“This is all in your honor, my lords! Because of the success that we’ve had, Aethion is nearly ours. May Lachlan’s blood reign supreme!” Trystan boomed out over the congratulatory cries. Some slapped each other on the back, others raised their glasses. “We must not forget our brother Orion who has dutifully groomed the King of Helia for our bidding.”
Trystan’s eyes met mine.
“Here’s to hoping that the princess will be more biddable than her parents were.”
He smiled.
“I’d hate to dispose of her like I did her mother.”
My world turned upside down as the admission slipped past his lips.
Some men around the table laughed,laughed,like it was some sort of joke. They were talking about the murder of a queen, my mother, and I saw red. Sheer fury like I had never felt before coursed through my veins.
I knew The Horde was responsible for my mother’s death. Of course, I fucking knew that. But I’d never met the person who held the blade. The person responsible. Who knew I was watching, and knew I was too late. It was Trystan. He’d killed my mother and haunted my dreams. For what? And now he was laughing? Saying it at dinner like it was polite small talk? He didn’t care. None of them did. This was who they were. The Horde. Merciless and vicious killers. But what they didn’t know was they had createdme. A monster that vowed to never stop until they were all dead.
I saw Matthew tense out of the corner of my eye, his fingers digging into the goblet of wine in his hand.
A scream rang out down the table as the meals caught fire and burned. Chairs were knocked over as men threw themselves backward and out of the way. I stood from my chair, an inferno burning from my hands, as I towered over Trystan in his chair. My eyes never left his. He was amused, or perhaps, tried to be, but I saw a flicker of fear in his eyes. I held onto that. Let that fear drive me forward. I didn’t care if I didn’t make it out alive, but I’d take as many of them down as I could.
Orion tried to leave the room, but I engulfed him in a circle of flames with the flick of my wrist. He stopped, staring at me in pure horror from where he stood. He knew better than most what happened when my powers exploded like this. There was no stopping now. I couldn’t control it, even if I wanted to. I was far too gone. Drunk on the seduction of my power coursing through the room.
“Youheld the blade that pierced my mother’s heart?” My voice rang out cold. It shattered the windows in the room. I felt the grazing sting of glass as it connected with my body, but I didn’t care. Someone was calling out to me, screaming my name. I could barely hear it over the hum of my magic.
Trystan’s lips curled into a smirk. “You were so panicked as you ran into the room, but you didn’t have the power to stop me. You still don’t.” He stood from the chair, towering over me. I felt his powers, his darkness, crawling over my skin. It pushed and prodded, looking for a way into my mind, but I pushed against it. I fought it. Our magic tangled together, emitting a high-frequency whine that sent the others in the room to their knees.
There was an emotion I’d never known before, mingling with my magic. It was dark, and it welcomed the shadows of Trystan’s powers. It pushed my emotions to new lengths I hadn’t dared to entertain in the past, consuming me whole. This power begged for death. For revenge. And I wanted to oblige.
He killed my mother. This was the man that held the knife.
I would kill him, and I would delight in his death.
“Brother! Stop this madness,” Matthew’s voice shouted above the noise. I risked a glance at him, using wind to knock him backward, but that was a mistake. The next moment, my body was thrown across the room until it connected with the wall. My fire weakening until it eventually went out. I couldn’t see. The room was fuzzy.
Screams rang out across the room as people ran out the doors, but I wasn’t paying attention to them. I scrambled to my feet and called on it again, sending a ball of flame into Trystan.
Matthew rushed to my side, grabbing my face in his hands. I tried to twist away, but his grip on me was solid. “Are you alright?” His voice was filled with anguish. He leaned his head to touch mine briefly before releasing me. There wasn’t anything I could say. A gust of wind pinned Matthew to the wall, and he fought it. He was powerful, but at this moment? He had nothing on me.
I looked back toward his supposed brother. Trystan’s body had landed on the ground. The smell of burning flesh filled my nostrils as I stepped closer to inspect the damage.
He writhed on the ground but was healing fast. Much too fast, even for a Fae. I readied another ring of fire, surrounding him as he got to his feet.
“Well, well, well,” he said as he surveyed the damage done to the room, his eyes coming back to rest on me. “Looks like you’re going to be a challenge.”
I smirked. “You have no fucking idea.”
The words had barely left my lips when I felt a heavy object connect with my head. My knees hit the ground with a thud, and I looked up to see Orion standing over my body. I thought he had fled, but it seemed he had just gone in search of a weapon to incapacitate me. Sentries stormed into the room and grabbed Matthew’s arms, restraining him as he fought against them.
Trystan rose from the ground, his injuries nearly healed. My vision was blurring rapidly, but I fought to keep my eyes open.
“You bastard! Let her go!” Matthew screamed.
“Dear brother, do you not want her to know of your betrayal? How you captured her, hoping to secure her hand in marriage? To rule her kingdom for me, for us, for our father?” He smiled cruelly. “Although even I could not have predicted the two of you would actually be mates.” He laughed. “What a sick and twisted game this is…” His voice was fading away, but I couldn’t miss the words that came out of his mouth even if I had tried.
My eyes met with Matthew’s for a moment before my vision entirely faded away. I let myself be taken by the darkness, unable to fight, and unsure if I even wanted to.
31
EVA
