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August 13 - August 18, 2025
The way he behaves like he doesn’t give a fuck about the brother from whom he’s stolen everything makes me so furious red bleeds into the corners of my vision.
She’s feral and difficult and makes me want to tear my hair out sometimes. All the time. It’s what makes me so insane.
I’ve suspected the truth for a while, but for some reason, it’s hard to say out loud. I’ve never in all my years heard of it happening. And what are the odds that this woman my father stole, tortured, and tossed into Nostraza is my mate?
He makes me feel things I never expected to feel. Safe. Wanted. Beautiful. Like my flaws aren’t a series of mistakes but rather the essential pieces that make me who I am.
A knot of emotion forms in my throat as I watch them. This is what I want for my siblings. To find someone who allows them to feel again. To love and lose themselves with. This is what I was fighting for during the Trials.
“The Savahell Mine collapsed two days ago, killing almost six hundred low fae, a group of prisoners from Nostraza, as well as every guard on duty.”
“I can barely look at you,” she says, tears streaming down her cheeks. “It’s my fault you’re so angry all the time. That there’s a prince in that house who looks at you like you’re his entire world, and all you know how to do is push him away. It’s my fault that my baby sister is broken.”
I’m so angry right now that I can’t think straight. I’ve gone through hell for Atlas, and he speaks to me like I’m no more significant than a worm curling over the toe of his golden boot. I’ve spent my entire life protecting him, even when I wasn’t obligated to do so, and he’s never once shown an ounce of gratitude. I stalk through the palace as servants and courtiers leap out of my way. Gods, I need a drink and a good fuck. I need to punch something. Hard.
Lor chews on her bottom lip, and I wish I could go over and take her in my arms and promise her that everything is going to be okay. I wish I knew how to make everything okay.
I will not belong to him. I will never belong to anyone ever again.
“Etienne is a citizen of Heart, Lor,” Nadir finally explains. “He’s been waiting for you for a long time.”
Mates. Mates. Mates. “Fuck,” I whisper as it all calcifies into focus. Nadir is my mate.
“The blood of your enemies, Lor. Ask me, and I’ll slay anyone for you. Burn the world to ash if you desire.”
Amara, the queen of Heart. Terra, the king of Tor. And though she’d never met him, she assumed the man with the long chestnut hair must be Hawthorne, the Woodlands King.
He sees into my darkness and stares at it with unflinching eyes.
He’s my challenge and my summit, and I am being tested in the deepest possible way.
“Lor! When are you going to get it through your head that I am totally, completely fucking in love with you!” She attempts to retreat, but I take another step until she’s backed against the window. “You’re all I think about. I’ve never felt like this about anyone, and I’d do anything for you. You’ve become my air and my blood and my only reason to exist. I love you, Lor. I love you so much it makes my heart feel ready to burst.”
We’re clashing hordes and falling stars. We’ve been existing on the ledges of two opposite cliffs, so close to touching, and either we grab hold now or plummet into nothing.
“I know that was never what you meant, Nadir. It just took me a while to come to understand that. I know you’ve never wanted to cage me. You’ve become not just my rock, but my soft landing too. All you’ve ever done is give me room to spread my wings.”
“Take what you want, Nadir. I’m yours, but you are mine, too. I am not afraid, and I trust you. With everything. With my heart and my life. With everything that comes next.”
When you’ve been treated like nothing for most of your life, it’s easy to forget that you’re something.
The Withering was a rare affliction that affected only High Fae. It happened when their magic began to turn on them, essentially eating them from the inside.
“You were never my enemy, Lor. I never saw you that way, even when I was tearing my hair out in the manor house because you were driving me insane.”
“I love those things about you. They’re what make you, you. So yes, I’m here to help you face whatever demons you need to slay, but don’t ever lose that fire. You might be my mate, but I would have fallen in love with you anyway because you are impossible to ignore.”
Never underestimate the enduring fragility of a man who suffers from a lack of confidence.
That’s what Atlas was after. He resents the fact he doesn’t have a Primary’s magic. But will it work if he uses the Mirror?
I take it from him and crack open the lid. Inside is a beautiful ring with a deep red stone. “What’s this for?” I ask, pulling it out. “It’s my promise to you,” he says. “To keep you safe. To love and protect you for as long as there’s breath in my body.”
“Wear this, if you choose, as a reminder that whatever demons we face, I will follow you until the very end. Into the fires of the Underworld if I must.”
My mate. My heart. The man I fell in love with despite the rivers we had to cross to get here. The hurts and the betrayals we had to overcome.
