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July 21 - August 3, 2025
“The gods may not show themselves anymore, but they’re here. They’re in every creature in our world, in all the beauty and the ugliness, in good and evil, in glory and flaws. And they are most certainly in you. They choose a person’s gift for a reason, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t question mine for a long time. Truth be told, I still question it—but I wield it, Lessia. I decide what it is and what it isn’t.”
“Gods know I’ve been angry for a long time. Furious at my fate and the decisions I made. But I can’t change the past. I can only use that anger to direct the future. You need to learn how to do that as well. How to direct your emotions before they direct you.”
“It’s a good thing. She’s fighting back. She is angry. And that anger is what’s keeping her going. She’s been through so much in her young life, and she’s repressed all the resulting emotions for so long… But she can’t anymore, not with all the hurt and disappointment. So she focuses on the easiest one to manage—rage.”
“She doesn’t need to get better,” he snarled softly. “If she decides to break apart this whole ship to deal with what happened, I’ll help her. If she wants to kick your lying ass into the depths of the sea, I’ll take your legs. If she decides to rip the world to shreds for what it’s done to her, I’ll cheer her on. And if you were a true friend… you would as well.”
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“I saw what he did to you.” Her eyes flew to Raine’s, and she couldn’t stop herself from flinching, her arms wrapping around herself to keep whatever pieces were left together. Raine shook his head as he observed her. “So broken,” he whispered before swallowing more of the liquid, a drop trickling down into his unkempt stubble. “You won’t always be, though. Not like me…”
“I had no choice,” Lessia responded quietly. Raine’s head jerked up. “Of course you had a choice. Everything you’ve done in your young life has been the result of a choice, whether you believe it or not. I can see you think all things merely happened to you, but each heartbreak, every moment of pain, of happiness, of love, happened because of the paths you chose.” Tears burned behind her eyes. “I guess I chose all the wrong ones, then.”
Raine slammed a hand against the desk. “There are no wrong paths! Dark ones, sure. I nearly drove myself mad thinking about the choices that led to Solana’s death. But if I hadn’t chosen them, I wouldn’t have met her in the first place.” “Was it worth it? Meeting her just to lose her?”
“You do not carry that darkness. You may bear a name, but that name does not define you. You may share his blood, but that blood does not dictate who you are. And I promise you”—his eyes bore into hers as he stressed each word—“I. Promise. You. I won’t let anyone hurt you. Rioner, Loche, the rebels, the Oakgards’ Fae, or any of these fucking people won’t come near you. Ever again.”
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“The Rantzier rule will end, its people disband, by the hands of the reluctant ally—the ally that should have stood by their side, that should have fought with them, that
should have protected them. It’s the one loved by Fae and human, the one you may not slay for the war that fragile death would bring, who will finally bring the Rantziers to their knees.”
“The world is painful.” Merrick’s gaze drilled into hers. “Yours perhaps more than most. But it’s time for you to stop cowering before it. Make mistakes, and forgive yourself for them. Get hurt, and fight back. You’re a good person. A fucking great person. Stop letting guilt dim your light. I told you once, it’s time to shine…”
Raine grinned at Lessia’s sister before lifting her off her feet and placing her back behind him.
“You are brave and clever and wildly loyal. You have such fight in you—even after everything. And you love so fiercely… so boundlessly. Don’t let your past convince you that you aren’t worthy of it in return.”
“I’m so sorry I didn’t see it before. You were right. The rebels are approaching this the wrong way. But you’re not, Lia. You are a real leader. Someone who truly cares about this botched world—even cares about the people that treated you like trash.” “I don’t know…” she started, but Ardow shook his head again. “I do. You were born for this, Lessia. Your compassion and loyalty will make you a great ruler should that be the path you’d like to start down. And even if not, I believe people will still follow you in this war.”
“I see you, Elessia Rantzier. I see how you fight to live through each day. I see how you fight to better yourself—whether it’s through training or understanding of others. I see how you fight to love so freely and so deeply. I see how you fight for a world that’s only mistreated you, because you believe it’s the right thing to do.”
“You wouldn’t have to fight for me. I… I can’t say it would be easy, given what we’re facing, but I’d make sure this—us—would be the one place you can rest, where you’re always safe, where you never have to put on a mask to conceal your true feelings.”
“Do you want me to tell you I’ve fallen more in love with you every day, watching you fucking fight for your life?”
“Do you want me to tell you no one—mate or not—has loved anyone the way I love you? That I would laugh as the world fell apart as long as you stood by my side? That even if I could only have one fucking night—one night pretending you’re mine—I’d take it?”
“Because I would. That’s how fucking bad I want you. How bad I need you.”
“You’re too damn good for me. You’re all fucking light and goodness and life. While I’m all darkness and evil and death. I don’t understand how you were chosen for me.”
I do not decide what she does or doesn’t do. He didn’t. Unlike Loche, he didn’t try to force her hand.
The Rantzier rule will end, its people disband, by the hands of the reluctant ally—the ally that should have stood by their side, that should have fought with them, that should have protected them. It’s the one loved by Fae and human, the one you may not slay for the war that fragile death would bring, who will finally bring the Rantziers to their knees.
Surrendering it all, they will choose to perish with them. For only in their ultimate sacrifice can a new world be born—the world they have dreamed of, battled for, and wept over.
