Page 45 of The Last Aether

“Damn straight you do,” Phoenix growled.

I appreciated the backup, but I didn’t take my eyes off Riven, afraid he’d take that opportunity to bolt. “You told someone to hide me. Who?” Could whoever it was have been the elemental who bound my magic? But I didn’t remember anyone else around when I was growing up.

He swallowed, his throat working on the movement. “Janine. I told Janine to hide you. To keep you away from any elementals who might sense your power.”

Something about the way he said her name had my blood going cold. “Riven.”

More pain carved itself deep into his face. “You didn’t have anyone else. I begged her to take you far away and never look back.”

Nausea pulsed through me as my legs shook violently. “Riven?”

It was as if all I was capable of saying was his name. The one person who knew the truth. The one person who could put an end to all the terrifying what-ifs swirling around inside my head.

But Riven was silent.

The guys behind him practically vibrated with fury. Smoke gathered around Phoenix, mixing with the sparks that shot off him in waves. Atlas huffed out a breath, and the ground trembled beneath us. Kai was frozen in place, those eyes of his swirling in a sea of blue and green, but there was a rage in them that I’d never seen before.

Riven’s chest rose and fell in rapid succession. “I’m so sorry, Aura.”

The same words he’d uttered all those years ago.

“Why?” It was the only other word I could get free of my lips, but it encompassed everything.

Those glacial eyes locked with mine. “My father was the one who killed your parents. He was the one who almost killed you.”

25

The world around us went quiet. So silent I heard every rustle of the wind in the pines. Every scampering animal in the vicinity. I could even hear Riven breathe.

They were sharp, ragged breaths. As if he were struggling to control them.

“She’s not my mom.”

My voice sounded remarkably calm, even to my own ears.

“No, but she loves you more than I’ve ever seen anyone care for another person.”

“My parents are gone?” The man’s face from my dream before I was shot flashed in my mind. Was that my father?

“I’m so sorry.”

“Would you stop saying that?” My voice cracked like a whip.

Something about it broke through the frozen state the rest of the guys were in. They charged forward in unison. Kai and Atlas flanked me as Phoenix slammed Riven against a tree.

“Did you know?” he growled.

They had put the pieces together that my mind was still struggling to pick up.

Riven stared back at him not saying a word.

Phoenix’s hold on him tightened. “Did you know who Aura was to us?”

Riven’s back molars ground together. “I knew it was a possibility.”

I didn’t think another blow could level me after the news that my parents were dead, that the woman who’d raised me wasn’t anything but a stranger. But here Riven was tilting my axis upside down.

“He’s lying,” Atlas cut in.