All of it was Her #3
She made Cassius hate me, abuse me, and mistreat me.
The tears that fell from my burning eyes were hot on my face, and my stomach flipped upside down.
I finally knew why he hated me so much, for reasons I could never fathom.
She’d made him. And Aemilia? She was the spawn of this evil cunt and was spurred on by a mind-controlled Cassius programmed to hate me.
Everything about my messy, fucked-up life finally made sense, and I despised every piece of it.
Literally every single thing in my life had been influenced and controlled by this foul…this wretched…this, gods, there wasn’t even a word for how cruel and terrible she was.
Drayce’s shaking had reached such a point that my entire arm was wracked with tremors.
I turned to Bramick and found Aerie across his lap, awake and wide-eyed. They both stared at me with utter devastation etched into their expressions.
Kellan had silent tears rolling down his face.
These four were the only things anchoring my sanity. I tried to block the darkness creeping in with thoughts of them, of our drunken nights and heart-to-hearts. My new family.
From the corner of my eye, I could see Bernitha down on all fours, bleeding and bruised, watching Malvina with disgust. She knelt next to Elene whose face was now unrecognizable.
We were all frozen.
But Malvina wasn’t done with me.
“My last act before becoming Caedryn’s queen was to bind your fae heart to mortality.
Impressively complex magic, I might add.
At first, I thought that if I could make you mortal, the prophecy wouldn’t come to pass, and I could be Caelia’s savior and ruler.
A juvenile and reckless assumption, I can admit now, to attempt to prevent a prophecy from coming to fruition.
But imagine my surprise when you walked right through the front doors of my castle.
Still mortal but thrumming with the goddess-gifted power.
“So we arrive at the here and now. You’ve emerged as the powerful, dual-hearted fae you were prophesied to be, on the precipice of goodness or villainy. What do you say to a partnership? I’ll ensure you don’t destroy the world, and we’ll rule it together, savior and queen side by side. Speak!”
I felt my ability to speak return, but a cloud of pure rage around my broken heart kept me silent. It had been her. She bound my fae heart, my magic. All of this had been her. My entire life.
“You…will…die,” Drayce ground out beside me.
Malvina looked surprised to hear him speak—she must have still had her mind control on us after all. “I thought you might be less than agreeable at this point, Naci, so I offer you a truce in good faith.”
I found my voice. “Why would I ever want a truce with you?”
She just smiled that cruel smile, so like Aemilia’s. “Because I know something that you do not.”
Chills erupted across my entire body. What could she possibly mean? She’d said she wanted to conquer Caelia, but also more than just the world. I couldn’t begin to think how…
“I will allow all of you to leave my castle, unharmed, as I am sure we will meet again very soon. I have certain…assurances that you’ll be back. You’ll find me when you’re ready. And then our real work can begin.”
“The only thing we’ll be back for is your head,” Kellan screamed.
“Quiet, mortal. You’re all pawns in my game. You all have purposes to serve. Just be patient, you’ll see in due time.”
Drayce squeezed my hand. I had doubted she was going to let us leave alive, but she had plans that we knew nothing about. Assurances. She wanted us alive for a purpose… I felt like we’d lost already, that there was a war coming, and we were already losing it.
“Leave my castle now! I have some remodeling to do,” she barked.
The traitor Sevrin remained with the queen, a satisfied smile upon his face as we all stood and walked to the barricaded doors, where Bramick removed his earth magic and unblocked the way. She had us all under her mind control, but I just let it happen. I had nothing left in me to fight or care.
It had been over before we even knew what game we were playing.
In silence, our group of six walked through the castle, passing no one. Drayce’s hand clutched mine, Bramick carried Aerie, and Bernitha cried as she walked, bleeding and limping—I thought she might have been close with Elene.
And then Kellan. He seemed as if he were still trying to fight her umbra magic. The rest of us looked destroyed, but his face was twisted in a sneer, hands balled and rage burning in his eyes.
We’d barely survived, Elene hadn’t survived, and we had accomplished nothing.
In fact, in many ways, it felt as if we’d made the situation worse. We’d set Malvina’s plans in motion as soon as we walked into the throne room. Likely before that, even.
We’d nearly reached the castle walls before I turned around, feeling Malvina’s eyes on me.
There she was, standing on that damned balcony where I’d given my speech, where she’d watched my trial from above.
More than the fury, I felt defeat. Utter, total defeat. My shadows were silent.