Page 101 of Cruel Revenge
“The witch…” I wasn’t sure where to start, but she seemed like a good place.
“Tashmi,” he said softly. “Her name. It’s Babylonian. The name was derived from a goddess prayed to in the region. Or perhaps the goddess was named for her. Which came first… it doesn’t matter. And as with all things, since our mouths can onlymake so many sounds, it’s in other languages as well, but her name is specifically Babylonian.”
“Okay…” I went to a couch and sat down, studying him. “When was the last time you said that name?”
“Yesterday, while discussing her with Subira. A lot in the last week. Before that… it had been a very long time. Subira and I try not to talk about her because I don’t like to talk about her.”
“And she’s obsessed with your eyes. A lot of people are, though. I’ve had fae in the wild hunt point them out.”
“Yes, they stand out, don’t they?” Hasan sighed, sitting on a different couch. “They always have. They’re very old. Not mine specifically. As you know, there’s another werecat who has had this color. The original. Subira’s father in every way, and the werecat who ripped me from my human life to make me his warrior. And tried to claim I was his son.” Hasan looked at his hands. “Subira told me the memory you saw. The devastation he was capable of and what he did to us.”
“Oh… we don’t need to talk?—”
“Tashmi has seen it from my perspective,” he continued.
My heart sank. My stomach churned.
“She saw him, in all his cruel power. Subira thankfully contained the memory of the aftermath of what happened and you did not have to see too much of it. Years of magic and protecting her secrets made her capable of it. But when I was Tashmi’s prisoner, the twins were still in Subira, and I did not have much experience protecting my mind. During that entire pregnancy, I would have nightmares, scared for your mother. Terrified. It was what made me vulnerable to Tashmi initially. I wandered off, trying to regain my composure before the twins were born. She didn’t like my energy, Subira. She agreed. Tashmi saw my nightmares in their entire truth, reliving that moment over and over. Always the same. So, she knew I had gotten my eyes from an even more powerful monster, and Ihatedhim. Under her control, she demanded that I explain many things to her. She knows too much, thanks to that.”
“But you killed her, and so it was all okay.” I understood that.
“Yes… until we learned of her being a ghost.” Hasan laughed darkly. “Talk about the past coming back to haunt me.”
“Hasan… what did she do to you? Because you’ve never been scared in your life, but now… you seem terrified, and that’s not to insult you, but…”
“Jacky, you can put that together all on your own,” Hasan answered, not looking at me. A sick smell came from him, something painful and festering and wrong. “Just as Subira has been forced to rely on her own assumptions for thousands of years.”
My fury spiked. My blood boiled under my skin. My nostrils flared. My chest rumbled, and my claws pricked my own thighs.
“Do not fight a battle I won thousands of years ago,” he growled. “Do you understand me? I am not yours to avenge. This is a new battle.”
“What does she know?” I demanded, not releasing my anger yet.
“Nothing I told her is worth anything. It’s personal for Subira and me but not dangerous. Thank the gods for that. She couldn’t even begin to break the great magics your mother is capable of.”
“Like?” I knew my parents had secrets, deep ones. Ones that no one dared think of, much less ask about.
“Ah, she knows of our origins, the moon cursed. She knows about Subira and me. She never met Subira, but she was mighty jealous to learn I was already ‘in service’ to another woman of power.” Hasan rolled his eyes with a disgusted look. “Now calm down. I need to get us back to the topic of our eyes… I talked to Subira about them after we spoke in Houston.”
I took several deep breaths. I calmed down. I couldn’t deal with Tashmi right then, anyway. There was no reason to beangry with only Hasan here. It could make him think I was angry with him.
“Subira reminded me that things come in threes. It’s a powerful number. Sayings like third time's the charm and similar all come from the fact that three is powerful. It's when our minds begin to recognize something important. A pattern. It’s in everything and humans naturally lean to the number three. There had been a great monster and his son, sharing the same eyes. Only two… Then you woke up from the Change with those werecat eyes…”
“I’m the third,” I accepted. “In a row. Him, you, me. A direct line, a pattern. Even though these things aren't inherited, which I guess would make it all the more special that it’s happened… It was totally random each time and yet…”
"And yet, it's happened."
I didn’t like it. Didn’t like it at all.
“So, even if it wasn’t magic all these years, if enough people believe it’s important, it willbecomeimportant.” Hasan lifted his hands. “People get angry with me for hating magic, but wouldn’t you if it kept trying to ruin your life?”
“No, I understand now,” I said, frustrated with him. “And there’s no avoiding it, huh? If other people believe it, then we just need to deal with it.”
“Correct. Tashmi clearly does… Witches don’t call things cursed unless they believe they are. Don’t be upset, but Subira also believes it. She doesn’t believe it’s negative, though.”
“I don’t like that. I love her, but I don’t like that. I’d prefer if she didn’t make life complicated for us.”
“No. I don’t either, but who am I to argue with her? She’s my mate. I trust her, whether I like things or not. I’ve lost those battles too much to keep fighting them at this point.” Hasan gave me a tired smile. “She wouldn’t explain what she believes more than that, though. I think she’s worried about giving it toomuch power or… perhaps removing the power of her belief if she speaks it. Because then we’ll run from what it is.”
