And yet, the worst part about all of this was that she believed him.And believing the words of Draevyn Rowe was what got her in this entire mess in the first place.
“That day you walked into my chambers, what you saw was a man compelled beneath a siren’s song. That kiss was at no will of mine.”
The moment the words left his mouth, a blistering silence filled her ears. Rage pulsated through Esmyra’s veins like a venomous acid, searing through her. It surged up from her gut like a tidal wave cracking against her ribs, a hot and bitter flood that stole her breath and replaced it with flames—Draevyn’s flames.
That kiss. That betrayal. That blade to her heart that shattered her love into a thousand pieces… None of it was real.
Her sister’s sweet smile had only been a mask of benevolence the entire time. And she had committed the ultimate betrayal by playing puppet master to the man Esmyra had been falling in love with.
Her throat burned as lightning danced beneath her flesh in silver veins of light, her power twitching along her limbs.
Draevyn sat beneath her in silence, watching her as her mind worked through everything he’d been trying to say.
Their time in Maerinys played through her mind. Every encounter she had with Draevyn, Syrena, them together, and everything in between. He had constantly tried to warn her that something wasn’t right, but her desire and need to find where she belonged blinded her to the strange new world that oddly felt like home. Her sister had entrapped him in a velsinyte cuff until the night before his betrayal.
The morning he shattered her heart, his magic was free, but so was his mind. It was wide open for a siren to take. With that cuff, he was powerless, but Syrena also wouldn’t have been able to compel him.
For Maerinys will not be raised by blood alone, but by strength, unity, and sacrifice. That was what Syrena had announced to their people the night before everything went to shit. Was Draevyn the sacrifice made to get Esmyra to where she needed to be? To trigger that rage and power to raise the kingdom from the depths?
“Wildfire…”
“You’re saying Syrena compelled you?” she cut him off, hervoice shaking. “You’re saying you had no choice?” She needed him to say it again. She needed to hear the words and the truth in them.
His gaze held hers, unflinching. And that only made it worse.
Draevyn swallowed. “Syrena made me believe she was you. When I looked down at her, golden hair turned to waves of midnight. Amber eyes morphed to vibrant blues. I thought I was holdingyouin my arms.” He paused for a moment. “It was as if I held my entire world.”
Those words may as well have been a velsinyte bullet straight through her immortal heart.
Esmyra felt betrayed all over again, but not by him, or even Syrena, butherself.
“And then you walked through those doors, and everything shattered,” he continued. “The compulsion’s trance, your heart, and mine. It felt like the world crumbled beneath me, and I lost you before you were ever truly mine.”
Tears stung the back of Esmyra’s eyes, her lower lip trembling.
“And when you ran away, she made sure I couldn’t get the truth to you. I can only imagine the lies and the way she twisted everything when she spoke of this. Syrena turned you against me. Syrena—” He broke off, his jaw clenched. “Syrena used me to break you. She said so herself, and it was her plan all along. She needed me to get you right where she needed you.”
Esmyra’s mouth parted, but no words came out.
“And when I woke up in that cave, I swore to every wretched fucking god who had ever wronged you that I would do whatever it took to get you back. To save you from what Syrena had planned,” he admitted.
“You woke up in the cave?” she asked in a whisper.
He nodded. “She made sure I never had time to speak with you. I woke up in the dark and was forced to fight my way through grindylows to escape.”
Those bloody boot prints. Esmyra remembered what she’d seen at the cave’s entrance, assuming the blood was that of her crew. But it wasDraevyn’s.
“All I could focus on was getting you back,” he started again. “But then my father murdered yours. And since then, I thought… maybe I’d get a chance to explain everything before you carved out my heart.” The agony in his voice was painstakingly raw. “But even if I didn’t, I would welcome death by your hands. The world has taken so much from you, Esmyra. All I want is for you to take whatever you can back.”
She couldn’t look at him. If she thought she was overwhelmed before, that didn’t even compare to now. Everything became entirely too much. She tried to twist free of him again, her hands braced on his chest to shove off, but of course he wouldn’t let her.
“You’re the reason my father is dead,” she whispered, her mind racing as she desperately searched for more reasons to hate him.
“I know,” he admitted, and she nearly choked on a sob. “How did you find out about his death?”
“I was there.”
His eyes flared wide, embers crackling in the irises.
