For She Is Wrath

by Emily Varga

But something dark and rotten answered inside me.

Never show them your fear. The weak feed from fear.

This was who I would become in front of him. A sweet, beautiful confection. And when he bit into the honeyed sugar, it would be poison filling his mouth.

The problem when someone you loved betrayed you was that you had a lifetime of good memories with them that you had to examine in a different light. What was once a safe place to be—beside him, engulfed in his arms, inhaling the smell of rainstorms and pine—was actually the most dangerous place of all.

Back where I met Mazin’s eyes and realized for the first time who he truly was—a boy who would destroy everything just to get what he wanted.

Because if I don’t control the storm raging inside me, then all of this will be for nothing.

“How can you ever truly be free if you measure every interaction in terms of what it costs you?”

A girl who would devour his heart.

“I choose vengeance. I choose death. And in the end, that’s what you chose too.”

I wanted to feel it beating in my hand, to feel his love, his emotions, his trust, before I crushed them beneath my boot.

“Well, I’ve never been one to do what men expect.”