And then, as if we were all fueled by the chasm Lyria would leave behind, we fought back with only her wrongful loss on our minds.
I tore through opponents with one goal—getting to Lancaster.
Tell Mila, Lyria’s words played in my mind as I struck at each fae, not caring where I hit or if I killed them.
I hadn’t heard the commander’s message, but my heart sank like a stone in my chest.Mila. She was going to wake eventually, was going to find out her best friend was…
All I could see was Mila worriedly chewing her lip as she fretted over how to help Lyria. The nights she’d sat up, wondering if Lyria was sleeping okay or if the horrors of warwere plaguing her, too. The joy in her eyes as her friend had returned to her these weeks and they’d walked the path to healing together.
Not everyone made it to the end of that road.
Rage poured through me at the heartbreak that awaited Mila, but I tightened my hand around the leather grip of my sword. I’d hold her through that grief.
I used the anger to slice down the fae before me. Again and again. Let their blood bathe the chamber until I lost track of how many I’d killed.
Until my heart stuttered through my chest, and the ground trembled again. I whirled—only one thing could cause that.
Ophelia was back at the Angel statues, backing away from the Soulguider. A red-eyed Tolek urged her on from where he still held his sister. One hand clutched his chest as if struggling to draw his next breath, but he roared at her to go—an unusual steel in his voice that solidified my plan.
And as Tolek tracked Ophelia from Xenique’s figure to Valyrie’s, nothing but cold death lingered in his gaze—no fear at this bargain that could be his end as well, because his sister was already gone, and undiluted hatred filled the space she left behind.
No hint of dread pierced Tolek’s facade as Ophelia placed the fated lovers of Valyrie’s heart into position in the only statue with a face turned toward the heavens, her tall, slender body carved with long hair drifting to her waist—and a hollow in the center of her chest.
As the heart slipped into place, the earth shook again, a riotous boom like stars crashing in the sky. Shimmering, fated power burst from the statue, and Vale cried out.
It wasn’t pained, though. It was a sound of true euphoria as star-laced Angellight washed over us all. And when she openedher eyes, they shone the brightest silver, amplifying the fog that had filled her stare since the Ascension reading.
I used the moment of distraction to spin back to the fight, dodging another opponent with one goal in mind.
Finally reaching the edge of the battle, I gripped Lancaster’s tunic and swung him around to face me, hidden in the shadows.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I roared over clashing weapons.
“I’m not even fighting, Mystique!”
“Not the battle!” I jerked my head toward Tolek, and Lancaster’s eyes followed. “I know you’re working against your queen. So, what are you doing to him?”
He’d admitted it on the flight to the mountains.
I have felt the ill will of bargains that reign through the generations, and will do what is in my power to guide hands to unravel them.
And when Santorina threw her dagger at him and the initial fight broke out, Lancaster hadn’t made a move for any of us. He sank into the background.
“Guard your words, Mystique,” the male muttered, brutal stare flashing to where Ritalia screamed at Ophelia.
“I know that demand is a fraud,” I whispered harshly, gesturing to where Tolek held his chest.
“I assure you, it is very real. Although, there’s been ways to absolve it.”
“What do you mean?”
His jaw ticked. Another thing he was not allowed to share.
“I know you’re powerful, Lancaster,” I muttered. “I read about generational bargains—how they’re hereditary when passed from your goddess. I’d bet something of the sort is laced through your blood, as fae magic tends to be passed.”
I was willing to bet my life that all of these locks were tied to whatever that magic was. That whatever we’d been prying out of him and his sister went back to the gods.
Again, a muscle feathered in his jaw. I squinted at him, and he forced out, “Some things do repel?—”
