The Umbra King (Vincula Realm, #1)

by Jamie Applegate Hunter

“What? Why would you do this?” She was touched by his selflessness, but she couldn’t allow him to give up his freedom. He’d waited too long for it. His eyes glistened with unshed tears. “Your mother needs you, and I can’t watch you blame yourself for her condition.” She shook her head, grasping for whatever piece of the puzzle she was missing. Then it clicked, and the floor fell out from under her. Her memory would wipe clean, meaning she would forget Vincula, her friends, and him. “Why would you do this?” she repeated, raising her voice. “You said you can’t change contracts.” She’d never seen such pain in his golden eyes. “I can’t dissolve contracts, and I didn’t. I switched them.” Rory’s mind raced, and she shook her head again. “Please don’t do this, Caius.” “It’s already done,” Sam said with a voice of steel as he glared at the king. “It cannot be undone.” “Undo it!” she screamed as she ripped the document to shreds. Her hand clasped around his arm, making him look at her. “I love you, Caius. I love you. You can’t do this.”

Tears slipped from his eyes. “I can’t keep you here in misery. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.” “No!” she sobbed as she beat her hand against his chest, the other still clutching the book. “You promised. You promised to get down on one knee when I said it. I’m saying it. I love you, and I am begging you not to do this.” He grabbed her hand and brought it to his mouth. “Don’t you see? I have been on my knees from the moment you landed in my throne room.” She shook her head and backed out of his hold, turning to the Angels. “How could you let him do this? How?” she screamed. Her realm was falling apart at the hand of the man she loved, and tomorrow, she wouldn’t even know it. “Do you not love me?” she choked out. “Is that it?” The horror on his face matched her own, and she crumbled from the weight of it. “I love you more than anything, and I always will.” “I will find my way back to you,” she vowed. “We’ll always have the soulscape,” he whispered. “It will only be a dream to you, and you won’t remember me, even there, but I’ll be there waiting.”

“Where is she?” She was yelling, and Caius walked faster. “Where is she?” the woman demanded again, speaking to no one and everyone at once. The woman spotted him as he continued his path toward her, and her eyes widened. “You sent her already, didn’t you?” she asked, covering her mouth. Now her voice filled with pain, and she met him halfway, pounding her fists into his chest, much like Rory had done. “You gave her to him! You gave her to him!” She swung with impressive strength for a woman her age as she swore and screamed. “How could you?!” The woman sobbed and slumped to the floor, and Caius looked at Sam and the accompanying enforcer with bewildered eyes. He motioned for the enforcer to bring the woman’s contract, never taking his eyes off her as she wept at his feet.

His eyes scanned the document, and his knees nearly buckled. Lenora Raven. Sibyl. Sentenced to one year for attempted armed robbery of a bank. The contract fluttered to the floor as he stumbled back a step. “You’re Rory’s mother.” His voice was barely a whisper as shock overtook him. She looked up through her tears. “And you are a fool. She was safe with you, and you sent her into his arms.” His? “Whose arms?” Caius demanded as his voice shook with emotion. Lenora looked at him with such torment, he felt the weight of it like a tangible thing. “The Lux King.” The air whooshed from Caius’ lungs. “He doesn’t know about her,” he said, trying to convince himself more than anyone. Lenora released a humorless laugh. “I have seen it, just as I have seen you.” She was a Sibyl, and the prophecy written on a paper in his desk drawer proved what she said was true. He tried to save Rory, and instead, he sent his mate into Gedeon’s waiting arms.