Chapter 69 Serena
SERENA
Oh, just spit it out.
Furi blinks at me oh-so-innocently, her scales iridescent beneath the crystal refractions of the cave.
Spit what out?
I can smell your judgment from here.
She settles into her nest of diamonds. The Blackblood knows my thoughts.
You judgy little dragon! I set the boundaries, and I stuck to them. We’re going to be friends.
Not that we have much of a choice.
Sure.
Uh, excuse me, miss. Can we tone down the sarcasm?
Sarcasm is your native language. I’m being considerate.
I snort.
Does the Blackblood disagree?
No, no she does not.
She nudges me with her snout. What weighs on you?
Between this deal with Kylian, the mess I’ve made of my relationship with Zadyn, and seeing my mother’s doppelg?nger, it’s pretty much a toss up at this point.
Was it seeing her or hearing what she had to say?
My eyes snap toward her. How do you know about that?
There are things I just know.
Hold on. I straighten, dropping the game bag filled with bloodied forest critters. What things?
Furi is silent.
I said, what things? Did you know about this? She gives me a noncommittal shrug. All of it?
Some of it, perhaps.
And you didn’t tell me?! Furi!
I whack her with a dead squirrel before flinging it up in the air. She catches it in her snapping jaws.
How could you not say anything?
Little traitor.
Not my information to share.
I scoff, tossing my arms up. It’s vital information! Whose side are you on?
She gives me some fierce side-eye. I would think the answer to that is relatively clear.
Furi, if you know something else, you better spit it out.
A loud sigh blasts from her nostrils, blowing my hair back.
What the seer said is true.
My heart plummets. How can you be certain?
I rely on my senses. And when he is around, there is cold like I’ve never known.
But…how? It just doesn’t make sense.
Some things do not make sense. But they are as they are.
And the others?
You must come to that on your own.
Fuck that, we all might all be dead in two weeks.
We will not die. I will prevent it.
Furi, unless you’ve been hiding the ability to see the future, then you don’t know that for certain.
You already know, Blackblood, you’ve just yet to face it.
I shake my head, trying to clear away the warring emotions.
No. No. It’s just too absurd to be true. But Margot’s words seem inescapable. And the thought of that feels like a poison in my mind.
I groan, leaning against her and sliding onto the cave floor. The jagged spikes along the ceiling angle toward me like a sky of daggers.
How is it possible to have all this power and still feel so out of control?
Power is not synonymous with control. To believe otherwise is foolish.
I have to believe I have it for a reason, though. And that I’m meant to use it to do some good in the world. AKA stop the psychotic king obsessed with world domination.
Heed your ancestor, Blackblood.
Who, Arden? How can I when her advice seems ass-backwards? She and Margot both basically said the same thing…but I can’t be queen.
I can’t be his queen.
Do you doubt her? Do you doubt that you are meant to lead?
Yes. Who would follow me?
This earth would fall to its knees before you if you were willing to claim it.
I’m not a conqueror. I’m not Kylian.
No, you were born to this and for this. The thing you are most afraid of—Arden said you must face it.
I have many fears.
You have one.
Well, please—clue me in.
Her tail curls around me. You don’t fear the young king. You don’t fear war. What you fear is yourself.
I stare into her glowing green eyes. That’s ridiculous.
Is it? There is darkness and light in us all. The only way to see to the bottom is to look. You fear the darkness. You fear the shadows. But you are the shadows. And you are the light.
Maybe I do need it. Maybe I need the darkness in order to see the light.
If I look…if I stare into that darkness, I’m afraid of what I’ll find.
I’ve always hated that part of myself. That well of feminine rage, that secret desire for chaos. I’ve kept it locked tight. But now…
Now is the time to look. You cannot do what is required of you without first facing the beast that looks back.