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My eyes zone out on the floor as I press my lips together. “Not everything.”
Meg swarms through my legs as I breathe, trying to slow my heart.
“Okay… let's talk it through. We need a plan.”
Rage flares in an instant, all consuming as I level him in a lethal glare. “We're well past plans, Brenn.”
“Calm down,” he says, coming a bit closer but keeping his distance.
“I'll calm down when my mate's head isn't on a chopping block.”
A smirk tilts his lips and that only makes my blood boil more.“Your mate, huh? He has to survive long enough to finish the bond first.”
I meet his eyes, fury coursing through me. “Then we'll make it happen. I don't care if I have to get electrocuted or get shoved off a mountain. I want King Everand's head on a pike, that crown off his head, and Loric out of the dungeon. He's been in shackles enough for one lifetime.”
Brenn's lips pull into a wide smile. “Yes,Your Majesty.”His face softens as he joins me on the bed. “It’s in your blood. The furies didn’t know how to lead when they built this place but people just followed them because it felt right. You on that throne feels right, and I’m not just saying that because Mira’s life depends on it.”
“I hope you’re right. And I really hope Asmo was wrong about me possibly not being able to shift.” My voice is so silent, I’ve given myself whiplash. My heart is out for blood, it wants to keep them safe, but my mind is terrified of going through what Brenn did… “Do you remember it? Falling?”
“No.” He grips my hand. “That’s a lie, I do, but I’d do it again. It gave me her, and she might grind every one of my gears, and I hers, but if being pushed off the moon meant saving her, I'd jump.”
Sucking in a deep breath, I nod. “So it was the edge of the moon, then, not a mountain.”
“Not a mountain.” He smiles at me then tugs me to my feet. “Come on, Your Majesty, let’s get your wings.”
Chapter 38
Calamty
“Why falling?” I ask while Brenn leads me through the castle.
“Fear is one of the strongest emotions you can experience and that’s likely why you started to experience it in the market. You felt so strongly about seeing Asmo that it forced your dragon out to protect you. If you fall, theyhaveto take over or you’ll die.” His steps are so long, I have to take two to his one. He’s not as tall as Loric, but still easily a foot or so taller than I am.
“Then why lightning? The instructors suggested it. There’s no fear or emotions that come with that beyond pain.” He presses me flat against the wall as the guards pass through the space we’re about to enter. Brenn raises a finger, silently telling me to stay quiet.
Once they pass, oblivious to us, he nudges me forward. “Lightning causes your body to go into shock, your fight or flight instincts kick in and forces the change, but it leads to more complications than falling. It can literally melt your brain or turnyour organs to mush if used too many times. Your body can’t heal from it fast enough. So, it’s only used for criminals.”
I stop, jerking him to halt as we start to descend the stairwell. “Criminals…”
He tugs me forward, urging me down the steps. Our feet rush over the concrete stairs as he speaks, “Yeah, they execute us by forcing the shift and clipping our wings. They push us off the edge and we fall to our deaths.”
“But you didn’t die,” I say over my shoulder.
“I wasn’t a criminal. I shifted on the way down, just not fast enough. My wings were shred to bits from the force, but it slowed me down enough to survive it.”
The second we hit the ground floor, we’re out the door. We take nothing with us, not even Meg–she’s safer here–and Brenn leads me around the side of the castle.
“My father pushed me off the ledge countless times, but he always caught me. Then one day, he didn’t, but other’s go through it all the time and get their wings. So, if you’re freaking out, you should be. There won’t be anyone to catch you. I don’t have my wings and King Everand took my only alternative, but easily half of those who get pushed off get their wings on the first try.”
Half… “Those aren’t great odds.”
He stops, peering through a cluster of crystals that jut from the side of the castle. “Yeah, well it’s either that or mate King Everand.”
“There isn’t a choice.” There’s no contesting it. He senses that as he stiffens, a silent understanding passing between us.
“Loric wouldn’t ask you to risk your life,” he whispers, his eyes leaving mine.
“He wouldn’t want me agreeing to the king either. I can’t let him die. Not when there’s something I could’ve done to stop it.”
