SURVIVE (THRIVE: Book Two)

Chapter 63- Beloved Son

"Is this a fucking joke?" Kai asks, starting to choke back pained laughs "You want me to sit here and accept an apology... for my own murder?" he suddenly looks up and stares Roxie dead in the eyes "You can't be serious."
At this moment, I think everyone collectively felt speechless and terrified as we waited for Roxie to say something, but she looked petrified as she stared into his eyes. She never could have expected anything like this to have come from that situation so many years ago, but now here he is, standing before her, making her question her own morality. Honestly, considering what I've seen, hell, what I've been through myself, I can't even say where I stand. I don't know if I ever will.
"Malakai," Roxie says as calmly as she can as she kneels down to him, tears streaming down her face "You have to understand, I did what I did to protect my best friend. Everything that man... everything Gael did to Veronika over the years put her through so much it nearly broke her. After the smoke cleared, she wasn't herself for a long time. As happy as we were to be home, she started to grow cold and detached from us, and we realized she was suffering from heavy traumatic flashbacks and could barely function. By the time she came to me, she..." She suddenly stops and looks back at Aurora and I, holding back tears "She was ready to die to escape the pain." she explains solemnly. I had known how bad it was for her, but hearing Roxie talk about her first-hand experience is bone-chilling.
"Do you really think..." Kai tries to talk, but he's starting to get choked up "Do you honestly think I don't know how messed up she felt?" his sadness suddenly shifts to anger "I was there, I could feel it!"
"If you understand that, then do you at least see where-" I try to cut in.
"Tessa, stop." he shouts, gripping at the floor "I can't sit here and listen to this!" he screams, grabbing the sides of his head.
"Malakai, we aren't trying to argue the way that you're feeling," Aurora states, sitting down on the side of my bed.
"No, but you're trying to sit here and convince me that my mother made the right decision to fucking get rid of me like I was just another problem that needed to be dealt with," Kai cries "Whether or not she had her reasons, dead is still dead."
"I...." Roxie is at a loss for words. I look back at Magnus and Jasper, and they seem just as nervous and dumbfounded about what to say.
"Kai," I sigh as I carefully sit down near him and Roxie "I was killed for a bullshit reason before I got to live, and I will forever resent the person who did it to me. I'm not telling you to forgive Roxie, and I'm not telling you that it was justified what they did. But what matters is that despite the shit show that led us to this point, you've made it here now." I explain, glancing around at the others, forcing a smile through the tension "Whatever you want to do now is your decision alone, and no one can take that away from you." I smile, hoping that something I said helps.
"You make it sound easy." he sighs.
"Oh, it's not." I chuckle light-heartedly "But I don't necessarily see that as a bad thing."
"If it makes any difference," Roxie smiles "Life around here usually isn't this goddamn complicated, at least not in this past century."
"Oh shit, speaking of complications," I interject "After we came back from the trip in my head, did anyone-" Suddenly, we hear shouting down the hall. As it gets closer I can make out the voices.
"For the love of god, would you stop for one second?" Desire shouts.
"No, you're obviously hiding something about my daughter from me and I've had enough." I hear my mom respond angrily.
"You don't understand, this isn't about her if you would just listen to me-" Desire tries to explain, but suddenly, my door starts to open. "Artemis, please!" she shouts, but it's too late. As the door opens, we all stay perfectly still. Magnus and Jasper are on the sofa in the front corner, Aurora is sitting on my bed, and Roxie, Kai, and I are sitting on the floor in the back of the room. My mom looks in, stunned and confused. We all look at her nervously, and Kai is the last to look up, unsure of how to react.
"What the hell is going on in-" and within seconds, she sees it; the mark on Kai's face. As she locks eyes with him, I can see the sheer terror infecting her body like a poison.
"Veronika, it's okay," Aurora stands up and tries to diffuse the meltdown "He's not him, I promise you," she explains calmly as she carefully makes her way to her.
"Who-" my mother tries to speak, but it sounds like she's choking on sand. I can see her eyes darting in every direction, and I can see her muscles start to shake "Why?" she starts to cry, and as she begins to fall, Aurora runs to catch her. Jasper and Desire quickly help Aurora get her into a comfortable position on the floor, leaning on them, but she looks like a wreck.
"What about Ember?" I ask nervously.
"She's wearing the collar, so we should be fine even if something happens." Roxie explains, turning her attention back to Kai, who now looks absolutely mortified "Whatever you're thinking, stop it now. This isn't your fault," she squeezes his hand gently.
"All she did was see my face..." Kai mutters, looking over at my mother, who is barely holding back from having a full-on meltdown.
"Gael may have killed my husband, but he took more from her than a person should ever have to experience." Roxie sighs "Being in his old compound must have been hard, but this caught her off guard."
"Veronika, can you hear me?" Aurora asks calmly, and my mom nods her head through the tears "Just take a minute to breathe, okay? Everything is alright."
"Breeze?" I faintly hear her ask for me, and I quickly rush to her side.
"I'm okay, I promise." I sigh "I'm sorry I scared the shit out of you this morning."
"Can someone tell me what the hell is going on here?" she asks nervously as she tries to sit up, but she seems lightheaded. As I look back, Roxie takes Kai's hand and leads him around the bed to sit in front of us at a small distance.
"It's okay," Roxie says confidently, nudging him. Kai takes a deep breath as he looks at us, and all of his mixed emotions try their best to come together and be at peace.
"I'm sorry that this..." he gently touches his forehead and sighs "I didn't want to scare you like that."
"But you aren't?" my mother asks nervously "You were at the compound when we broke out, I remember you running away but I never saw your face. You don't seem like one of them, so why the hell do you have the same mark Gael did?"
"I guess you could call this a birthmark," Kai sighs, trying to find the right words. Without saying anything more, I can already see my mother putting the pieces together.
"Gael didn't have a son," she states, suddenly looking desperately at Roxie who simply nods her head "Oh my god..." she suddenly sits up, looking into his eyes desperately. Kai hesitantly moves closer as he starts tearing up, seeing how genuine her reaction is. This is exactly what he needed. When he gets close enough, she reaches out and touches the side of his face "How is this even possible?"
"The same way I came back," I smile, holding back tears "Our souls are just something special, aren't they?"