Page 121 of What did you do?
“Don’t be anidiot, Calypso,” Mendax snarled. “I had an interest in you well before I kneweitherof those things. Stop walking toward the castle.”
“Did you know of my powers when you bonded to me? Your mother had seen me as a child. I doubt she recognized me nineteen years later, but there’s still a chance,” I croaked. Every syllable I uttered made me sick. “You seem quite adamant about making me queen.” Another step back. “That’s why I held some of your powers all this time, isn’t it? It wasn’t the bond. It was because Artemi can absorb other fae’s powers when they want to, isn’t it? Because I had taken some of yours without even knowing. You had to have known then.”
Mendax’s frustrated eyes narrowed like a predator’s.
“I won’t leave with you. I told you that I couldn’t,” I said. “I have to go to Moirai.”
Both of our hands flew to our ears as a loud blast filled the air. The ground shook below our feet like it was about to split in two.
An explosion of orange light burst out from the castle, shattering hundreds of windows as glass spewed out. The pointed turret near the far end swayed slowly before crashing down onto the main structure of the castle. Sulfuric smoke and bricks of gold tumbled from the edges.
The surrounding crowd of Fallen fae stirred. With the calculated movement of an army, they flowed into the castle’s opening, showing off the many different powers they possessed as they filled the opening and disappeared inside.
“Mendax, we need to get Walter and Eli out of there!” I shouted. “Walter is in there!”
“Come with me, Caly. They are fine!” Mendax shouted angrily. “I am not heartless when I leave him. Walter is the most intelligent and skilled strategist I know. His instinct is impeccable. If he cannot get to your heart, I doubt you yourself could.”
“What about Eli?” I asked.
“What about him? I hope he dies. If he doesn’t, I’ll be forced to kill him. Why do you think I allowed him to rub his sweaty face all over yours?” Mendax smirked. “He is a man on borrowed time, Caly. Either the bond or the tie must be broken, and guess what, pet? It won’t be the bond that gets severed.” Mendax’s deep voice grated over my frayed nerves.
Thinking he was gone forever had allowed me to see how strongly I felt for him. How much I wanted him. I had shown him glimpses of my darkest parts, and he had begged for more. I knew he could handle me. Passion and danger filled every moment we were together, and I loved it. I craved the chaos.
But there was another side of me too, and that side needed the tenderness that I found in Eli. The parts of me that wanted Eli weren’t just crazed with lust or anger-fueled hate. Those parts still laughed and smiled. They felt cared for and loved. They felt good.
My untrusting mind began to spin. It didn’t really matter, I reminded myself. What I wanted didn’t matter. I needed to get my heart and continue on.
I was tired of waiting.
Refusing to give my back to Mendax for fear he would grab me, I continued my backward pace to the burning castle’s entrance.
“Stop fucking walking away. Do not step one foot inside of that castle, Calypso.”
My chest pounded as he moved until he was only a few feet in front of me. Still, my feet continued to slowly step backward. As soon as I made it to the stairs, I would bolt.
“I need to help them…and I need my heart, Mendax. I don’t even remember what it’s like to feel whole,” I whispered in a soft plea.
“You will have your heart,” Mendax growled. “But not if you enter that…” His voice trailed off.
The energy around me shifted, and Mendax stilled completely, his eyes locked on something behind me.
“Calypso.” He tried to keep his voice even and calm. “Come to me. Now,” he called as if coaxing a pet off the road. The only part of him that moved were his eyes as they continued to widen.
I froze. My skin prickled with the knowledge that something terrifying was behind me.
My eyes clenched shut as I said a silent prayer to.…well, to whatever god would listen. Blood pounded inside of my ears, reminding me how weak I still was.
Mendax twitched his finger, sending a small wisp of black smoke out.
“I wouldn’t do that.”
I whipped around to find the image of my saddest nightmares. Something cracked inside of my chest, nearly causing my knees to buckle.
“Another wisp of smoke, and you’ll pick Caly’s head off the ground just like your mother’s.” Saracen’s voice coiled around me like poison.
She stepped down the two steps that separated us, hair frizzed around her stern-looking face. Her cream-colored dress was covered in soot and dirt as if she had been dragged through a battlefield in her evening gown.
A hand with perfectly manicured nails held an insanely large, glowing dagger. One of her broken and shredded monarch wings hung limply below the other.
