Chapter 31
UNDISPUTED CHAMPION
Jasher loomed mere breaths away, a tower of temptation and menace cloaked in a tangle of shadow and light. His wings were now big enough to sweep around us, erasing the rest of the world.
I held myself rigid, refusing to flinch beneath the weight of my feelings for him.
Love hadn’t faded. But countless betrayals had trapped it behind internal armor—and a heart of stone, battered and broken time and time again until only rubble remained.
For the first time, my love could not influence my decisions about him.
How could I ever trust this man again?
“What did you see in the void?” I asked, already certain of the answer. Memories still churned at the edges of my mind, frothing against a mental dam I hadn’t known I’d built. They beat against it in relentless waves, fragments of my different lives.
“What else? Our story, unfolding over centuries.”
Then he’d seen much of what I had. My eyes slitted. “You led me to death. Many times.” And only days ago, he’d blamed me for killing him. Which, I admit, I had done…occasionally.
“I did,” he agreed, offering no more.
I liked that he didn’t deny it or toss out excuses.
Instead, he pinched a lock of my emerald hair and rubbed the strands between two fingers. “I hate what I did to you. Hate that I chose Ian, betraying you.” His arm fell to his side, anguish blazing bright in his sunset eyes. “But I know—I know—I am a new man this time. Moriah, I feel it.”
His fervor beat at my armored heart, denting the metal but not piercing it. “Sorry, Jasher. I believed you before. Not ever again.”
“This time is different.” Determination turned his features to granite. “I am different. You made me different.”
I examined him for the smallest trace of falsehood. A hint of Ian’s telltale smirk or a single flicker of ill intent. Something to reveal a crack in Jasher’s resolve. But none appeared.
My gaze dropped to his wrists. If the Ring of Truth did its job, a shackle should appear any second. Proof of his lie. But seconds passed and…nothing.
A hidden remnant of hope flickered within me. He believed it then. Believed he was changed.
What are you doing? I scowled at him, at myself. This was my last chance to win against Ian. Sin and Malkom were a worry for tomorrow. Today, every decision mattered.
Jasher’s actions spoke louder than his words.
“You didn’t just lead me to my deaths,” I said.
“You lied to me, stole from me, and sabotaged my efforts.” Yes, I’d seen mere glimpses of our other interactions, rather than the complete picture, but I didn’t need to dig through the wreckage of remembrances to know I spoke true.
“And I will forever regret it,” he said, unflinching. “But I’ve learned from my mistakes.”
“As have I.” Stay strong. “I will never trust you again, Jasher.” I lifted my chin, proud of the steel in my voice…until the Ring of Truth flared, and the flames exploded in sparks.
A thin silver band shimmered into existence around my left wrist, a pulse of something raw and electric surging from it. In seconds, weakness spilled through my veins in great waves.
The metal was ice against my skin. But I hadn’t lied. The Ring was wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. I’d meant those words. Even if my heart hadn’t.
My new bling remained. The Ring didn’t care about my pride, or what I wanted to be true; only about the part of me still capable of hope.
“The Ring is never wrong,” Jasher said, as if he’d read my thoughts. Triumph flared in his eyes. He whooshed closer, suddenly only a whisper away.
I bowed up, ready to defend, always, but my left arm, the one with the chain, reacted slowly. The limb now weighed a hundred pounds. At least.
Jasher made contact, and there was no stopping him.
But he cupped my throat, more tender than ever before.
“Seems you don’t know yourself as well as you thought you did, princess.
And I—” His Adam’s apple bobbed. Voice dipping with reverence, he said, “I know you better than I thought. I see you. Know that you love with the whole of your being. And when you look at me as if I’m everything you’ve been waiting for…
you mean it. Now and forever, I am undone. ”
His confession washed over me like a fine wine: heady, dark, and dangerously sweet. I almost melted against him as I waited, certain his downfall had come but hoping it hadn’t. Seconds passed, and still no shackles appeared on him.
The Ring must be broken. Do not cave. “History shows what becomes of me when we’re together.” Only ever ruin. “You yourself even told me never to trust you.”
His grip tightened. “You alone can trust me.” He combed his claws gently stroking my hair. “In every life, I saw you as the instrument destined to slay my brothers. Even though I fell in love with you, I knew if I saved you, I would lose them. So I picked them.”
This. This was the fear that had been hiding in his heart. That I would destroy everyone he loved. Then I’d fed him the elixir, forcing the seed of this to grow in the light, and there’d been no more hiding.
Now, a new weight settled on my shoulders. “That’s the problem, Jasher.” I offered the words with quiet assurance. “I am the instrument destined to slay them.” The very reason I was born. “You and me? We’re doomed.” And deep down, we’d known it.
“I don’t believe that anymore.” He shook his head, a lock of hair falling over his brow.
“From the start, you’ve believed we can sever my tie to Ian.
If me, then the others too. Let’s do that together, you and me.
Give me another chance,” he pleaded, nearly ripping me in two. “I choose you. Only you.”
His conviction shouldn’t be a temptation, battering at my resolve. I’d meant what I’d said. I’d learned my lesson. I was impenetrable. Or not. Because what if…
The flames around us exploded. He stumbled back, a thin silver band appearing around his left wrist.
The truth slapped me. He’d lied.
The Ember within me might not have ignited, but I did. Fury blazed white hot, the urge to grab him, to shake him, to scream, overwhelming me. And yet, power rippled through my muscles, my strength returning in a rush.
The Ring fed me the truth it had stripped from Jasher, turning his lie into my power.
Aaah. I understood better now.
Eyes wide, he peered at me. “I told the truth, Moriah,” he repeated. “I swear to you. I love you. I choose you.”
Though a second band didn’t appear on him, hotter fury licked at my bones. “Your new accessory says otherwise.”
“It’s because of Ian. I’m not severed from him yet. That must be the reason the chain appeared. Because he will betray you, and I am not…him.”
“But you are him,” I corrected, my tone flat. “Exactly what everyone, including you, have tried to warn me about from the very beginning.”
He flinched. It was the first time I’d ever agreed that he wasn’t different from the others, but my enemy, through and through.
“Do you love me, Moriah?” He took my hands in his, his thumb stroking my racing pulse. “Me, Jasher. Still?”
I almost denied it, despite the consequences. Part of me wanted to hurt him as he’d hurt me so many times. “Yes, I love you. But it doesn’t matter.” I wouldn’t let it matter. Elowen claimed the Ember demanded my everything. If true, that would leave nothing for Jasher, my personal downfall.
In that moment, revelation came. I didn’t need to die for the Ember. I needed to live for it, putting its will above my own.
Sparks flared from the Ring. A second band appeared, this one on my right wrist and colder than the first. It didn’t just drain the strength I’d gained—it stole far more. I staggered beneath the onslaught, crying out.
But I hadn’t lied. I’d meant it; I wouldn’t let my feelings for Jasher matter.
Would I?
Hope reignited in his expression, and I bit the inside of my cheek, tasting blood. With a single flap of his wings, he was behind me. My back pressed against his chest, his hand cool and possessive on my chin, tilting my head, exposing my ear to the heat of his breath.
“It matters to you,” he said with joy and wonder I did not expect. “I matter. Despite everything.”
Shivers rained over my spine. “Okay, yes, my love for you matters,” I spat, ripping from his hold and whirling to face him.
“So what. Now, I’m the one who gets to choose.
Hmm. Let’s see. The man who betrayed me or the parents who die for me?
The so-called friend who lied to me or my sister who trained me?
The monstra who killed me or a future of peace. ”
The Ring of Truth roared, its flames casting molten heat across my skin, coiling down my throat like a serpent and ripping out my next words, honest, raw, and unfiltered.
“I choose the Ember.”
His attention shot to my wrists, but a third band didn’t appear. His shoulders wilted while mine squared.
“I can’t afford to take a chance on you. This is the last loop.” I’d made my decision, and I wouldn’t be swayed. Even when parts of me preferred cuddling.
“No, it’s not the last,” he barked, and the flames flared. “It can’t be.”
A silver band shimmered into existence around his right wrist. His jaw went slack, and color drained from his cheeks.
So it was true. This was my last shot at victory, and deep inside, he knew it. I wouldn’t get another chance to defeat Ian. And I was glad…so glad for that. No more living for the next life. Only here and now.
Time to take steps in that direction. “I have a new motto,” I announced. “No monstra. No surrender. No compromise.”
No new chain.
“I will kill Ian for you,” he vowed, stepping toward me.
More sparks. A silver band appeared around his left ankle, seeming to lock him in place. Shock seized his features. He jerked at his foot once, twice. Again. Muscles strained and veins bulged. His wings flapped, increasing his momentum.
He never budged.
Fresh strength rippled through me, a river unbound, ancient and awake. “More lies.” But even then, the sight of Jasher in chains hurt me.