Page 43 of The Discovered
“AndwhatÁine?” he asked through gritted teeth.
I could nearly feel Daelon’s anger through his shielded aura. “He just… took control of me. He pulled a Darth Vader,” I mumbled, knowing he wouldn’t understand the reference.
“Explain.Now.”
I sighed. “Just some levitation and more asphyxiation. His favorite move, I guess,” I said quietly, bracing myself.
Daelon took a sharp intake of breath. He carefully moved me off his lap and climbed out of the bed. His muscles flexed as he balled his fists at his side, his back to me. He walked to the far wall and in one swift motion, punched a hole right through it.
“Kind of a Chad move,” I said, laughing nervously.
“This isn’t something to joke about, Áine,” he hissed.
Okay, now he was starting to genuinely piss me off. “Listen, I’m the one who keeps getting fucking attacked, so I don’t know why you’re taking out your anger on me… or that wall, actually… instead of explaining what the hell is going on,” I yelled, my voice faltering. I meant to sound a lot harsher than I actually did, with all of my frustration and confusion getting the better of me. Instead, I felt hot tears well up in my eyes.
Daelon’s eyes softened, and he uncurled his fists.
“It feels like I’m fighting a battle while wearing a blindfold,” I said, struggling to rein in the brimming tears. “Which may exciteyou, but they aren’t very practical for outside the bedroom,” I said, unable to stop myself.
Daelon rolled his eyes, but I could tell a smile played at his lips. He walked back toward me, and I met him halfway to sit on the edge of the bed. I reached out for his right hand, which was red and bruised. I brought it to my lips as I looked up at him.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “Of course, I’m not mad at you. I’m mad at the people who hurt you, and I want to destroy them.” He looked away for a beat. “I feel like I’m failing you.”
“You’re not failing me. But I do need to know more.”
He sat down on the bed next to me, burying his head in his hands. “Okay.”
My heart rate picked up.
“I think you’re right about the astral projection. It can be triggered unintentionally when you’re in an altered state of consciousness, such as while sleeping or in a deep meditation. It’s rare for most people, but others have a natural gift for traveling between dimensions. Or they just hold a lot of power or trained intensively for a long time to be able to. I think this last time though, you probably were summoned into the astral realm while you slept by Lucius, the man who has been attacking you.”
Okay, so we finally have a name. We were making progress.
“Who is he? Why is he so powerful?”
“There are some things I wish I could tell you, but I literally, physically, cannot. I know how frustrating that must be. I’m trying my best, but there are magickal barriers at play,” he said wearily, staring forward. He lowered his voice. “I don’t know why he’s so powerful, but he sees you as a threat. He’s the enemy, Áine.”
I sucked in a breath.The enemy. Lucius. I mulled over Daelon’s words, grateful to finally receive some of the truth but annoyed with these supposed magickal barriers.
“The astral realm? Is it like the witch realm?” I asked.
“No. It’s not as solid. It’s much closer in makeup to Aradia than Aradia is to Earth, if that makes sense. It’s not somewhere you can get to in your physical body. It’s a realm of pure consciousness. You can see things that are based in physical reality, but you can also see things that aren’t—or at least, they don’t exist in the human or witch realms. Everything in the astral realm is influenced by energy, beliefs, and thoughts. It’s a tricky place, and there’s still so much we don’t know and can’t explain,” he said, struggling for the right words. My brain already hurt. “The astral realm’s rules are hard to understand because they are constantly in flux, to a much greater degree than the lower realms. You can travel in your astral form to the Eiffel tower, but you could also conceivably travel to the Christian conception of Hell or to a planet that someone else dreamed up.”
“Right. That is very… confusing.” What did that mean for the things I’d seen? What did that mean for literally everything I thought I understood about the fabric of reality? Yep, my brain really did ache right now.
“I know.”
“So, you can’t tell me more about Lucius because youphysicallycan’t? Or because you don’t want me to go on a warpath, like you originally said?”
I stared at him, and he pursed his lips and moved off the bed again. He ran his hands through his hair. When he turned to face me again it looked like he was concentrating very hard on something.
“Stop using his name, please,” he said. “It’s complicated. Insanely, indescribably complicated. It takes a lot of my own power to shield us from him.” His voice strained. I could see the effort written all over his tense features. I had no idea that protecting me required him to use his gift on a constant basis.
“He knows when he’s being talked about?” I murmured, lowering my own voice. I hated seeing Daelon in pain.
He nodded. “It’s a real possibility. That’s how powerful he is. I don’t lie to you, Áine. I did, and still do, worry about you finding out the whole truth about our enemies and your purpose. You saw how he used both your emotions and your lapse in focus against you tonight. It could’ve been much, much worse. But I also want you to have all the answers you need, when the time is right. I’ll help with that in any way I can. Above all, I want you to be prepared for everything you have to face once we leave here.”
This was a lot to process. I had never seen Daelon this… out of control. And despite the guise of anger, I saw flashes of fear in his eyes. He stared at me for several seconds in silence, and I watched as his features hardened back into a more determined and guarded appearance.
