Chapter 51 #2
My fists were shaking. I could barely contain my fury. The shock of Gerard’s revelations was wearing off, and in its place was unchecked rage.
For hundreds of years, he’d been plotting. Encouraging this division between the two courts. Hungry for war .
How many lives had been sacrificed for his efforts? The lives of both the unseelie and the humans… So much anguish and hatred, and Gerard was at the heart of it.
Would we have found peace if he hadn’t been lurking within the Earthen Court with his spies? If Gerard had never settled in my kingdom, would we have enjoyed an alliance with the Shadow Court?
“What happens after?” I whispered. “After the castle is breached and… and Varius is dead, then what?”
A tender look crossed his features, and I realized he was misreading my fear. “You don’t have to worry, Sybelle. I have a plan in place. While I get you to safety, Orla will ensure every last unseelie fae is killed. They will never be able to hurt you again.”
Oh, Stones. My eyes closed, and in my mind, I pictured the sweet face of that fae child crying in the hall. His smile. His wide, doe-like eyes.
That child would be killed. All the fae children would be killed. Murdered by my sister. Murdered by my own people .
Gerard’s revenge went much further than simply punishing the fae royals for what they had done to his mother. He wanted to obliterate an entire race.
Screams echoed in the distance, and an explosion shook the ground, making the castle walls rumble. My eyes grew wide as I looked around, waiting for the palace to crumble around us.
“ Please ,” Gerard hissed, grabbing my wrist. “We have to go. Now. ”
It took all my restraint not to jerk my arm out of his grasp, or to twist and break his wrist. Just his fingers on my skin made me want to retch.
“Gerard, I can’t just leave ,” I argued, trying to buy myself more time.
“You can’t stay here.” He leveled a hard stare on me. “Don’t you realize the Wraith King is dooming you to die?”
A tendril of icy dread curled in my chest. “What are you talking about?”
“Every human bride gave their lives to stop the deadly shadows.”
I took a hesitant step away from him and shook my head. “No. That—That can’t be right. The shadows only need a little blood.”
He nodded slowly, as if I were daft for not putting the pieces together by now. “Yes. A little blood… at first. They feed on human blood and unseelie blood. And they demand more and more until the king and his bride are sucked dry and wither away into nothingness.”
“No,” I said again, shutting my eyes like I could block his words from reaching my brain.
“Think about it, Sybelle. Has he ever told you you’re safe? Has he ever told you how much blood is required?”
I shuddered, hunching over as the truth of his words sank in.
Varius hadn’t been able to promise me my life wasn’t in danger by giving blood.
Because my life was in danger.
Once I gave blood, I wouldn’t be able to stop… until I died.
Tonight, I only need a vial, Varius had said.
He had deceived me. Again .
I waited for the betrayal to hit me in full force, to slice through me and destroy the trust we had built together… but it never did.
Because if Varius had asked me if I would give my life to save this kingdom, I would have said yes. Right now, I was willing to bleed every drop of my blood to protect the Shadow Fae.
And that truth stunned me more than anything Gerard had told me.
My eyes snapped open and fixed on Gerard. “How do you know this?”
“I’ve been following the human brides to ensure the curse remains intact. It’s why I didn’t want to let you go to the Wraith King in the first place. I tried to stop you.”
He said the words as if they made him a hero. A saint.
But he had known the truth the whole time and had never told me. He simply let me live my life, believing I could take down the Shadow Court on my own, when all the while he knew the truth: The curse was stronger. And it would claim my life.
He kept this from me. This whole time, he kept the truth from me.
“All those other brides… you just let them die?” My voice was weak, but I had to utter the words.
Gerard made a pained expression. “They weren’t like you, Sybelle.
They weren’t strong-willed and determined.
They weren’t fierce and loyal. They weren’t willing to fight the Wraith King or to die to protect their own people.
” He took both my hands in his, making my skin crawl.
I swallowed down my disgust and forced myself to look him in the eye.
“You deserve to live. You are the strongest woman I’ve met.
Even with your fae blood, only you have captured my heart, Sybelle.
” He shook his head with a sigh. “I had to keep the truth from you. If you knew about the curse, I feared what the Wraith King would do to you. ”
I shook my head, nausea roiling within me. He had let my ancestors die, all because they weren’t strong enough for his liking.
Stones, I was such a fool. How had I ever trusted this man? How had I ever believed the bullshit spewing from his lips?
“Sybelle, we’re out of time. We have to leave.”
I wanted to shove him away from me and flee for the door.
But he would only chase after me. He was faster and stronger. I had bested him while sparring before, but right now, he was heavily armed.
Besides, I still needed the bloodstone.
He had to believe he could still trust me.
I took a deep breath and looked up at him, forcing away my revulsion. Inside me, my anger still simmered, bubbling closer to the surface. I wouldn’t be able to hold it off for much longer. “How do we get past the shadows?”
“I can travel us through them safely.”
“Travel?” Unease momentarily blotted out my anger. “What do you mean?”
“I don’t have magic, but my mother’s blood protects me from the dark shadows. Not only that, but I can travel through them. Like portals. Anyone who travels alongside me has my blood as protection against the poisons in the shadows.”
My mind worked furiously to keep up with everything I was absorbing. He could teleport ?
From what I had read, most male witches did not possess any magic. But it seemed Gerard was an exception. He might not be able to cast spells like Tislora, but he could still use the magic in his blood.
Of course… Now, it all made sense.
Warwick had promised his allies would meet him on Chesser Road. But Azure had claimed the road was covered in Necro Shadows so thick that she couldn’t even see through them .
Gerard had been transporting the soldiers through the shadows.
He could travel back and forth with ease. That was how the army had gotten here without detection. That was why Warwick was so certain Varius would be defeated.
Shit. That meant if I tried to run away from Gerard, he could easily find his way back to me through the Necro Shadows.
My eyes darted to the crimson stone in his hands. Now that it was so close to the shadowstone, the ringing had stopped, but an odd buzzing filled my ears. Like the stones wanted to be reunited.
I had to stop Gerard. Kill him, if necessary.
But, more importantly, I needed the bloodstone.
“If the king finds that…” I said, gesturing to the bloodstone. I tried to sound worried, as if the idea of Varius getting his hands on it was the worst possible scenario.
“He won’t.” Gerard tucked it into his pocket. “Besides, even if he does, he doesn’t have the power to destroy it.”
My skin prickled with awareness, and I stared at Gerard. The answer was so close. So close. “What do you mean?” I tried to sound innocent, like I was merely curious.
“The only thing powerful enough to destroy the stones is the same magic that created the curse. The dark shadows.”