Page 104

Adrian smirked. “You have ten seconds to pull that trigger before we play this my way.”

I hesitated.

“Ten . . .”

Pull the trigger, Bryn.

“Nine . . .”

Pull the fucking trigger, Bryn.

“Eight . . .”

But none of this makes any sense. Why would he betray his people like this?

“Seven . . .”

The landscape around us changed to fields of lavender. The pungent odor of eggs replaced by the aroma of summer and sweetness.

“Six . . .”

Niall and Hunter are dead because of him. Pull the fucking trigger!

“Five . . .” he growled.

He never stopped visiting my parents after everyone thought I was dead.

“Four . . .”

I don’t want anything from you. I just want you.

Three . . .”

A piece of lavender caressed my cheek as wind blew past me.

“Two . . .” he whispered, his voice gentle as he stood directly in front of me. The tip of my barrel touching his chest.

“Adrian, please.”

“One.”

He swiped the gun from my hands, crumpling it to ash, as he brought his mouth down over mine.

This Adrian wasn’t patient or kind. He was demanding and cruel.

His hands came around my neck, his thumbs pushing into my windpipe.

I beat against his chest, tearing my lips from his.

“Adrian,” I choked out, flailing my limbs as his grip tightened, my feet dangling above the ground.

The rotten odor and purple skies were back. The beautiful aroma of lavender gone.

I tried to wrestle against him, but struggled. I’d been given the opportunity to end him and protect the realms, and I had failed.

I was going to die. And my power was never going to be restored. All the while, the real Adrian was out there, holding the key to destroying mankind.

I panicked, kicking out one final time.