Chapter 31
Rage tinted my vision red the entire time I galloped to the estate. What I’d witnessed through my mental connection to Sylaira…
She’d been evasive on her visions since we departed Sivy, only offering me crumbs when I needed a whole meal. Nothing she Saw was carved into stone, and if the Angels were about to be overrun, I needed to pivot my plans, and fast.
How could she not tell me?
All I was trying to do was ensure she lived—and without fear of the monarchs or the Demons. I tossed my reins to Maelsar, not even slowing my stallion to a walk before jumping off and stalking the halls that were carved into my bones.
Our bond gnashed its teeth at me, even as it tugged us closer. I followed the beacon straight to the Herr’s suite.
Why the fuck is she in here?
I slammed the doors open, and the two females jumped. Their heartbeats danced to the same staccato rhythm as I stomped forward.
“Out,” I snapped at Lyriasthe, my gaze locked on my mate.
She lifted her chin in defiance even as her friend scrambled away. “You don’t have to be so rude.”
“Rude?” I stopped in front of her, towering over where she curled in a chair.
I’d had all the old furniture tossed the moment my father was dead, but this position, this fucking position, was where he’d sat every time he’d called me into his private space to admonish me.
Even years after his death, I couldn’t linger in this room for long, the memories of him too acute.
“You need to tell me about your visions. All of them. Right now.”
“I’m tired,” she snapped, crossing her arms. “Can we do this tomorrow?”
“No.”
“You sent me here to rest,” she pointed out, a storm brewing behind her eyes.
“You had two hours,” I retorted.
“Like I could have found sleep amid your fury,” she scoffed.
“Do you want me to apologize for thinking that the war is going differently than you predicted?” I planted my hands on the top of the chair and caged her in.
“Yes,” she said, malice in her tone. “You still have so much apologizing to do.”
“I already did. Or did you forget?” I was seething, my fingers tightening over the wood so hard it creaked, threatening to break.
She didn’t reply, merely glared up at me.
“I will not apologize for wanting to keep you alive. I needed to know what the Demons were doing. I needed to know if there was anything I should prepare for. Because I will not let you die.” How many times did I have to explain to this female why her visions were important?
She shoved at my chest, but I didn’t budge. “You keep wondering why I haven’t forgiven you? It’s because of that right there. You can’t even admit that it might not have been the right thing to do.”
“Tell me it wasn’t,” I snarled, fingers tightening.
“It wasn’t,” she shot back immediately. “You did exactly what Iaoth wanted. You both had the same goal, and you had the gall to act like you didn’t.”
Crimson vines danced in my vision. The metallic tang of the blood thrumming in my mate’s veins coated my tongue. I sucked in a sharp breath, horror dousing the fury inside me.
“It wasn’t entirely that,” I gritted out, trying to force my pounding heart to slow. “She also knew you weren’t truly Seeing. You have no idea what she would have done if I’d continued to slip you virelthorn.”
“What, like wipe my memories of you?” she snapped, white leaking from her palms.
With a rumble of frustration, I shoved off the chair before she slammed her magic into me to free herself. Again. Because that was what she did when she loathed me.
This new magic was a threat to her, and I couldn’t let myself lose control of it and accidentally hurt her.
I’d already done too much damage.
“Not just of me. Of everything. She would have made you a hollow vessel. And you deserve a life.” I met her gaze again, some of the tempest raging in her expression ebbing. “I am trying to give you that, Sylaira. Don’t you understand?”
One tear tumbled down her cheek. She swiped it away before I could move.
I knelt, taking her hands in mine. “Tell me what you’ve Seen. I’ve tried to give you space. Tried to let you come to me. But I can no longer wait. Because I’m terrified of losing this war and what that means for us.”
She tipped her head back, a shaky breath fleeing her lungs. Unfettered fear twisted our bond tight. I squeezed, trying to reassure her that I was here, that I wouldn’t leave her, no matter if she killed someone else or not.
When she looked at me again, exhaustion lined her every feature. Her slender shoulders slumped like the weight of the world rested upon them.
“I lied.”
“About what?”
“I didn’t See the Angels in Uzhhorod…” she trailed off, sticking her tongue in the side of her cheek. “I Saw our downfall. And that’s all I’ve Seen since.”
Her words were a thunderclap; the earth shook beneath my feet.
“What?” I needed her to say it again; I needed it to not be true; I needed this to be her duplicity.
“The three front battle in the mountains will lead to the Demons overrunning Sivy,” she said again, her melodic voice wavering.
I dropped her hands, staring at my mate like she was a stranger. Words would not emerge from my throat. Disbelief morphed into nauseating horror.
Sylaira didn’t just trick me…she put every single soldier at our backs on a pyre. Not even that—the Demons wouldn’t stop to burn us. They’d let the bodies rot in their wake.
All this time, I’d been preparing for what I thought would be our victory. How I’d slaughter my sister and her husband before they could plant themselves on both thrones.
And Sylaira had deceived me about it all.
I rose, my feet unsteady beneath me. Sylaira tracked the movement but made none of her own. Instead, her hands fell back into her lap like I’d never held them at all.
“Did you want us all to die?”
She rolled her lips. More tears clawed down her cheeks. “Yes. But it was because I was hurting.”
A snarl tore from my throat. “Some Elessarum you are.” Hurt flashed in her eyes, but I didn’t fucking care. “You’re such a hypocrite, Sylaira.”
And yet I understood it, what it was like to be so broken by someone I’d do anything to see them suffer too.
“If you’d been betrayed like that, you would have done the same,” she said, shooting to her feet.
“No, I wouldn’t have.” My words were ice cold even as I shook with barely restrained violence. “Because you just took the knife of my love for you and stabbed it straight into my back.”
I strode away, glaring at the glittering water. My hands raked through my hair as I tried to calm down. But there was no respite against the maelstrom thundering in my chest.
“You showed me exactly how much you were hurting in the end.” My laugh was bitter. “Are you happy now?”
I faced her again, bearing witness to all the hurt that stretched between us like a trench we couldn’t pass.
“No,” she admitted, her gaze dropping to her feet. Exhaustion slumped her back even as the blood coursed through her body.
“Are you even going to apologize?”
“No,” she said again, the word no louder than a whisper.
Ruby engulfed my vision, and her veins popped out of her pale skin. So close and so easily severed.
I have to get out of here.
I spun on my heel and raced for the exit.
“Vaeron, wait!”
But I ignored her call, slamming the door behind me with such force the ancient wood cracked. Maelsar sprinted around the corner, nearly colliding with me.
“What the fuck happened?” he said, but I shouldered past him, needing to get far away from everyone I loved before this Demon magic surged from the core of my being and killed them all.
Because at least I was fucking considerate of others.
Unlike my mate.
Dusk settled over the lake as I swung myself onto my stallion again. Digging my heels into his sides, I forced him into a gallop. Rocks kicked up behind us until I turned into the grassy field and raced along the shoreline.
And when I was far, far away from everyone, I dropped to the ground and roared.