AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Right,” I said. “Unfortunately for you, you were much closer to the secret this whole time. I’m right here,” I said with my hands out. “I’ve been right in front of you this entire time!”
Alek shook his head. “I don’t understand.”
My entire world crumbled where I stood. All of the secrets I held, all of the years I spent alone, the days I had spent chained in the basement—they meant nothing anymore. What was the point?
Keeping those secrets got me nowhere. I had been so careful. So obedient.
Yet here I was. I had nothing else to lose. I had nothing else to give.
“I’m the secret,” I breathed. Defeat weighed down each of my limbs. I wasso tiredof keeping the secret. “My blood opens the veil.”
Alek’s brows drew together.What will he do now?I wondered.Is he still willing to take my secret straight to his father?
“Your blood is the key?” he asked.
I nodded. “Now you know. If you want to take me as a prisoner and gift me to your father, go right ahead.” Tears I had been fighting spilled down my face. “I don’t care anymore, Alek. Theia was right.”
“Right about what?” He stepped forward.
“My life has one purpose. My blood is my destiny. I don’t deserve a life like everyone else. If this is my fate, so be it.” Bitter, dark hatred crept into my chest. Not at Alek, although I knew I should hate him more than anyone. I hated her. “Better you than her.”
A sob wrecked through my body.
Alek closed the distance between us, holding my face with both hands and forcing me to look at him. “Don’t say that,” he said. “That’s not true. This doesn’t have to be your life, Lyra. Not if you don’t want it to be.”
“Don’t you see?” I questioned with a pathetic laugh. “I am theonly onewho can open the veil. If I am hidden, the veil stays closed. If you bleed me out right now and use my blood to open it, it’s for the best. At least I won’t have to go back there.”
“Back where?”
“Back withher.”
“She hurts you, doesn’t she?” he asked. “Your mother is the one who gave you those scars.”
I didn’t have to answer. I shut my eyes, shielding myself from the pity I knew would be lingering on his face.
“Come with me,” he pushed. “Come with me and we’ll figure all of this out. You’ll be safe from my father, and you’ll be safe from Theia.”
My eyes shot open as I backed out of his grasp. “No,” I pushed. “I’m not going anywhere with you. Not after this.”
“Lyra, please,” he pleaded.
A flash of light surrounded us, making Alek and I both jump where we stood. “What the hell was that?” he asked.
But I knew. I had seen that white flash of emotion come from my mother one too many times.
The sound of traffic in the distance halted. Not a single bird chirped. Not a flicker of wind blew.
“She’s here,” I whispered. Icy, paralyzing fear I had never felt before rushed through me. “She’s here,” I whispered again.
I was frozen, unable to explain further. Unable to run. Unable to tell Alek to run.
I snapped my vision around us, looking for any sign. “She’s come for me,” I whispered. I could feel Alek’s confusion as the light around us became brighter. I looked until it became blinding; Alek and I both hid our eyes at the last second.
Alek grabbed my wrist and pulled me closer to him. As if that would stop her.
I heard her before I saw her. “Hello, daughter,” Theia said. “It seems you have been a very,verybad listener.”
I froze where I stood. This was the end. Every moment in the last month, every taste of freedom. It had all led to this. I knew it was coming. Only a fool would think she could escape Theia’s tight grasp.
