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“You know exactly what I’m saying.”
He's silent a long moment before swiping his hands down his face. “Are you sure?”
“As sure as I am they’re coming for me. I’m weakening. My shadow self has nearly taken over. It won’t be long until it does for good and I can’t be with her when that happens. They will kill me, and they will take her, Odin.”
Sadness fills my oldest friend’s eyes and he nods. “The council has already begun to whisper about it. They search for you now. If they found out I was here and didn’t take you in myself, I’d be slayed for treason.”
Silence. “That’s why you can’t come back, just promise me Villaina will not face the same fate as I. She deserves to live, Odin. She must live. The future of Rathe depends on it.”
Odin stands, offering me his hand, both of usknowing this is the last we shall see each other. I slip my fist into his and he lowers his chin. “You have my word.”
I snatch my hand back from him, wincing.
I stare at the man before me, an ally with no recognition, the most trustworthy kind in existence.
“You are the one that tried to keep me away. The voice in my head that day, the warning in the letter.”
He nods. “Both the King and I, yes.”
My throat grows thick. “The King helped save me. Why?”
He gives me a knowing look and I nod.
For his son.
He knew. He knew I was fated to one day become Queen of Rathe, that I was Knight’s mate.
Odin shakes his head. “No, Villaina,” he says softly. “It wasn’t just about Knight unlocking his Ethos. It was about you, the girl he was given, and it was about the Kingdom. See, King Arturo had no choice but to allow the Ministry to form after the death of the Argent royal monarch. His sons had yet to be born, so he had to protect the throne, to save and secure it for the next generation of Stygians and that was the only way. For many centuries, he was the only living Deveraux, and his bride...”
My brows pull. Of course.
Ofcourse.
“Cosima wasn’t his mate. That’s why she didn’t ascend.”
He nods. “She could never be given the gift of darkness. The fires of hell would never rage war in her name. She was imbalanced, rejected her mate for the seat on the crown.”
A chill runs through me and somehow, I know the answer to the question before I ask it. “Who was her mate?”
He's quiet a moment before he says, “Your father.”
Holy. Fucking.Shit.
Twenty-Eight
London
My dad.
My dad was fated to Cosima, and she rejected him. She is the reason he went feral and blood thirsty. He turned on his people because his mate turned on him for a title that did not belong to her.
The King’s words come back to me, and I close my eyes.
The gift of the dark gods shall not pass on to just any, yet you hold the key in your hands. Remember that, Little Crow, and just when emerald eyes fall upon you, feast until you feel its soul.
I blink. I've yet to see the emerald eyes, but the gift.
The gift was passed to me.
