Fearless (The Powerless Trilogy, #3)

by Lauren Roberts

“But you are not quite ordinary, are you?” Then, with a steadying breath, he orders, “Now follow my lead.”

“Come on, Paedyn,” he murmurs. “Don’t give up yet.”

I look tired—so, so tired of surviving. For the first time, I want to be free of my fight.

“What if I want to save you today?” The dagger turns, his hand guiding its tip toward his own chest.

“Maybe that will help make up for every time I haven’t been able to save another.”

One last time, he whispers, “It’s okay. It was a good fight.”

I scream. It’s the sound of my heart shattering. I can feel the drifting shards in my chest, piercing lungs that can no longer draw breath.

“Besides… there is no way to heal this… hurt.”

I bite back a frustrated scream. At the Plague. At Elites. At my powerlessness.

“It’s just you and me. Under the willow.”

I lean in, hanging on words I’ll never get to hear. Because the light leaves those gray eyes.

It smells of death. Of ruin. I could almost laugh. That is what I was in the end. His ruin.

I am grief. I am sorrow. I am anguish alike.

Love has killed every person I care about.

Smoke meeting fire; life meeting the walking dead.

I am more than his shadow. I am a moth to his flame.

“You almost died thinking it was me who killed you. Thinking that I would ever lay a hand on you again for any reason other than a caress. I told you I would never fight you again, but there I was, hurting you like I promised not to.”

Gone is the Enforcer and every mask that accompanies him. This is Kai alone—my fool and my love.

I’m crying again. It seems that I haven’t stopped in days, but possibly for the first time in my life, it doesn’t make me feel weak.

It took your death to find my courage, and by then, you were… you were gone.”

“Paedyn, I love you. Like nothing else before, I love you. And I’ve been waiting to tell you since I realized your eyes are my favorite color and your freckles the only constellation worth looking at. I could lie—say that you’ve stolen my every thought and heartbeat like the thief you are, but all of me was already yours. Pae, you are my inevitable.”

“I love you, Malakai. I love you.”

“Always. And I’ll find your shoes for you in every lifetime if you’ll allow it.”

think the kingdom finally saw you for what you are—fearsome.”

“But this Wielder came to us. He knew the risks and decided to fight anyway.”

You would have sacrificed your life for her. And I refuse to lose you.”

This Trial was perfectly calculated, devised to ensure the outcome he wished. I see now that this was precisely what Father trained him to be—one step ahead.

“She had to prove herself. It seems I have more faith in her than you, Brother. I knew she could do it, and she did. Neither of you had to die.”

“They don’t need to believe you. They need only to fear you. You will be the Deliverer of Death who has met him and lived. And you”—Kitt’s gaze slides to Paedyn—“have now earned the respect of your kingdom and will be their queen.”

don’t think I’ve forgiven you yet for what you put me through. What you made me do—whether or not it was truly Kai.”

For the first time, I see just how incredibly lost he is. Where a kind and charming brother once stood, now resides the corpse of duty and power.

His breath quivers, as if he is trying to compose himself before murmuring, “I need you with me, Kai.”

“And I hope to never find out what I’d be like without you.”

I’m beginning to think Ilya itself was built on secrets—and I doubt I know the half of them.

There is always a reason for the hurt we cause.”

“See you in the sky.”

Paedyn will always be between us.

“He wanted to avenge her.” She shakes her head. “I can’t blame him for that. I only blame myself.”

“But he decided not to kill me,” she murmurs. “He could have killed me. If we hadn’t met, I wonder if things would have been different.”

I also know this girl better than she lets most. I can read each tremble and unspoken word.

She wants silence. She wants to sit in this grief. And when she is ready to be pulled out, her betrothed and his brother are right here to do so.

“Take care of her for me,” she whispers atop his pale skin. “Take care of her, Mak.”

I almost don’t hear her final, broken whisper. “See you in the sky.”

Why does my love deserve to live and Adena’s does not?

But they are together now, decorating the sky. That is what he wanted, I’m beginning to realize. He only wished to see her in the sky.

For the first time in a very long time, I feel like a little girl again. I feel like someone’s little girl again.

“You really do look like your mother.”

Calum’s words ring in my mind, but it’s a sweeter voice that echoes in my heart. That is where Adena lives, and she is telling me to display my survival. Showcase the power I was forced to find within myself.

So, the least I can do is display my strength in her honor.

There is strength in sacrifice. And that is what this marriage is.