His voice, when it came, was strangled. “What did you do?”
“Sebastian–”
And then he exploded.
“What the hells have you done to me?” he roared, as he spun and closed the gap between them, his crimson flaring up his arms. “Where are my scars? Where are they?”
She backed up fast to put distance between them, stumbling slightly, until her shoulders hit the tree.
Oh.
And suddenly she saw it. What everyone else now saw when they looked at Sebastian Thorne. What they feared.
A killer.
But just as her panic spiked, he stopped. Didn’t come closer. Didn’t put his hands on her. He stood there, magic spitting off him in violent crimson sparks. The heat of it seared her skin. His fists were rigid at his sides, but they were trembling. Kara could tell it was only sheer willpower holding him still. She had never seen him look so terrifying.
He could kill me. Right now. Easily.
If anyone else had erased his scars, violated his body in that way, she did not think he would have found the restraint–
They would not still be standing.
She stammered. “I–I didn’t mean to–”
“You erased everything I survived!” he snarled. “Every mark I earned! Everythingyou didn’t like.”
The accusation shocked her. She hadn’t done it on purpose.
“I was trying to help,” she shouted desperately. “You were seizing! The mind magic hurt you. Ihadto heal you, I didn’t know it would–”
“You stripped me,” he hissed. “Do you even understand what those scars meant?”
She did. Every mark was a battle. Proof of survival. A piece of his history written on his skin. And she’d erased it all.
“It was an accident,” Kara cried, tears spilling. “My magic went out of control. I swear, I tried to stop it – I know what they meant–”
“You were only healing pain you caused,” Sebastian spat, his face now inches from hers, rage barely controlled. “You bound me. Violated me. Hurt me. Don’t you dare call it kindness.”
“I’m not,” she said through her tears. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Sebastian! For all of it.”
For a moment, there was only silence, his gaze burning into her. Then he hissed, “Not good enough, Kara.”
That hit something sharp inside of her. But then her anger flared in return. She shoved him away from her, harder than she meant to.
“We’re only here,” she snapped, “because you decided to play the hero.”
The force of it rocked him back a step, his boots scraping in the dirt. But he looked more shocked than angry. He clearly hadn’t expected her to fight him. His crimson fizzled out.
“You didn’t tell anyone. Not me. Not the Council. You took the Shards, lit the world on fire, and expected us to understand afterwards?” She carried on, unable to stop herself. “People have died because of what you’ve done.”
He stared at her like he’d never seen her before. When he spoke again, the words were quiet. “I tried to warn them. Do you think I wanted this?” he asked. “To be hunted? Hated? To have innocent blood on my hands?”
“No, I don’t,” Kara said fiercely. “But would you rather I’d accepted the Council’s orders without question? Taken you back to the City? They would do so much worse to you. Just like you said.”
He faltered. The fear he was trying so hard to bury flashing across his face.
“They say a ‘trial,’” she added bitterly, “but we both know what the sentence would have been.”
