He scoffed. “I’m never wrong.”
“We aren’t leaving this mountain together. One of us is going to die, and I have every intention of it being you.”
He started laughing. “What the fuck are you on about? I trained you myself. I taught you everything you know. Do you really think I would have let you live if you were stronger than me? You can’t beat me, and I never thought you were stupid enough to think you could. Even if you’re more powerful than your siblings, you’re still weaker than me, son. I’m the strongest in our family by a landslide.”
“You’re wrong again.” I said it calmly as I felt his anger radiate toward me, as I welcomed it. For my mother. Foreveryone he’s ever hurt. “Our mother was the strongest in our family.”
“You’re mother was soft and—”
“She was strong enough to last in a marriage to you and even stronger for still finding love with someone else despite it.” His crooked smile started to vanish. He never knew my mother had an affair, and I was going to fucking savor it.
“What did you just say?” His voice lowered.
“You heard me.” I took a step toward him, then another and another, until I was standing next to him on the mountain. I let the words sink in. Let him figure out what I meant as I kept staring into his cold, dead eyes.
After a minute of stunned silence, I spoke again, letting my body flare in golden spirals as I slipped the ring over my finger. “I’m not your son,” I said. “And you didn’t teach me everything I know.”
SEVENTY-FOUR
SCOTLIND
Hours had passed,and I had no idea how either of them were continuing to fight. I could feel every power being wielded by the King. Despite not having his prisoners to steal from anymore, he was just as strong, still taking too much to be natural that my enhancement was repulsed by him.
But I could also feel Tezya. I could feel his flames. They were hotter than I had ever felt before. They were burning through everything, burning through whatever abilities the King threw at him. But they were also burning through him, through his very soul, dwindling his reserves as he began to take from an endless well.
“We need to get closer.” I turned toward Brock and Sie. “Please. He’s going to die.”
“He told us to stay hidden until he needs us,” Sie said while Brock stayed silent.
“But he does need us. He needs us now!”
“I left a connection open between us. Tezya will let me know if he wants backup, but he hasn’t reached out, Scottie. He’s fine—”
“Fine?” I spat. “He’s dying, Sie. If you know Tezya at all, you’d know he won’t ever tell you.”
His dark eyes met mine before he turned back to stare at the mountain range. He ran his fingers through his long locks and continued to pace. I needed his compulsion off. I needed to be closer to Tezya. He didn’t stop me from using my abilities, which was why I was subconsciously hearing everything through Tezya’s heightened senses, but he compelled me not to leave the mountain I was on. The only problem was, we were five mountains away from Mount Pylemo. I couldn’t do anything else from this distance but listen to Tezya struggle, and it was going to kill me along with him.
I turned to Brock instead. “Brock, please. Tezya is going to die if I don’t do something. He’s wearing the ring, and he’s going through his reserves too fast. He won’t last long enough for the King’s powers to wear off.”
The plan was for Tezya to distract the King until he was fighting without any stolen powers. We didn’t delude ourselves into thinking that just because we freed everyone in the dungeons, he’d stop stealing abilities. We knew he most likely found other powerful Advenians by now. But we prayed if we timed it right, they could start their fight on the cusp of his twenty-four period. It was why he waited so long to find him, but it wasn’t going to work. He wasn’t going to last another hour at best with how much power he was exuding. And deep down, I knew the prophecy wouldn’t let that be an option. Standing on the Temples, I could feel it, feel the Goddesses. Whatever the riddle meant was going to come true one way or another.
Tears were streaming down my face and blurring my vision. “You’re going to have to release me from this compulsion sooner or later. This isn’t about me being selfish. We’re going to lose our only chance at killing the King. Tezya’s going to die, whichmeans I’ll be the only person left alive to take him on, and that’s only if I can manage to get the ring. And besides that, who’s to say Tezya’s fire won’t die with him? And if by some miracle it doesn’t and I can still access it, I don’t even know how to harness it. I’ve never trained with his fire before. If you let Tezya die right now, that’s it, we lose. But if you let me go, I can help. I can save Tezya. I know I can. He can’t do this alone despite what he thinks.” No one said anything, the only sounds were distant and coming from Tezya and the King… “Please, just trust me.”
Sie ran his fingers through his hair again, but at my words he stopped pacing and turned to face me. “Trust you? The last time you said that you ran off and let yourself get caught.”
“I did that to save you, Sie, and we all got out eventually.”
He ignored me and went back to pacing.
I screamed as Tezya’s agony shot through me. Pain unlike anything I’d ever felt was coursing through our bond.
“He’s killing him.” I fell to the ground, my knees slamming against the bare rock. “He’s going to die.” I looked up and saw a vision of blurry brown and gold and knew I was staring at Brock, but I couldn’t make out his expression through my sobs. I couldn’t focus on anything.
“Dovelyn won’t forgive you,” I begged and pleaded with him. “And I won’t either. I won’t forgive you—either of you. I won’t ever forgive you for this.”
Strong arms grabbed my forearms and pulled me up. Then rough fingers scraped against the underside of my eyes, wiping my tears away until I stared into onyx ones—Sie. “What’s your plan then?”
Sie teleportedme halfway down the slope of Mount Pylemo, then teleported Brock and himself to the top where Tezya and the King were fighting by the ruins.
