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Varrik stops me from falling, and I gape at him.
‘This is what it feels like?’ I whisper.
He smirks a bit coldly, and I shiver under his scrutiny. ‘Yes, Thalia. This is what power feels like. Let’s find out how much of it the Dark Realms have gifted you with, shall we?’
I nod, vaguely thinking that there will be some sort of trial to find out. But he takes me through the throng of well-dressed fae who seem to hardly notice me. I suppose it isn’t surprising. I glance down at my gown. I do blend in in my finery.
I try not to stare like an idiot, but I’ve never been around so many fae before. I frown as I see another human with a tray of drinks. He looks at me a bit strangely as I pass him. That’s the fifth one I’ve seen.
‘Are all the humans here slaves?’ I ask.
‘I’m afraid so,’ he says. A moment goes by as he watches my face before he continues with renewed fervor. ‘Tricked and trafficked from the Light Realm.’
‘That’s awful,’ I say, my brow furrowing.
He nods. ‘It is. But that’s what we’re here for. To help them.’
‘We are?’
‘Yes,’ he gestures to a high table where a tall fae sits. He’s dressed in clothes even more fine than the rest. He wears a circlet of gold on his head.
‘Who is that?’ I ask.
‘His name doesn’t matter, but he’s single-handedly brought hundreds of slaves to the Dark Realms through the Breach. He has them beaten, tiny children ripped away from their mother’s arms. Some are killed in front of them to quell their spirits. He treats them … your kind, Thalia, … like they’re nothing, and then he sells them across the Dark Realms to be worked to death like animals.’ He turns to me, noting my horror and upset. ‘He deserves to die. Don’t you think?’
I tilt my head in confusion at the bloodthirsty words he’s delivered in such a calm tone. I’ve never wished death on anyone, not even Fiana and the other elites. But I find myself nodding vehemently, anger making my head swim. What’s happening to me? I’ve never felt so furious, so out of control with rage before.
‘Why doesn’t someone do it?’ I snarl in a voice that doesn’t quite sound like my own.
‘He’s surrounded by bodyguards. No one can get close enough. No one can do it. No one but you. You could save all the humans here. You could stop countless others from being stolen.’
‘How?’ I ask, turning my eyes to his.
Whatever he sees in my face when he looks at me has him going pale and swallowing hard. But there’s also anticipation in his eyes as he glances away toward the fae that he wants me to kill.
‘Use your new skill. Use the gift that I’ve given you,’ he whispers in my ear.
Something pulses inside of me, struggling to be free; power expands and pools and then expands again. It explodes out of me, and I close my eyes. I hear screams all around me that are abruptly cut off. It’s so quick that it takes my breath away.
My eyes reopen, but the room’s gone dark, and all I can hear is the beating of my own heart thudding in my chest.
The torches and candles flicker, and light reappears, but everyone in the room, bar me, Varrik, and the human servants, who are looking around in confusion and fear, is dead.
I look around with wide eyes that find him. ‘Did I …?’
He looks as shocked as I feel for a second, but then he smiles at me with much more warmth and pride. He almost looks excited. ‘Yes, Thalia.’
He looks past me. ‘Knock her out.’
* * *
‘She’s stronger than any I’ve ever seen before.’
I hear their voices. They sound far away at first, and I listen to them drone on, realizing that whoever is speaking is much closer than I thought. My mind is sluggish, not really able to take in what they’re saying properly.
‘The stories of the Harbingers are myths.’
‘They were myths. Until now. Gods, who would have thought that slip of a human would be the one who survived when all the others died in agony when they tried to use it.’
