Chapter 20 #3
The barrier Stellan had cast between them shattered like glass.
Their father flew backwards, slamming into the stone wall with a sickening thud.
A second later, the glass ceiling above them fractured with a deafening crack.
Cassia barely had time to react before shards of crystal began to rain from the sky.
Cade collapsed to his knees, power still pulsing around him in unstable waves.
Bridget dove toward him without hesitation, reaching for him.
Cassia felt Castor’s hand on her head, attempting to push her down.
But instead of fighting the magic rushing toward her, like she usually did, she embraced it. Cassia let it fill her veins. When it reached her fingertips, she let out her own roar. The shards never touched the ground.
Instead, they disintegrated midair, turned to dust by the raw power pulsing from her outstretched hands.
Sand whirled across the chamber like a miniature cyclone.
Cassia lifted her face to meet her father’s stare.
Behind the fury and disgust in his eyes, she caught the flicker of pride he couldn’t quite hide.
When the chaos quieted, everyone raised their heads tentatively. Her father struggled to get to his feet. Betrayal and rage were clear on his face.
“It looks like I’m the only one trying to save my son.” For once, his full attention turned to her. “I tried to save you, too.”
Cassia inhaled sharply when she finally realized what he meant. “You knew?”
Her whole childhood replayed in her head. The criticism. The training. The reluctance to let her have anything to do with magic.
He’d been trying to keep her Druid identity hidden, just like Cade’s Tuathan one.
“Of course I did. I tried to stomp it out of you so you wouldn’t become a monster.”
Monster.
The word repeated in her head like a bad chant that she couldn’t escape from. Her muscles quivered. Is that what she was doomed to be? Is that what everyone would eventually think of her?
“You must not know your daughter at all, then.”
Castor’s words did nothing but shatter her heart more. Cassia wasn’t sure she even knew who she was anymore. Every day, everything she knew seemed to change.
Stellan raised his hand. Her father hit the ground hard. Once. Then twice. Until it became clear the fight had gone out of him. He didn’t shout. Didn’t threaten. He simply stayed there, shoulders slumped, head bowed low. Only then did Stellan release his invisible grip.
“The future is here. Accept it,” Stellan said. “Or lose your children forever.”
Cassia’s gaze drifted to Cade. He stood with his arm firmly wrapped around Bridget, her head tucked beneath his chin.
Over the top of her hair, Cade met Cassia’s eyes.
His mouth curled slightly. Not in triumph, but in bitter understanding.
Cassia mirrored the look. Neither of them said what they were both thinking. But they both knew… he already had.
With a grumble, their father slapped sand from his sleeves and brushed off what remained on his shoulders. He rolled his neck with a sharp crack and leveled a scathing glare at Stellan. “Was it absolutely necessary to do this in front of the riffraff?”
Behind Cassia, Archer leaned toward Finn. “Are we the riffraff?”
Finn sighed.
Deckard stopped in front of Cade and Bridget. He stared at them for a long moment. “Leave for Andarre for all I care. Abandon Elyria when it needs you most. That’s your choice.” His voice lowered, thick with warning. “But whatever happens next is on you.”
Sand spiraled around his boots as he turned and stalked from the room. “And someone clean this mess up,” he snapped, just before the heavy doors slammed behind him.
Cade leaned in and whispered something to Bridget. Whatever it was made her nod before he guided her out after him. Cassia looked to Stellan. He hadn’t moved. He stood in the middle of the wreckage, eyes turned toward the gaping hole in the roof, lost in a sky that didn’t answer.
“After what happened in the library, you still took Cade’s side?” Cassia asked.
The tension had been suffocating. He’d clearly been angry. She’d half-expected to find him agreeing with her father when they’d finally made it to the study.
Stellan didn’t look at her right away. “No matter how angry I am,” he said finally, “I always will.” He exhaled, gaze distant. “And for a second, I thought I caught a glimpse of the old Cade. It’s hard to let go of that kind of history.”
Cassia glanced at Castor. That, she understood.
But when Castor came toward her, she stiffened.
His earnest gaze punctured her sole. He wanted to help.
She could practically hear the words in the air between them even though he hadn’t spoken.
But excess power still vibrated through her veins.
And she suddenly wasn’t sure if she’d taken it from the air or from him.
He’d touched her. Right before she’d exploded.
Rushing past him, Cassia croaked, “Stay away from me.”
Before she became a monster and destroyed him completely.