I hear a loud groan coming from near the block of ice, and I spot Adrian Capulet. His father is dead, and I’m not sure where his loyalties lie. He’s around the same age as me, just a couple of years younger, and I wonder if he grew up under the same pressures.
Maybe he hates me. I was raised to be second, rather than him, and maybe he envies me for that. It doesn’t matter now, but I wonder if he loathed me, or if he wanted me to lead.
Seeing as he’s still breathing, maybe I should ask him.
I dart across the carnival towards him, and he looks like he’s bleeding pretty severely.
“Hey,” I say, walking towards him. “Do you need medical attention?”
“I’m fine,” he grits out. His skin is covered in dirt and blood, the blonde of his hair coated with ash.
“Look, you can hate me all you want, but I’d rather get you the help you need,” I say, and he shakes his head, tears streaming down his face.
“I don’t hate you, Tempest, but my father is dead. I know you hated yours, but… I couldn’t find it in my heart to hate mine,” he says, his voice shaky and broken.
“I’m sorry,” I reply, because that's all I really can say.
“I knew what he did to people, and I didn’t stop him, so maybe I deserve this. I’m just as much a monster as they were.”
“No. No, that’s not true. You couldn’t stop them, there was no way,” I say, and move to help him up. “What matters now is what we do next. We can forge a better future for the next generations of lupion. We can do it together.”
Yasmeena is coming through the gate from camp and I hail her to come towards us; she can help me carry Adrian to get medical help. She nods, a big smile on her face, and I see something in my peripheral vision.
Aida is slithering towards us, screaming. She’s far away, butshe moves closer, and I gain clarity of what she’s saying. “Tempest, run!”
What? Does she think Adrian is a threat? He can hardly walk.
“Tempest! I had a vision,” she continues to slither closer, but comes to a halt, clearly not wanting to get too close. “You have to?—”
Run.
I can’t hear anything, can’t see anything, my vision completely white, but I know I’m alive. I can feel the beating of my heart in my chest. I can smell the blood and the cold. It’s so unbelievably fucking cold and I want to throw up. My ears are ringing and my head feels like it’s going to explode.
I think something did explode.
Slowly, my senses start to come back to me. The tangy, metallic taste of blood fills my mouth, followed by the sound of voices screaming. Then, I feel hands dragging something heavy off of me.
When my vision finally clears, I realize it’s Adrian.
“What just happened?” I groan, my entire body aching, feeling like I just fell from the top of a building and splattered onto the ground.
“Your ice capsule detonated,” Yasmeena says.
What on Hel?“What do you mean it detonated?”
“There was a flash of lightning and it exploded,” she explains, tears streaming down her face. “I thought you died, but he?—”
I look over at Adrian, whose limp body lies next to me, and sit up. A shard of ice pierces his chest, blood soaking his shirt, and I start to hyperventilate.
If Cain were a better leader, none of this would have happened. I should have never been forced to fight my own, but he left me with no choice. Tears swell in my eyes, and there’s a part of me that wishes I could turn back the clock, but I know this was inevitable. I have always been destiny bound. I just wish Adrian wasn’t caught in thecrossfire.
“Breathe, Tempest, breathe,” Yasmeena says, rubbing my back. “There’s nothing you could’ve done, you didn’t know.”
“The heat from his lightning,” I start, pausing every few words to pant. “Must’ve turned the ice. Into steam. It probably made it. Explode.”
“Breathe, princess,” Yasmeena says, and continues talking to me, her voice calming.
“Where’s Cain?” I ask once my breathing is steady.
