Fearless (The Powerless Trilogy, #3)

by Lauren Roberts

“I couldn’t save you. Not even from myself.” He nearly chokes on the words. “Forgive me. Please.”

“I watched you die in that arena. I watched my own dagger sink into your chest with my hands wrapped around the hilt. And then, you were slipping away.” I blink, gaze blurry. “And I hadn’t even said those three words I was so sure would take you away from me.

“But I can’t wait for another tragedy. So I’ll tell you now, because fate likely won’t allow us a future. Kai, I—” “I love you.”

“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.”

“You are my inevitable. In death, and in love.” “And you are mine.” I smother my sobs long enough to whisper, “I love you, Malakai. I love you.”

“I love you. I love you. I love y—”

Love. That is what this feeling is. And it is all-consuming.

“My pretty Pae. Look what you have done to me.”

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

“She could have died!” I shout, throwing out a hand toward Paedyn. “At least if it were me in that Pit, I would have ensured my own death instead of hers.”

“That is precisely why I couldn’t let you in that arena. You would have sacrificed your life for her. And I refuse to lose you.”

“But you were willing to risk losing her,”

“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.”

“So, I’m just dead, then.”

“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.”

“So much for never reminding me of Father.”

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.”

Where a kind and charming brother once stood, now resides the corpse of duty and power.

“I need you with me, Kai.” I pull away, clapping my hand on his shoulder. “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.

“I understand, truly. There is always a reason for the hurt we cause.”

It’s odd, seeing a man with my same power be reduced to such a simple death.

“It’s him.” Kitt steps forward. “What?” “It’s Adena’s boy from Loot.” She chokes on his name. “Mak.”

“See you in the sky.”

Paedyn will always be between us. Soon, she will no longer be mine to comfort, mine to have.

pathetically I will still love her. She is forever lodged within me, the only pure spot on my stained soul. But for now, I do not pull away.

Until then, I will have her in whatever w...

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

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.

“We never got to say goodbye to her.” Paedyn’s whispered words are not meant for our ears. “But at least we could share how much we both loved her.”

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

“See you in the sky.”

The last piece of Adena died in my arms, just as she had.

I think I’m selfish for the relief I feel at Kai’s resurrection.

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.

It’s the perfect picture of purity. And I’m not sure I should be the one wearing it.

“You’re the closest thing I have to a father now. And I was wondering if…” “I’d be honored to walk you down the aisle, Paedyn,”

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

That is where Adena lives, and she is telling me to display my survival. Showcase the power I was forced to find within myself.

This fabric has never felt Adena’s soft touch, and I never will again. If I am to be married, I want to be wearing a piece of her.

The face that stares back is foreign in a freeing way. There is a certain boldness within it that I look forward to familiarizing myself with. It is not quite the image of a queen, but perhaps something just as powerful.

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

“Ellie, am I wearing a veil?” “I would happily beg you not to.”

“Don’t deprive me of seeing your face one last time.” I falter. “It wouldn’t be the last time.” “It wouldn’t be the same,” he answers quickly.

“Don’t walk toward me wearing that dress.” I’ve never heard the Enforcer sound so shaken. “It only reminds me that I won’t be the one awaiting you at the end of that aisle.”

That sight alone sends me back to the Whispers, where a cocky prince once buried a girl for the sake of another. And again, in the slums of Ilya, another littered body of mine was put to rest by the man meant to drag me to my doom.

“You really are becoming quite the gentleman.”

“Only for you, darling.”

“Torture? I haven’t even raised my dagger to you yet.” “Are you completely unaware of how devastating you are?”