“You can’t—” I start, but Bracken flies through the air, heading for Razcorr, who easily sidesteps him and rolls his eyes as Grim charges.
Helplessness explodes through me as Razcorr fights them both off. Bracken leaps at his back, his fangs bared. Anger, shame, and pain flow through me, the heightened emotions only bringing my magic out until my mouth opens in a scream.
“Stop it!” The magic infused howl is followed by a flurry of pure, unfiltered magic from my hands.
It explodes through the room, the force throwing them all back into the walls, where it pins them midair. They try to fight it before stilling as I walk slowly through the room, studying each of them in turn. I see myself for a moment in the glass above the mantel before turning away. My eyes are basically white with magic, my hair floats in an invisible breeze, and my skin glows like moonlight.
I look powerful, and that’s when it truly hits me.
Iampowerful.
They are fighting over me, but they are going to have to learn to share, because this is my life and no one makes decisions for me, not anymore.
Never again.
“You are acting like animals!” I roar, my voice like a lash of magic, tightening my hold on them as they watch me. “I can mate whomever I want, wherever I want. Just because a gargoyle suddenly says I’m his mate doesn’t mean I’m not still with you. That I’m not still yours!” I narrow my eyes on all of them, feeling my magic filling the room, almost suffocating them. “You will learn to share, or you will leave. I will not spend the rest of my life like I did in the beginning—afraid, sad, and torn. We will work together, all of us, or not at all. You do not have to like each other, but you do have to accept it. My heart is big enough to love all of you.” My voice cracks a little when I ask, “Is yours big enough to accept that?” When there is nothing but silence, I let the magic flow through them, making them groan. “You need to decide. I am not some weak human you can fight over and expect to get your way. I am Cora the Fearless, and this is my life, my future, and my fucking body!” I yell, and I turn and storm out, only letting my magic drop once I’m out the door.
I hear them fall to the floor with matching groans before Bracken’s lovesick voice reaches me.
“I love her so much.”
“You would,” Grim mutters.
“No, he’s right—she’s incredible,” Krug adds.
Huffing, I ignore them as I storm farther into the castle, needing to get away from all that testosterone.
I have to make some decisions about my future and what I want, and for the first time in my life, I realize I can.
Now if only the idea of losing them didn’t hurt so much…
ChapterThirty-Eight
I’m standing—okay, hiding in an old ballroom. The windows here are beautiful mosaics casting rainbows across the empty, echoing chamber. I stand outside the open double doors on a stone balcony that overlooks the kingdom.
My mind is a mess.
My magic curls through me protectively, drawn by the hurt inside and the idea that I might lose them.
I never realized just how deeply integrated my monsters were inside me until that moment, until I saw them descend into feral beasts as they fought over me. I have been alone my entire life, bar my sister, but she had her own life. I was always off somewhere, lost in my thoughts, and my monsters brought me back. They share my life with me. I don’t even think I could sleep alone anymore. Could I truly give them all up for Razcorr, simply because fate says we are mates? And what about the pull I feel toward the others?
It’s confusing, and I’m lost and alone…until I feel it.
I can’t help the small smile that curls my lips, my shoulders sagging in relief.
“I know you are there,” I say without turning. My magic alerted me the moment Zee snuck inside the ballroom, followed by Bracken.
“I wanted to give you your space,measma,” Zee tells me before stepping up to my left. He watches me as I watch the land.
“And you, Bracken?” I call without looking.
“Fuck, that’s hot,” he mutters as he comes to my right.
Neither touches me nor reaches for me, and that hurts.
A lot.
Are we too broken now?
