And you are one of them.
Galeran’s reaction was so subtle that Nikolai only detected it because they were mentally linked—the slightest surge of disappointment. But surely, the man didn’t expect Nikolai to become a willing participant to genocide?
Apparently, he did. Because he stiffened, before he said aloud, “I had hoped that you would join me, my son. But you will learn that your sentiments no longer matter. If you insist on being used merely as a vessel, then so be it.”
Despite Nikolai’s struggles against them, the Bellatis grabbed the chains attached to his head and yanked his nose to his chest. Only once he was secured did Galeran walk straight up to him.
His father leaned close, and whispered. “In time, the core will burn away your resistance. And then everything you are will be mine. I will be what I was always meant to be.”
The last word was spoken only into his mind.
Perditor.
* * *
Lucas dreamed.
At least, he thought it was a dream. He was no longer sure where the line between dreams and reality lay.
He stood upon a cliff, and the wind played with his hair. He seemed to have a lot of it. And when it blew across his face, it was steel-gray in color.
Gray? He tried to look around, which was when he realized he couldn’t move his head. And his eyes didn’t work like usual. He seemed to be looking out the sides of his head instead of straight ahead—when he rolled them back, he saw a silky black coat over powerful muscles that flexed against the chains that bound him.
Nikolai. He was seeing through Nikolai’s eyes. Only this time, it wasn’t just impressions. It was crystal clear.
Four Unicorns surrounded him. He was strapped to them with chains, and they forced him to march forward along the cliffs. His head tilted just enough to see a tall man with his arms raised, facing the open ocean. Beside him were two figures that struck ice into Lucas’s heart—Demeti and his brother.
Galeran’s hands began to glow.
No.Lucas didn’t want to be here, didn’t want to see what was about to happen. And he wasn’t alone in his despair—it echoed from Nikolai, as well. He sensed the Perditor’s desperation, as a spear of pain pierced right through him, reaching deep, past Nikolai’s corporeal self to the power that was his birthright.
Nikolai tried to fight. But his ability was as chained as his body. Galeran ignored his struggles and yanked the power from the core. It scorched right through Nikolai, and Galeran directed it to the fault line lying deep in the ocean.
And the ground moved.
Horrified, Lucas saw the wave coming. Alarms spread through the small fishing settlement below—surely they’d heard of the destruction of other ports, but who expected tsunamis to arise throughout the realm? But there was no escape. The wave crashed through the town as though it were a model made of matchsticks. From where he stood, he could hear the screams.
Lucas shot upright in bed. His heart thundered as though he’d just run a race. Their cries echoed through him.
That, and something else. The quiet desperation of the cause of it all, chained to a fate that he could not tolerate.
Without thinking, Lucas sent a pulse of support.We will get you out of this, Nikolai. Just hold on.
And to his shock, he received an answer, laced with pain but also certainty.
Be careful. Galeran’s in my head, too.
Lucas swallowed against the sudden pulse of pure panic that coursed through him. How could he be communicating telepathically with Nikolai? But apparently he was. And so was Galeran.
Nikolai wasn’t done.
Galeran is a monster. And so am I. If you cannot stop this, then I must die, Lucas.
For just an instant, Lucas caught a glimpse of Galeran, spinning to stare at Nikolai. The contact snapped.
He sat in his bed and trembled. Had he really just spoken to Nikolai in his head? Or was he losing his mind?
* * *
