AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I told her about Cyrene appearing, threatening my family yet again. I told her about Rainier’s promise that I could inherit the kingdom if I would turn to the light, and how his people were trying to save the Conjurite.
Aggie listened quietly until I was finished. For some reason, the darkness stayed away long enough, too.
“It’s pretty dire, huh?” I finally said when Agatha didn’t reply right away. “You don’t even have a response.”
“I do have one,” she said. “You might not agree with me.”
“What?”
“I’d celebrated my hundred-and-third birthday just before you were born, and I was so excited to have a little brother.” She smiled, becoming nostalgic. “When Mom went into labor, it took nearly two days for you to come. You took your sweet time and put her through hell.” She laughed, and her laughter was bright and cheerful, like chimes in the wind. “When you finally came, it was with such a force of power that it rattled the house to its very foundations. Your power was incredible—more powerful than anything the Fae had seen in a long, long time.”
It was the reason Falx and Lavinia had come for me. I only knew now that it had been by order of the Dark Goddess, and not because they’d wanted that power for themselves, although they’d enjoyed it as their own for a long time.
“That power is what will save you, Erol,” Aggie finished. “Don’t lose hope.”
“My power is what will kill me,” I clapped back. “It’s what’s keeping me here, twisted and bound to the darkness, doomed to live the rest of my life in the shadows without a kingdom of my own, without people I care about, without—”
I cut myself short before saying Hazel’s name. It had been on the tip of my tongue, but I wouldn’t talk about her.
The anger appeared again, rearing its ugly head. “I don’t want it gone, anyway,” I sneered. “The darkness is what gives me my power. Why would I give that up? I’d be a fool. It would be easier to grow stronger and take what’s mine from Rainier rather than wait for him to give it to me on his terms. I’m not a child, waiting for a reward!” I slammed my fist onto the desk so hard, the wooden top cracked.
Agatha stared at me, terrified.
Good, she feared me.
“You should run while you still can,” I said in a low, threatening voice.
She stood, and she looked like she was going to follow my advice. She didn’t. Instead, she forced herself to stay put.
“I know you’re used to driving everyone away—or hurting them—but I’m not going anywhere. I’ll always be here for you, no matter what.”
That drove its way through the darkness and stabbed me in the chest. I wanted to scream. I wanted to cry. I wanted to break things—I wanted to breakher. I wanted to confide in her, pour out my heart and soul to her.
I wanted her to know about Hazel, about the future I was terrified of never getting, of the pain and the hurt I caused that made me feel guilty every day…
I wanted to scream at her and punish her and make it so that she never came back to tell me the life I’d chosen wasn’t worth it, because the power I wielded was all that mattered, and I had it all at my fingertips.
My head spun with the back and forth—it had never been this bad.
Hurting Agatha would kill me, though.
Telling her how I felt about Hazel would only make things worse. She was another part of the life I would never have.
“I know you have what it takes to break free,” Agatha said, her voice trembling but her face determined. “Even if you don’t know it yet. You didn’t witness the power that shook this earth when you were born. And Cyrene might be a force to be reckoned with, but so is Terra. You’re going to make it out alive, brother—we all are. We’ll bring you home, and we’ll see you happy yet.”
I smiled at her, but it was a bitter, twisted snarl. It was pathetic of her to hope, to dream. I hated it. I was jealous of it. I didn’t have the courage to crush it.
I didn’t know how it could be, though. Cyrene had a hold on me—she would kill my family if I did anything she didn’t like. If I stayed in the darkness, my family would live, and the rest of the world could continue on to live lives that were riddled with light.
It was a sacrifice I had to make. Cyrene wanted everyone to herself, but as long as she had me, maybe the rest of the people could go free.
Even Hazel.
Thinking about it made me ache. I wished things could be different. This sacrifice was my burden to bear, and I wished it on no one else.
Agatha put her hand on mine, and the darkness recoiled. I yanked my hand back. She dropped her hand, and her face remained expressionless.
“Promise me you’ll come see us more often, or let us come to see you,” she said. “There’s no reason not to, now that Falx is gone.”
