The smell of burnt flesh, blood, and salty tears made my stomach roil and I began to heave up bile. This was more painful than anything I had ever known and would ever know, because this went beyond torture, this waspersonal. This was a loss of faith and the deepest kind of heart break—the ultimate betrayal from someone I’d trusted and loved.
He’d broken me, but not in the way he hoped. I’d never be his, nor would I ever be the same. Forevermore, I’d walk hand in hand with the ghost of the woman I'd almost been—someone who believed in love, someone who believed in happy endings. It was devastating thatGalen,of all people, had been the one to teach me what romantic love was. My naivety had been his opportunity. He'd helped me transform into a butterfly, only to burn my wings before I could take flight.
"Eliana… I just want to talk. You're only making things worse for yourself—for Marigold. I know you're in the loft. I can smell your fear. Come down now and I won't hurt you."
My mother had stopped breathing, but her grip around me remained firm.
"I'm only going to repeat myself one more time. Come down willingly and I won't hurt Marigold," he said with lethal calm.
Silent tears fell down my mother's face as she slowly detached herself from me with a shaky sigh. "Promise to leave her out of this, Fallon," my mother said softly.
It was quiet enough that her voice traveled through the rafters—quiet enough that I could hear his steady breathing before he answered, "I promise."
I shook my head furiously. No. No… she was so scared. I wouldn't let her go. Together, we could fight him. Together, we could get away.
She moved away from me, towards the ladder, and I lunged for her. "No—you can't," I hissed. "Let me come with you, let me help."
Her head hung low. "Theonly thing that matters is keeping you safe. Please, stay here—no matter what happens. I'll draw him out, and then you must run, Goldie. Far from here, far from him. Take Skye and go to Ophelia. I’ll join you when I can." Her chocolate eyes held endless depth, endless love.
"No… stop." My voice cracked as she descended the ladder. I clung to the sleeves of her white cotton dress, refusing to let her leave.
"Let me go, sweetheart," she said with determination. "It'll be okay."
I refused, but with a burst of magic, she sent me into a pile of hay.By the time I scrambled back to the ledge, my father was holding her by the shoulders, shaking her like a rag doll.
"You stupid, useless female," he growled. "Why can't you just obey your husband, for once?" He roared and shoved her down. She slid across the dirty ground as golden tendrils spilled across her face. It reminded me of the night I'd watched her take her last breaths.
"You bring this on yourself," he seethed. "Every time you run away. It's like you want me to punish you. What will it take to teach you that you're mine?" He kicked her in the ribs and I screamed.
Before I knew what I was doing, I'd climbed down the ladder and was standing beside him, tugging him back by his shirt, trying to make him stop. He kicked her again and she curled into herself.
"Stop," I said with a throat clogged with tears. Neither of them registered me as I continued to yell and scratch at him. Ice coated my fingers as fury consumed me. I was desperate to help her.
"Father," I cried. "Stop! You're going to kill her."
He finally turned, facing me with a detached expression. Rage simmered underneath his dead stare. His blonde hair was unkempt, hanging around his face, around his pointed ears. Faerie ears. My father was Fae. And he was drunk, I realized. The familiar, anxiety-inducing scent of faerie whisky rolled off his tongue as he said, “So what if I do? Are you going to stop me, love?"
His face was ruddier than I remembered. Cold terror trickled down my spine as his blue eyes began to morph, changing shape and color. Then emerald eyes, flickering with hellfire, met mine. Galen's eyes.
I gasped, stumbling back as he flashed a cheshire grin. Flame danced in his open palm. "I thought your mother told you to run," he purred. "You should've listened."
With bared fangs,he lunged for me. I leapt out of the way as he struck. When he spun back around, I was ready. I didn't hesitate as I plunged an ice dagger deep into his chest, right into his black heart. And twisted.
He took a step back in disbelief. Something like devastation spread across his face as he stared at me. When he collapsed to the ground, I was already at my mother's side, helping her up.
And then we ran.
Pain radiated down my spine. I'd escaped Galen in my dreams, but I was still very much captive in this living nightmare. The burns down my back were so severe, I wasn't sure Icouldrun, even if I had the chance.
My father had abused my mother. And unknowingly, I'd repeated the cycle, finding a male just like him. How had I forgotten the terror I'd felt, hiding from my father as a child? Nausea gripped my stomach as I stared at my candle’s pulsing flame. If I became afraid of fire, then he’d win. Galen had burned me withmymagic.
A blurry figure came into view. I wasn’t alone. I’d been fading in and out of lucidity since Galen had left me in a heap on the floor.
“Lusha…” I rasped when I recognized her strawberry blonde hair. I tried to sit up before lightning shot down my spine, causing me to hunch back down.
“Stay still,” she said. “You’ve been sleeping for nearly a day. I’m here to help. Your back isn’t healing because of the jasper.” She choked back a sob as she removed a strip of wet linen that had adhered to my skin, making me cry out.
“He expects me to go to the festival like this?”
