“This little monster was standing outside my rooms. Thought I’d teach it a lesson.”
I slammed my fist into his face. “What gods-damned lesson do you think you should teach her?”
I punched him over and over again, until Iva rested her hand on my shoulder, breaking the spell. Blood from his broken nose poured, and the desire to heal him didn’t come.
“It’s okay, Tem,” she whispered. “I’m okay.”
“Open his doors and meet me in my rooms in twenty minutes.”
“Gonna have a little fun with it?” Arol asked, choking on his own blood.
I dragged him through the open door and Iva slid back into the hallway. Looking down to her, I clenched my jaw. “Tell no one you saw me here, nor that you came yourself.”
She nodded and walked away. I only suspected Roe had told her I was summoned by Rook. She likely knew what was happening.
Arol’s room was simple. A bed sat along the wall, a dresser and a wardrobe filled the rest of the space. I looked at the damn wardrobe and shuddered. I knew what he had done. Probably in this very room. Pulling the corked serum from my pocket, I poured it down Arol’s throat as I held him pinned to the ground. “How many lesser fae have you killed in this castle?”
He pinched his lips and turned to the side, but he could not resist for long. “Four,” he finally answered.
“Where are they?” I gripped his shoulders so tight he began to squirm.
He looked to the wardrobe and back to me.
“No, surely not all four of them?”
He nodded reluctantly.
I stood and slammed my boot into his ribs. “Why?”
“Because they are tiny, impure beasts, and I’m doing the world a favor every time I slice one of those bastards into pieces.”
“I want you to look at me and tell me what I am.” I bared my teeth, a sharp breath the only sound between us.
“You’re a high—” The serum forced the truth into his mind.
His body froze, and his entire bloody face changed. “You’re a monster, just like them. How have you been hiding it from the king? Why doesn’t anyone know who you really are? I’ll tell. I’ll tell them all.”
“They know what I am, you sick fuck. But like you, they have to treat me like a high fae because the king demanded it. That does nothing for you though. Would you have killed that fae outside of your door today?”
“What’s it to you? She your lover?”
My grip tightened so much the blood flow left my fingers. I reached a hand into my pocket. “No, she isn’t. She is my friend though, and she deserves so much better.”
“I would have killed her. I would have wrapped my hands around her throat and watched her skin turn blue. I would have felt her body convulse beneath me, and I would have added her to my collection. She is nothing. No one.”
I sank the knife I was hiding into his chest—I had stolen it from a sea fae after Roe left me—and within minutes, the gargles turned to faint wet breaths, and moments later, the room was silent. It was the loudest silence I’d ever heard.
I had just killed a high fae. I’d taken his life and didn’t feel an ounce of regret. This was who I was meant to be. A weapon. A killer. I’d spent so many years hating the possibility of that truth, but at this moment, I relished in it. Gaea may have been the wind or the storm, but I was death incarnate. Deep within me, my power surged to life. More aggressive than I’d ever felt before. I’d accepted my purpose. Not easily, not happily, but I had.
I left Arol’s body on the floor, the sea fae’s knife in his chest, and crept back to my rooms, where I found Iva waiting for me. Her cheeks were flush, and she shook standing outside my door. I glanced over my shoulder and hustled her into the room. “Iva, if you’d been seen waiting for me, it would have raised suspicion. You must be more careful.”
“I’m sorry.” She burst into tears.
I froze. I was awkward, had spent the majority of my life in seclusion as often as possible. I knew precisely nothing about comforting anyone. “I’m sorry,” I said, vigorously patting her on the back with my fingers. “It’s my fault.”
“He would have killed me if you hadn’t shown up,” she sobbed.
“I didn’t know, Iva. I wouldn’t have asked you if I had known. I only wanted you to let me into his room. That’s all.”
