“What did you do?” I demand, fists clenched, every part of me trembling.
Her mouth slowly splits into a terrifying grin as she takes in the scales on the backs of her hands.
“You should know better than anyone, Aurora,” she says, still grinning when she meets my eye. “You are what you eat.”
And she’s eaten Dragon.
Talon hangs there, pale and broken, his chin tipped forward, skin slick with sweat and blood.
I rush to him.
But I’m not sure he even sees me.
His eyes flutter open, dazed, unfocused. His lips part like he wants to speak, but nothing comes out.
Blood still drips from the puncture marks on his neck. The orange light between Talon’s scales has dulled and dissipated. I touch his chest gingerly, confirming my fear. He’s cooled.
I whirl around when Mal steps closer. She’s not afraid. Not rushed. She knows. She knows I can’t touch her. Not now. Not with her skin blazing and my power unable to sink its fangs into her.
“I regret it, you know.” Her voice stays soft, a lullaby against the scream building in my chest. “Punishing you for your father’s sins. I thought it would satisfy something in me. But all it did was waste time.” Her hand drifts lazily through the air, sparks trailing from her fingertips. “No matter. I’ll correct the mistake soon enough. He’ll know the pain of losing everything. Like I did.”
Fuck. I instinctively reach back to touch Talon. His arm is cold, but he groans at the contact. He’s still with me.
Hang on, baby, I’ve got you.
“But you could have your life back.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying,” she says, toying with the words, “I could take the gift back.”
“Gift?” The word curdles in my mouth until my lips twist.
“No more hunger.” Mal speaks so evenly, as if she’s completely in control of everything. “No more deaths on yourconscience. No more shame. No more strangers. No more feeding. And I could make you more. Like him.” She gestures to Talon. “Like me. Then you would be free to touch who you want. Free to love who you want. Without burning. Without fear.”
The offer hits me square in the chest.
No more hunger. No more bodies. No more curse. No more strangers in dark rooms. I could touch Talon without gloves. Kiss him without restraint. Love him without fear. I would be just a regular girl in Boston working at the bar with her friends.
For one aching, terrible heartbeat, I want to say yes.
Mal sees it in my face. Her mouth curves with indulgence. “We could take them all down together. The Rosari who kept you locked away. The Midnight Kingdom who cast me out. Wipe the slate clean. Build something new from the ashes.”
But I see Talon's Dragon power burning through her veins like poison. She’s not free. She’s trapped by her hate of my father, my parents. She’s living in the past.
“I’ve already been building something new,” I say, my voice soft but steady. “Without burning the world down. Without becoming like you.”
Her smile falters. “You think this life you scraped together matters? You think those girls care? You think he—” She gestures to Talon like he’s nothing, like he hasn’t bled and burned for me. “—can save you from what you are?”
“No.” I lift my chin. “But I can.”
For the first time, I see her clearly. And I don’t envy her. I don’t hate her. I pity her. “I don’t want to tear it down. I want to build something better. I already am.”
All kindness falls away like a veil dropping until hate gleams from her eyes. “Then starve, little princess.”
She turns. Walks away without fear, without hurry. Because in her mind, she’s already won.
And Talon hangs by a thread behind me.
