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I rubbed at the back of my head, and my hand came away smeared with blood. My rage poured from my skin, and my power sent the metal cages hanging from the ceiling into an eerie dance. I looked around for the person responsible. Erik leaned casually against the far wall, hidden in shadow. I got to my feet, ready to face him once and for all.
Erik walked toward me. He was covered in blood. It was matted in his hair, and it dripped down his chin and the tips of his fingers with every step he took. I couldn’t see any open wounds so I knew the blood must be someone else’s.
“Are you wondering whose blood decorates my body, Rena?” he asked. “I think the color of Julian’s blood looks good against my skin. Don’t you agree?”
I shook my head in denial. I couldn’t believe it. Wouldn’t believe it. I’d know if Julian had been killed, though panic filled my soul at how completely he’d cut himself off from me. Would I have even felt it if he’d fallen? Would I die the same instant he took his last breath?
“I don’t believe you,” I said.
“I haven’t killed him yet. I thought I’d save him for last. He was a very worthy opponent, but as you can see…” He shrugged and more blood spattered from his hands into the air.
My power stirred within me. My dragon coiled tightly. She wanted justice. She wanted to fight. Erik smiled, the blood on his teeth and lips a harsh reminder of what I was fighting for. He was as still as a snake ready to strike. His own power stretched just under the surface. He was waiting for me to make the first move.
There was a blur of movement in front of Erik. It happened so quickly I wasn’t sure if I’d actually seen anything at all. But then I saw a tiny hand holding a heart. A beating heart. Erik’s heart.
Erik was still on his feet. He hadn’t registered what had just happened to him. He looked around in confusion, his eyes already going cloudy with unconsciousness. Esmerelda stepped around from the back of his body where his large frame had been hiding her. She held his heart out and he finally looked at it.
He raised his head sluggishly and opened his mouth to speak. The words wouldn’t come. Esmerelda looked him in the eyes and blew him a kiss of fire. She laughed as he turned to ash.
My mouth hung open in shock. Esmerelda had just killed The Destroyer. And it had been way too easy.
“Get real, Rena. Did you honestly think this idiot was The Destroyer?” she asked. She kicked at his smoldering ashes. “Someone so careless and foolhardy that he had to take the powers of others just to make himself stronger? The true Destroyer needs no one’s powers but her own.”
“How can Erik not be The Destroyer? He told me the story of my father and the woman who pretended to be Claudia so she could give birth to him. Erik fulfilled the Prophecy.”
“I was that woman, Rena. Erik was my son. And I knew from his conception that he’d be necessary for my plan to work. My deception was not easy. I’ve been patient for thousands of years, planned everything to the last detail. I knew from the beginning that Alasdair would get me with child. And I knew I would deliver him a son. Just as I know it is your and Julian’s son who will become The Promised Child. It is why you must both die. But I had to wait for the two of you to join before I could put my plan into action. If the possibility of The Promised Child did not exist between the two of you, then I’d have to wait for another pair of lifemates to come along and put the Prophecy in motion.”
I had a vision of a boy with dark hair and aquamarine eyes, the same little boy I’d seen in the vision I had after Julian and I had first met. I knew she spoke the truth.Our son. I screamed out in protest as the vision faded away and the image of Julian’s torn and bloody body replaced it.
“How can you be The Destroyer?” I asked. “You are not the Descendent of two Drakán. You are Fae.”
“I told you that Prophecies were vague. It never says specifically that The Destroyer needs to be a Descendent of two Drakán—the race of the Descendents isn’t mentioned at all.”
“Gods,” I breathed out. She’d set herself up in the perfect position and waited patiently for thousands of years.A great pretender. It was the last coherent thought I had.
An invisible vise gripped around my body and brought me to my knees. My organs were being crushed. No oxygen could get to my lungs, and my mouth opened and closed, gasping for air.
The power Esmerelda possessed overwhelmed me. I couldn’t beat her. I was nothing compared to what she was. Erik’s power paled in comparison to hers. She released her hold slightly so I could take a breath. But while the vise around my body loosened, I began to feel other things. She began to slowly peel the skin away from my body. Tears mingled with my blood. I couldn’t pray for death to come fast enough. She held me immobile with her powers, but I was still able to scream. I screamed until my voice went hoarse.
The look on her face became one of excitement and I braced myself for worse pain. My muscles separated from my bones with wet pops. Injuries involving muscles were always the hardest to heal, even for dragons. I didn’t want to end my life this way. I wanted the possibility of that child to still exist.
I gathered what was left of my power and tried to heal myself.
“Tsk, tsk,” Esmerelda scolded. “Don’t waste your energy. You won’t last nearly so long if you do. And what fun would that be?”
I ignored her and embraced my power. I kept it wrapped snugly around me. Esmerelda’s hold lessened slightly. She was playing with me, but the relief the slight respite gave me was welcome. I drew from everything I had, but when Esmerelda laughed at my attempts I realized that she knew my powers better than I did. My dragon stirred restlessly, wanting to fight, but I didn’t call to her. I called to the other power. The power that was nameless, but grew stronger inside me every day.
“Oh, so you’ve found it,” she said. “I was wondering how long it would take for you to notice. The bond with Julian made it easier, no doubt.”
“What are you talking about? What do you know?”
“It’s a shame Alasdair couldn’t have told you who your mother was before he died.”
“Who was she?”
“Your blood is unique. Much like mine. Do you know the stories of how the Realm of the Drakán came to fall?” she asked.
My throat was raw, and I was to the point of pain where only numbness existed. “Yes,” I rasped out.
