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An almighty crack sounded behind me.
“And my heart is heavy with sorrow.”
Sand hissed, like a thousand snakes. The floor shifted, tipped, and vanished from under me. My insides swooped upward, then my feet struck the ground, slamming me to the ground. The crumbling, cracking, and hissing grew, encroaching all around. The dark amplified all sound. Icy dust touched my lips and burned my eyes. Grit burned under my hands. Too much, it was all too much. If the walls crumbled in, I’d be crushed here. Nobody would come, Arin was caught, Draven had his son, I had nothing—
Lightning bolted from the dark. It pierced my chest and plunged into my heart like a needle through lace. Dark turned to blinding light. I gasped, arched backward, and reached out for help, with nowhere to go and nothing to see.
I was ablaze but so cold, alight but unharmed.
This was it.
This was the font that had driven Umair to die down here and pushed his son toward madness. This was the thing they all sought, the secret hidden beneath Justice. And now it wasin me.My breath froze in my lungs, my heart turned to stone in my chest—still there, but heavy. And the power held me in its embrace, so blinding, as though I held a star in my hands.
It wasn’t bad, or good, but it was powerful. And it wantedme. It desired and burned and roared for more. Lust and obsession, gluttony and greed. It surged through my veins, promising freedom, and all it wanted was love and life and passion.
I buckled under it and wrapped my arms around me. If I let it in, nobody would stand in my way, no law could stop me, no bars would hold me. I’d never be chained again. And I wanted that. To be free, to be strong, to make others pay for the agony I’d endured. To take vengeance on the world that had taken my mother, taken my life and beat me down to dust. I wanted them all to hurt, to pay—
But it would be wrong. This strange power, although starved, was a beautiful thing. By Dallin, I wasn’t strong enough to hold it, control it. It would burn me up. I wanted it, desired it, craved it even, but my heart wouldn’t survive.Iwouldn’t survive.
I tried to push it out, to fight the onslaught, but the more I fought, the more it churned. It would be easier to let it win, to take it and make it mine, to twist it, to climb a throne and make the world kneel at my feet. Easier to embrace it as mine.
“Zayan!” Razak’s cry pierced the maelstrom. “Take my hand!”
I lifted my head and looked through the lashing tendrils of light. He reached down, hand extended, his face full of fear—for me. How was he here? Why wasn’t he in his prison cell? It didn’t matter, he’d come to save me.
If I didn’t take his hand, I’d lose to the light. And this couldn’t be my end.
“Brother!” His eyes burned. “It’s killing you! Take my hand!”
Was he really here? Or was this some fantasy I’d summoned to save my sanity? I lived in fantasy. Made each one mine. But I couldn’t live here. Power like this was not meant for gutter whores like me. I loosened the crushing hold I’d locked around myself and reached out.
“Yes, take my hand!” Razak stretched closer, fingers splayed.
Razak was my only way out.
“Take it, brother.”
He lunged, grasped my hand, and the moment my mangled hand met his, the onslaught of light and hunger and lust pushed from meintohim. He lurched backward, struck by its blow, and dragged me with him. We tangled together on the floor, discarded there in a sudden, gasping quiet.
A woman stood over us with a flickering lamp. I blinked at her veiled face. “Soleil?”
“The seal is broken,” she said. “The crowns are too close. We must return and send the crowns far—”
Razak’s laugh cut her off. His laughter rolled with a thick, ironic knowing.
I crawled off him and stumbled to my feet, needing to move, to breathe and feel my heart beat in my chest. “The light?” I spun. “Where is it?” We were still in the clutches of the dark arena but with Soleil’s light illuminating a gaping hole in the floor. Guilt pushed down while shock left me reeling. Had I done this? Had I… broken the seal?
“Thank you, Zayan.” Razak remained on his back on the floor. He lifted his hand, and turned it over, admiring it. “This gift is quite remarkable.”
Gift?
“What have you done?” Soleil saidto me.
“I…” WhathadI done? I’d been lost, drowning. I’d reached for Razak…
“Yes, yes, this is what perfection feels like.” Razak thrust out a hand and a whip of savage cold slammed down my spine. I dropped, gasping, and felt my brother’s touch plunge deep inside, violating the most vulnerable parts of me. My love, my heart, my soul.
Our touch—I hadn’t stopped the light, I’d passed it to him. I’dwantedhim to have it, because I couldn’t bear its weight.
