“Where will you take them?” I ask, unable to let the tension simmer any longer.
“It’s best you don’t know.” Kalan’s words are sure but not unkind.
“But then, how will we find them? After—” My eyes flash between Kalan and Elex, my heart pulsing, and with every beat,it shouts at me that I will never see my children again. Because, looking at Elex now, I realise that he hasn’t been clear with me.
“They will be safe, Aerith.” But his words don’t placate me, and I tear myself away from his side.
“That isn’t enough.” A bolt of energy radiates out from me, knocking them both back, and I immediately pull in on myself, forcing my power to stay locked away. Drawing it back.
Elex shakes his head. I know he hates it when I do this. When I hide what I’m capable of. That’s a part of the problem—that we are the most powerful—and together pose a threat to everything in Kirrasia. Or at least, the way it has been run and ruled over the centuries.
His green eyes lock with mine, and despite everything, they spark the magic between us that’s always been there. Not the magic that flows within us from Aslendrix, but that feeling I only ever get when I look at him. Adrenalin and courage and lust and heat, mixing with the very essence of me until I don’t know where he ends and I begin. And now, those same green eyes are reflected in the two precious bundles that I’d do anything to protect.
Tears prick my own eyes as he pleads with me, with nothing but that look, to hear him—to support him—even if it means making the biggest sacrifice imaginable.
“Once we have The Chamber, things might be different.” His words are appeasing, but I know better. He’s grasping.
I shake my head. “How, Elex? We might be powerful, but we can’t outnumber the Kirrian army. We have friends and family, but we can’t ask them to fight. Or fight against them.”
“We can and they will. This isn’t just about us. This is about everything that is unjust in our land. Our power shouldn’t prevent us from being with who we love. Just like others’ power shouldn’t relegate them to being outcasts to watch over Sunatoraor Nehandun, in the name of protecting the power everyone here clings to. Don’t you see?”
“Yes, but?—”
“No! We’ve been over this. They would all see us banished and our children murdered if it meant keeping their own place. Their own power. We are a threat. Not just the power we wield, but what we stand for.” His words grow louder and harsher, and with them, curls and tendrils of darkness creep out to gather every scrap and shard of light in their path, pulling it in and extinguishing it.
“Elex. Calm,” I warn, keeping my attention on where his shadows venture.
“Elex,” Kalan flashes his gaze between my husband and me, hoping to draw his attention.
Elex’s power has always taken this form. Stealing and absorbing anything in its path. The potential destruction has been feared by many as much as it’s been coveted. I have been the only one to draw him out and to rival him—my own magic able to power his. “I’ll take them through the forest. We’ll be safe. No one will come after us.”
Kalan’s change of topic is enough to settle Elex’s magic, but it only terrifies me.
“And then?” I choke.
But he shakes his head. He won’t tell me.
“Promise me, Kalan. On everything you deem sacred—on the forest, on the Jarkoreth, on your own family, promise me.” I grab his arm, digging my fingers into his forearm. I know he’ll fight it, but there’s nothing he can do to protect himself against me. The energy inside of me flows, running as freely as the blood in my veins, seeking, working its own energy through our connection and into Kalan, pulling the essence of his power from him. It’s the same with every Natural I touch. Worse if they are powerful.
He looks at me, his jaw set and his face rigid with pain. “I promise,” he stutters. “They will be safe.”
one
. . .
Ever
The light in his eyes fades. I see it happen, even in the gloom of my cell, and it sends a wave of dread through me. Poisoning my stomach, paralysing my heart.
He’s dead. Murdered.
And the murderer is still standing over us.
“If it’s any consolation, he did like you, but he chose to betray you long before he met you. Although, I doubted he’d have the guts to go through with it.” The stranger paces with a confidence that is as terrifying as what I just witnessed.
“Why did you murder him? He didn’t deserve that,” I cry.
“Maybe. But he betrayed you for his own reasons, as you heard. Seems like the grudge he held was pretty solid. And I couldn’t risk him going rogue. He knows too much.”
