She reached out to touch my face, but I backed away. “I’d rather my mother come to me. Not you. You brought those fucking elves to Charmden and ruined everything. I don’t know why you’re here, or if I’m dreaming, but either way, I want you to stay the hell away from me.”
“Everyone makes mistakes,” she said softly.
“Sadly, it doesn’t even matter anymore. The suffering we’ve endured is making me numb.”
“Don’t follow Sin into the darkness. I want you to be better than me, to give our ancestry a better name. That way, years from now, your descendants can be proud to call you their ancestor—and celebrate you, instead of shaming you. I was selfish. I let the power Azarion gave me go to my head. I tried to force him to become someone he wasn’t, all because of my own temptation. I fell into the enemy’s bed willingly, just to hurt a man I truly loved,” she said, her voice cracking into a saddened smile, tears glistening in her eyes. “I would’ve killed you had you existed in my time, just for catching his eye. I was a jealous creature and eliminated anyone who dared to look at him.”
“Azarion is all yours. He’s too hard on War.”
“Yes, he was always a harsh teacher,” she murmured.
Clover knelt beside the pool and dipped her talon into the water. Instantly, the surface turned smoky gray, swirling with visions. There she was, riding a unicorn with Azarion throughthe forest in Charmden. Her wings were golden, her face carefree, youthful, and innocent.
“I wanted to be his wife, bear his children. We could’ve kept Charmden safe. I lured him into my garden, taunted him with my body, danced for him, sprinkled my scent on his bedding—seduced him until his body craved me. He had no sexual desires until I awakened them. I wanted to be the first and last fairy he ever had. I thought I possessed him, but he was dedicated to his purpose and it made me jealous. I envied the hold Charmden had on him, so I brought elves to ruin it,” Clover confessed.
The vision shifted. Azarion placed a gold collar around Clover’s neck to keep her head attached after decapitation. He then torched her body as it rested on a bed of her roses. Azarion’s body was bloody and battered—the war between him and Charmden had just ended.
“Your soul isn’t going anywhere. I own it now, and I’m going to make it suffer!” he shouted over her burning body.
Azarion’s gears whirred as he held Clover’s wand above the flames. A black shadow emerged from the fire, wrapped around the wand, and disappeared into it. The wand glowed in War’s hand until the fire ceased, leaving Clover’s charred body in a pile of burnt leaves. Azarion walked away, leaving the wand beside the ashes. A young fairy, barely thirteen and bleeding from a deep leg wound, collapsed next to Clover’s remains and wept.
“Come back, Aunt Clover. I don’t have anyone left! Everyone is dead!” she cried.
The wand on the ground pulsed with light. She picked it up, whispering, “I’ll keep it safe.”
The visions faded, and the water returned to its usual clarity.
“That was your great-grandmother,” Clover said.
“Your soul is trapped inside the wand? That’s why War told me I need to talk to it. You’ve been passed down for generations, and nobody knew you were inside.”
“Your magic is my prison for eternity. It feels good to have someone talk to me again,” she replied, meeting my gaze. “Only your master should ever restrain your magic. Take that cuff—never let another warlock bind you, not even if War approves. Refusing to let anyone else control you is a sign of loyalty to him.”
“It’s 2020. We don’t use the term ‘master.’ War isn’t my master and I’m not a slave. Also, I still don’t like you. Don’t think I’ll be speaking highly of you now.”
“I know you don’t. It’s because I bedded him first,” she taunted.
“You trapped him!”
“Azarion was a virgin wizard. He trapped himself in my flytrap. Besides, I had the better version of him. I couldn’t have handled the man he became—the one with a wicked heart,” she said, her face growing serious.
“Dynasty is Sin’s mother too. I know this because I heard her thoughts, felt her pain when she had me in her possession. I can still feel the connection with my descendants, and he only wants you to die with him because he’s afraid to die alone. Whatever fate he chooses, let him. If you don’t, he’ll always need you to save him. We don’t pity cowards—we uplift our protectors. War needs you and he needs you right now. Sin will adapt to his nature, whichever one he was destined to have.”
“Sin is my twin?” I asked aloud in disbelief, the words rolling off my tongue and making my stomach tighten.
Clover’s eyes softened. “Hoax put fear in a lot of fairies. Because of him, your mother was afraid to trust her own magic—she was terrified that if she let the wand guide her, it would draw Hoax’s attention or put her in danger.”
“I slept with my brother,” I choked out, then broke down in sobs.
Clover gently wiped away my tears. “Corruption destroys families. It’s a system dictators use to control bloodlines and eliminate strong genes. That’s what Hoax wanted—but you will turn this pain into strength, and you’ll destroy as many enemies as you can. We’re warriors. We turn our pain into power,” she said, her sultry voice darkening, echoing the tone War takes when he’s in beast mode.
She paused, her stare growing distant. “Dynasty tried to fight back, you know. She used her wand to end her pregnancies, to keep Hoax from claiming her children as his own. But when he discovered she was purposely miscarrying, he poisoned her.”
“Who are you talking to? Go to sleep!” Jinx mumbled, stretching and yawning.
I turned to her. “You don’t see her?”
“See who? Nobody’s here,” Jinx replied, eyes half-closed.
