Sparkles of brightness flashed across my eyes, unfolding a vision before me. Once again, I found myself stranded in a dry landscape that outlined the rocky cliffs stretching into the distance. Instantly, I recognized the area. The desert landscape was the same remote area we had traversed through for several endless miles after the plane crashed. However, in the past, the desert was rougher, rockier, and more sandy compared to the present.
"You can't abandon us!" I distinctly heard the pleading voice of Rome, causing me to turn around.
Behind me, amidst the span of the desert, Kai and Rome stood across from each other. Still adorned in the Egyptian pharaoh's stolen Schenti garment kilt, while his torso was bare, Kai wore a golden black striped nemes atop his head, and a usekh ornament covered his bare collarbone like a piece of golden, shiny armor. Meanwhile, Rome wore a plain kilt without a shirt. Further back, behind Rome, Kai's minions, including Darlene, stood around, each wearing a black hooded robe.
"You can't expect me to await my mate's birth any longer than I already have! The pain is too unbearable for me to endure! I can't do it anymore!" Kai fiercely countered, stiffening his upper lip, and his heart toughened.
"You're our clan leader! Our friend! You're like a brother to us! What if war breaks out again, and we need you?" Rome's voice echoed as his face flushed with tremendous anguish.
"I'm confident the Coven possesses the strength to withstand anything that would cross its path without needing me," Kai stated, firmly set on his conclusion.
Relentless and unwilling to give up, Rome tried to reason with him as tears welled in his eyes, turning them a pale shade of red. "What if we fail to locate your mate? What if she dies or something happens to her? You know her better than any of us! Why can't you just tell everyone where you'll be resting like Chester has?" his despondent questions bellowed out with unrestrained intensity.
Never once have I ever seen Rome pour out such doleful emotions. It became clear that my time gap had placed me in the timeframe of the day Kai detained himself inside that Egyptian city he had overtaken.
"Don't underestimate my mate!" Kai aggressively snarled. "She'll find me!"
"How can you be so sure?" Rome questioned, snapping in anger as his frustration peaked.
For a moment, Kai remained silent, concealing the truth about my ability to mentally travel to the past while he mainly focused on mellowing his rising irascible anger.
"Trust that I know," Kai asserted bitterly, reluctant to divulge anything further.
"Please..." Rome implored as his voice drowned with emotions. "At least say goodbye to your Coven! Your family! Your mother, at least!"
"I can't!" Kai hissed, gritting his fangs in defiance. "I won't risk my father trying to stop me when I want to be alone!"
Kai's heart is further toughened into stone, withstanding Rome's tactic to guilt him into returning home by using his love for his family and the Coven all against him.
"But..."
"Enough, Rome!" Kai's harsh voice sliced through his words like a blade, cutting through flesh. "Take my minions to my father after you've obliterated their memories of Egypt. You're forbidden to uncover my whereabouts to anyone, nor are you permitted to restore my minions' memories of our conquest in that Egyptian city! You must never approach my resting place until my mate finds me. Only until then will you be released from my alpha authority. Return home with my minions now, and I'll see you again once my mate discovers me," Kai asserted sternly in his alpha tone.
Near tears, Rome wallowed in his despair, his heart shattering under the pressure of Kai's command. He felt like a forlorn skeleton, withering alone amidst the desert sands, condemned to be forever lost and forgotten. Kai was not only Rome's Alpha but also his brother in every aspect of the word, and the thought of separating from him tore at Rome's very heart.
Unable to defy or refuse Kai's alpha authority over him, Rome wiped away the tears rolling down his cheeks and proceeded to the minions before robbing every detail involving the ancient Egyptian city that Kai had conquered and destroyed from their minds. After completing this enforced task, Rome emits one last desperate glance at Kai before vanishing with the minions.
Once Rome and the minions left, Kai's stern composure faltered. Pain swept over him, and he could no longer shake his emotions from tearing into pieces. Pushing Rome away like that had sent a piercing pang through his heart. Deep down, Kai knew he couldn't bear the misery of not having me in his life any longer.
As he prepared to leap back to Egypt, "Kai!" I addressed firmly, preventing him from taking off without me.
Mid-step, Kai halted, freezing in place as his muscles tensed at the sound of my voice.
"I'm here, Kai. Don't leave without me," I uttered gently.
Unable to see me, he veered to where the sound of my voice came from. "Take my hand," Kai murmured, softening his expression, though the sadness still lingered in his eyes.
As I took his hand, his eyes further revealed his grief at the acknowledgment that my physical form wasn't there, furthermore deepening his pain beyond what words can illustrate. Just as we were about to soar into the setting sunset, Vlad appeared, abruptly blocking Kai's path from leaving. Silence hung like a noose between them until Kai's jaw moved to speak.
"I respect that you're stronger than me, Grandpa, but you can't stop me. My decision is final," Kai affirmed with a calm respect, yet his tone was subtly tranquil like the eye of the storm.
Lost in despair as he avoided his most cherished grandson's gaze, Vlad sorrowfully whispered, "I know it would be futile to try."
"I'll return once my mate finds me," Kai mumbled, causing a frown to crease on Vlad's lips.
As we skimmed past his shoulder, Vlad murmured, "Before you detain yourself..." His words paused as dismay poured into his heart. "Think about your decision. Make sure it's the right one."
With those last words, Kai whisked us into the shining sunset, shimmering the horizon in gold. In a matter of minutes, we touched down on the streets of the Egyptian city. An unsettling silence churned my stomach as I observed the deserted streets. Traces of blood still painted the mudbrick homes and the markets in splotches of red, which were the only remnants left from the massacre I had witnessed in a different time gap. Months back, Kai had confided to me that he had his minions bury the ancient Egyptian people in their farmland just outside the palace.