Page 112 of Tale of the Heart Queen

I cannot pass the role of Primary on to anyone else. Coral said it had to be me. If I don’t ascend, then Heart loses everything.

But his answer is a derisive scoff. “Then you underestimate what I’d do for her, High Priestess.”

I exchange a look with him, reading the sincerity in his eyes, my heart twisting in my chest. There’s a flicker of something in Cloris’s expression before it morphs into a scowl.

Nadir takes another step towards her, and this time, she visibly backs up. “How does one give up one’s role as Primary?”

Cloris blinks several times before she recovers. Nadir has completely thrown her off with his reaction. She expected him to balk at giving up his crown, but I also can’t help but wonder if he understands what he’s doing.

She clears her throat. “You will have to ask the Torch when the bonding is performed.”

Nadir looks back at me, seeking confirmation that I’m done with my questions.

I swallow a ball of tension in my throat. “And that’s everything?” I ask again. “The full extent of it?”

“That is everything,” Cloris says, holding out her hand. “Now, I will take the ark. And I will consider performing the ceremony for you once you find me the ark of Heart.”

I glare at her, and then I hold out the ark of Aphelion. The black stone glitters in the light, and I can feel its power even if it isn’t mine. She studies me, her calculating gaze sweeping me from head to toe. She will do everything to ruin me. I can see it written on her face. No matter what she says, she harbors centuries of anger towards my grandmother, and I will be the culmination of her revenge. This witch already tried to steal me, and when that didn’t work, she used every resource she could to get at me.

She reaches for the ark, and I allow her hand to close over it as a light of triumph sparks in her eyes. But I hang on to it, and she looks up at me, her face twisting into a frown.

With Nadir standing at my back, ready to offer his control, I unleash my magic, a lightning bolt slamming into her chest as the room explodes. Books fly from shelves as they collapse into splinters. Cloris screams and bends at the waist, clutching herself.

Fury curdles in my limbs as I filter more magic into her body while Nadir’s magic curls around mine, keeping it in check. Just barely. I want Cloris Payne to understand everything I’m capable of.

She groans and wails, rolling on the ground, just like when I attacked her as a child. This time, I feel no remorse or guilt about my actions. She is responsible for everything that happened to me and my siblings. To my parents. I ended up in the Trials because of her. Rion killed my parents because of her.

She could have let us live in peace, but she dragged us out into the world and played with our lives for her own benefit. We will find another way to complete the bond. I’ll be damned if I let this monster take another thing from me.

Magic funnels into her body, charring her from the inside out and frying her to a crisp. I don’t kill her—I’m not sure I even can after what happened last time, so I pull my magic back because I don’t want to kill her. I want her to live knowing that I am stronger. That I could have destroyed her, but I’m choosing to allow her to live. Let her goddess punish her for failing her yet again. Those two deserve each other.

As I stare about the ruined study, my breath drags in on a ragged gasp. Surveying the spoils of my destruction, I feel only grim satisfaction.

When my magic cuts off, I stalk towards her and stand over her broken body, ash falling over her like snow. A crash signals the collapse of the far wall, exposing us to the outside air. As tendrils of hair whip across my cheeks, I don’t even blink as I glare at her.

She looks up at me and groans, her blackened fingers reaching for me, her chest rattling with a dry breath.

“That’s for everything. For telling Rion and Atlas about me. For trying to use me. For every moment of misery that me and my siblings lived in Nostraza.”

I crouch down and get in her face, dropping my voice to a deadly whisper.

“Don’t ever think you have power over me, Cloris Payne. I will fucking ruin you if you hurt anyone I love ever again.”

Then I stand up slowly as she blinks—the stark contrast of her eyes against her blackened skin is positively ghoulish. She moans, the sound withered and cracked, and I try to summon up an ounce of remorse.

“Do you understand me?”

She whimpers, but I see the defeat enter her eyes. The understanding that she’s been bested, once and for all.

“Stay away from me,” I say. “From my mate and my family.”

Then I spin around, take Nadir’s hand, and we exit the room, closing the door on Cloris Payne for the very last time.

CHAPTER 41

GABRIEL

With my hands behind my back, I stand outside the aviary, staring across Ouranos. Clouds roll in overhead, thunder churning in the distance. Why is it always raining lately? Combined with the heat, it’s so humid that even my bones feel like they’re sweating. A scuffle at the door draws my attention to Hylene, who stands with one hand propped on the frame.