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One more second. One more minute. One more song.
“This will break her. She’ll never forgive you for this.”
He could finally see her clearly in the light and that was violet ringing her grey eyes. Not around the pupils like it had before, but around the outer edges of her irises. And it wasn’t fading.
“You locked me in a wine cellar, despite knowing that’s how I was handled at the Estate. Despite knowing I do not like enclosed spaces. Despite knowing that it would—” She stopped abruptly, those violet rings glowing brighter. Her voice had risen with every word, but when she spoke again, it was once again void of feeling. “You locked me in the wine cellar.”
She’d been trying to care when no one had truly cared for her in so long, she’d stopped caring about anything.
She’d been trying to learn, trying to understand, trying to do what was expected of her. She’d been trying, and all he’d done was tell her it wasn’t enough. That she wasn’t enough. That he needed her to try harder. Needed her to be more. Needed her to give and give and give. And now she was this. She’d stopped trying. She’d stopped trying to be anything but the unpredictable, wild thing she was.
“When a person finally accepts they are nothing,” she continued. “It’s a freedom, really.” “You are not—” “Shh,” she hushed, placing a finger against his lips. “When you accept you are nothing, it frees you from caring.” “Tessa—” “And when you’re already nothing, you can really become anything.”
This was more than a bond; she just hadn’t quite figured out what that meant yet. She’d realized that as she’d lain on the floor of that wine cellar. They were more than Source and Master, Fae and Legacy. They were more than two people connected by a bargain and a bond. They were more than, but more than what?
“Because it reminds us that even chaos needs to scream sometimes. That even with all the magic and power among the realms and between the stars, even with technology and all the tools we have at our disposal, some things are, in fact, uncontrollable.”
Screams echoed around her, and her magic seemed to like it. It liked the idea of being feared. She liked the idea of being feared.
“But I’m…” Her gaze darted to Dex, then back to Rordan. “I’m not Fae.” “You are not. Not even demi-Fae at that,” Rordan agreed. “Would you like something to drink?”
“No, child,” he replied. “The question you should be asking is why are you in Devram at all?”
“No, it isn’t,” Rordan agreed. “But one does wonder: who will be left standing when Chaos comes to reign?”
Her lips tilted into a haunting smile. “You’d have to find all the pieces of my soul, and it’s far too shattered to be put back together.”
He wouldn’t tell her about the Bargain he’d had to make with his father in exchange for his help.
“I’m sorry I failed you, little storm,” Theon said, sorrow flashing in his eyes. “I’m sorry I loved you too late. But I’m yours. Every piece of me.”
Over and over she hummed the ballad as her thoughts shifted from one thing to the next. She didn’t know who to trust anymore, so she would trust no one. Not until they’d proven themselves, given her a reason to believe there wasn’t some ulterior motive behind every word and action.
They were two forces that should repel each other. Instead, they were constantly drawn to each other. Opposites that only created chaos when they clashed.
He’d succeeded. He’d broken her, made her bleed. Shattered her soul so completely, there was no way to ever put it back together. So she’d build herself a new one. One no one could touch, no one could break. One who did what needed to be done without remorse. Isn’t that what he’d said to her? She’d get back up. She’d be the fucking storm. Because the thing about light? When strong enough, it could obliterate darkness.
The goddess of night and shadows, while he was the god of the wild and untamed. The hidden children of Arius and Serafina.
She would protect her children at all costs, placing them before even him. Placing them before oaths sworn to their parents. But he would do the same for his child. “This is for my daughter.”
“Xan has another child?” “Yes, and he was to be my daughter’s Guardian, but I fear things have not gone according to my will. The realms are restless.”
“You need the High Queen of the World Walkers.”
I promise there are stars to fight for, even if they look very different from stars of the past.
