Page 29 of Rotanev
He fixed his suit jacket—far more elegant than my attire of sweatpants and a T-shirt—and glanced around the living area with interest. “When you requested my presence on Earth, I thought you were joking.”
“I wasn’t.”
“Clearly.” He wandered over to the floor-to-ceiling windows to peer down at the Hudson below. “The humans really have gone and fucked up this realm, haven’t they?”
“Understatement.” I joined him, handing him his wine and clinked my glass against his. “To old times.”
“Indeed.” He took a cautious sniff of the liquid before giving it a taste. “Well, this has at least improved.”
“Not everything is a complete disaster,” I agreed. “But I certainly do miss Mythios.”
“Is that why you called me? Looking for a lift back?” His gold ring twinkled in the moonlight streaming in through the windows. It was an enchanted band that allowed him to traverse the realms without a Realm Dweller. Technically, the item was deemed illegal. But no one would dare remove something so precious from a god. If I knew the being who’d gifted him the trinket, I’d seek her out myself. Alas, Morpheus adored his secrets.
Which was precisely why I trusted him with this task.
“I need you to access Kailiani’s memories,” I said, cutting straight to the point. They were within her somewhere, and I wanted to know how she ended up in this state.
“Your errant siren?” Shock colored his tone. “I thought you intended to kill her, not complete the vows.” His icy blue gaze took on a knowing gleam. “Has she tricked you, old friend?”
I snorted and canted my head toward the hallway. “Come. See for yourself.” He’d be able to sense her soul’s presence inside the mortal form, as it was linked to his gift.
Morpheus could control and manipulate matters of the mind. Specifically, dreams. But he could also access memories within dormant subjects. He often used them to inspire visual sequences while his subject slept.
I quietly pushed open the door to my bedroom. Kailiani slept soundly within my sheets, her luscious locks splayed across my pillows. Although I longed to join her, this was far more important.
Morpheus sipped his wine while eyeing her curiously, power rippling around him as he accessed her mind. “Fascinating,” he mused. “She’s human.”
I shut the door so as not to disturb her and replied, “I know.”
“Her siren half appears quite content to remain locked away as well.” He frowned. “How perplexing.” He leaned against the wall, his glass to his lips.
We drank in silence for a long moment, mostly because I knew he was busy accessing her mind. It didn’t take a genius to understand why I’d called him.
He shook his head after a minute and pushed away from the wall to return to the living area. “Someone has tampered with her essence,” he finally said after taking a seat on one of the white couches. “She possesses memories from several lifetimes, all of which are woven together in an intricate puzzle.” He paused, his gaze wary. “Her soul has purposely withdrawn to protect her mortal mind.”
I sat across from him in a high-back chair. “What does that mean?”
“That some memories do not wish to be unleashed,” he translated. “This won’t be an easy favor, Nero. I assume you wish for her to remain unharmed?”
I didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”
“So you did complete the vows.” He cocked his head to the side. “How?”
“Honestly, I have no idea.” And had wondered the same thing when the bond had snapped together. It shouldn’t have been possible in this realm. But I didn’t regret it. Not even for a second. “She’s not the woman who betrayed me, Morpheus.”
“Well, the mortal, no. But her soul, yes.” He finished his wine, set it to the side, and braced his elbows on his knees. “What is it you want me to find in her memories? The truth of that day? Or how she’s been transformed into this state?”
“Both, if you can.”
“Which is more important?” he asked. “Because if I press too deep, Rotanev, I risk her human mind.”
I ran my free hand over my face, my other threatening to break the stem of my glass. “I need to know what happened to her,” I finally decided aloud. “It’s the only way I can help her.”
“Help her?” he repeated. “As in, you want to release her soul? To make her whole again?”
“It’s the only way to protect her.”
He frowned. “I don’t follow. As she’s now bonded to you, she’s automatically immortal. Albeit, a very fragile immortal who can be killed rather easily because of her human shell, but she’s stopped aging. Right?”
