when the sun glints off several small shards of void glass delivered by the tide. Any signs of footsteps have been washed away by a recent rain, but the rain couldn’t wash away the evidence of the magic that lingers. Brighter on this spot in particular, right at the edge of the water where the splinters of void glass darken the sand to black.

I stretch a hand out toward that spot, drawing the pieces into me with a thought. It won’t do to let the pieces remain here. Any evidence that I’ve been here could act as a beacon to the escaped Titans if they’re at all set on retribution.

Despite the fate magic protecting the place, I can’t count on that holding up to them either. They managed to get throughmydoors, after all. Doors that should have been impenetrable toanyone, no matter their status.

My gut twists with urgency, even though I know this is still the second safest place for Nemea to be right now. I will retrieve her later, after I tidy up.

I amplify my power by degrees, closing my eyes to reach out to any other fragments that have been left behind in this place. When Typhon lost his heads, they fell into the water, shattering against the ocean floor into larger chunks of void glass. Other pieces of my clones that Pan’s magic created still remain at the site of that battle. I don’t dare visit that site personally, though, since it’s within sight of the buildings. I can cloak myself well enough, but now that this place is a school for Bloodline humans, I can’t take the risk that any of the students or teachers possess powers that can detect me.

My focus submerges beneath the water instead, taking the scenic route to find those other pieces. The shards on the shore creep beneath the sand toward the water like burrowing crabs, meeting up with the larger pieces in the deeps. Then in a solid mass, they shoot like a torpedo around the edge of the island, emerging and hurtling toward me through the air. I hold my hand overhead, summoning a churning vortex of my magic that sucks the remaining void glass back into me. The return of the lost matter will help fortify my walls even more.

The task complete, I turn and walk up the beach toward the rubble that was once a cabin. I doubt she’s here—if she were, I would sense her. But I want to indulge for a moment in the memory.

When I step onto the porch, I can see the signs of passage; someonedidcome after the place fell. A faint path has been cleared through the mess, and a rudimentary small shelter made of the rubble rests over the ruined sofa. I follow it and peek beneath a slab of splintered roof leaning on a broken beam. A tiny gray mouse peers out at me, whiskers quivering around her pink nose as her babies squirm against her belly.

I can’t help but smile. Life persists amid chaos. The argument could be made that lifeischaos and that Fate’s designs are the artificial part. Left to its own devices, life would find its own patterns, but none of them would be the least bit predictable.

“What did you do here after I left, naughty Nemea?” I muse, following the path toward the still-standing door frame. The ruined bed is the only clear area in what remains of the bedroom.

The sense of her is strongest in this room. Her magic and her scent permeate the air, vying for attention against the earthy aromas of the forest that will overtake these ruins if no one comes to rebuild. Chaos at work.

Insistent pressure pokes at the back of my mind. Irritated by the intrusion, I push back, only to have a second consciousness flare brighter, a face beyond glass, seen but not heard until I open the window to the world inside my head.

It’s Pan’s face, and his voice interrupting my thoughts.

“You couldn’t resist revisiting the scene of the crime, could you?”

“I didn’t invite you to join me,” I mutter.

“I was there the first time, asshole. You don’t think your memories called to me? We’re both equally bound to her now. I can sense her even more than you, I bet. Which means she tasted me after we left.”

My head lifts and turns, moving despite my desire to keep envisioning the sight of her on the bed, riding Pan’s cock. But his singular focus won’t be denied, and when one of my guardswantssomething badly enough, it’s tricky to keep them from invading. Despite the impenetrability of the prison, I’m still at their mercy far too often. They can’t get out without the help of outside forces, but that doesn’t stop them from taking the wheel when I’m distracted.

“She’s to the north now,”he says.“You’re planning to bring her here, aren’t you?”

“That’s the idea. This place is protected by fate magic, but I don’t want to take the chance that either the Titans or Chaos can get through. I want her close.”

A shiver of excitement telegraphs from his consciousness through my body, and my cock goes stiff. I let out a sigh. “She will be under ourprotection. She won’t be there for your entertainment, or any of the others’, for that matter. I forbid all of you from taking advantage of her. We need to focus on finding the Titans.”

---