“You never saw it coming,” I say, trying to steady myself even though the world feels like it’s spinning around me. Because I didn’t see it coming, either. Not when my father turned his back on me after my mother’s death. Not when I found myself alone and invisible, clawing for scraps of approval that never came.
That feeling of safety being ripped away, leaving you spiraling, vulnerable, and desperate… it changes you on a level so deep that you forget who you were before it happened. It leaves scars nothing can heal, driving you toward self-destruction until you no longer care about your own survival.
“You trusted her.” I steady my voice, even though I’m shaking. “And she used you.”
“Trust was always a mistake with her.” Aerix’s wings flex, tension rippling through him. “The night fae turned me immediately and brought me here. The moment the Night Queen saw me, she decided I reminded her of her son—who died in one of the many battles the Winter Court fought centuries ago—and named me a prince of the Night Court.”
My chest constricts, my sword feeling heavier by the second. Because we’re mirrors, he and I—each reflecting the same storyin a different light. Both turned into weapons, both betrayed, abandoned, and stripped of choice. Both seeking something genuine, only to be rejected no matter how hard we tried.
“Did you ever try to go back?” I ask, not wanting to provoke him, but also needing to know. Because if the situation had been reversed, I’d have clawed my way back to Sapphire. To the only thing that matters—the only thing that will ever matter.
“Go back?” he snarls. “To what, exactly? A life where I was invisible, unwanted, and unworthy? A court that would have slaughtered me for what I’d become? Or perhaps to Kallista, the woman who valued her reputation more than she valued me?” He pauses, his expression flickering with unmasked bitterness. “No. You can’t understand it, Brother. Because despite everything you claim to have suffered, you had family, no matter how much you thought our father hated you. You had everything I deserved but never got the chance to have.”
Ourfather.
The way he says it makes my pulse race, my heartbeat erratic and deafening, like thunder rattling inside my skull. Ice erupts from the floor, jagged spikes shooting upward as my magic reacts to emotions I can barely contain.
Then I hear Sapphire’s voice. But despite my love for her, I can’t focus on her. All I hear ishim,and all I feel is the storm inside me trying to push past my skin as he rips wounds into my heart that will never be healed.
Yet, I’ve always craved destruction. Felt I deserved it, even. Which is probably why I won’t be able to rest until I have answers, even if I have to kill him after getting them.
“You admitted that you knew who I was at the waterfall.” The words are bitter on my tongue, the floor nearly covered in frost. “But how did you know where I’d be?”
“Recently kidnapped winter fae talk.” He shrugs, casual and mocking. “They shared whispers about the Winter Prince whoslaughtered his knights and abandoned his court to chase a summer fae into the Wandering Wilds. A summer fae we later learned killed one of our scouts who was out on assignment.”
“Assignment?” I raise an eyebrow and laugh. “Is that what we’re calling kidnapping missions nowadays?”
“My brother catches on quickly.” Aerix smiles, as ifproudof me. “After learning that you’d crossed out of Winter Court territory, I accompanied a group of scouts to track you down.” He steps closer, his silver-specked eyes locked on mine, satisfaction rolling off him in waves. “They had explicit orders to stay hidden. To watch, but never harm.”
“And how long did youwatch?”I ask as I piece the timeline together.
Zoey was taken two days after Sapphire killed the night fae at the ravine. How many of those hours did Aerix spend watching us?
His smile sharpens cruelly. “Long enough to see the way you looked at your summer fae lover.”
Heat floods through me, the edges of my vision turning red. “Sapphire isn’t mylover,”I growl. “She’s my wife.My soulmate. She’s the blood in my veins, and the only reason I breathe.”
My heart pounds violently, my pulse roaring louder. Ice explodes outward, chaotic fragments slicing the air like shards of my shattering sanity.
Sapphire calls my name, but I barely register it. All I can think about is how if Aerix wasn’t of my own blood, he’d already be dead, and how satisfying it would have been to kill the man who stole Zoey from Sapphire.
Now, that dark, sweet release is twisted and unreachable, taunting me as I listen to Aerix’s damn villain monologue, torn between vengeance and family loyalty. The same loyalty I felt when I held those blades to my father’s throat in the Frost Arena and begged him to yield.
Aerix tilts his head thoughtfully, his wings stretching outward, the temperature dropping around us. “I saw something else, too,” he continues. “I saw how your summer fae—yoursoulmate—looked at Zoey. Like the sister she never had. She was willing to die for her. To sacrifice everything for her. And that’s when I realized the perfect symmetry of it all.”
“What do you mean by that?” I say, even though the answer is already crystallizing in my mind, sharp and terrible.
“You got your summer fae.” He watches me carefully, as if he’s presenting a logical argument. “It seemed only fair that I should have something, too. Something that mattered to her. Something that, by extension, would matter toyou.”
My throat tightens, realization clawing its way up like poison.
“You took Zoey because of me,” I say, horror and fury making the storm inside me rage stronger than before, until I’m aware of every ounce of blood rushing through my veins, demanding release.
“The gods gave you someone who looked at you like you hung the stars.” Aerix’s tone is dangerously quiet, almost reverent. “And they did the same exact thing for me, with Zoey.”
RIVEN
“The gods didn’t giveyou Zoey,” I say, wind howling around me, frost crawling up my legs and freezing in my hair. “You took her. You stole her. Just like how you’ve been stealing winter fae from my court’s borders for over a year.”
