“I love you,” I whisper in his ear, closing his mouth as all the shadows have left his body. I wrap my arm around him, wrapping him into a hug. His body is already turning cold. He died because of me, because he raised me. I feel hysterical, but something else bubbles in my veins.
Burning hot, tingling rage.
I stand up, turning dad around and closing his eyes before I go forward. I ball my fists. Every muscle in my body burns.
I’m no longer seeing clearly. My body tingles intensely, like I’m on fire. My jaws lock tight, and my chest rises and falls heavily with each breath. I squint my eyes.
A deafening roar escapes me.
Instead of attacking the king like I want to, I fall to the ground, not giving him an option of choice anymore.
My body is burning like hell, and I am feeling like I am going to explode like a bomb. My knees hit the hard ground as I fall forward. And then I explode, light bursts out of my skin. I press my eyes close hard. My heart beats like a thunderstorm, until my skin goes numb. I wait a few breaths before I open my eyes.
As I open them, I look up.
Everything is dark. The sun is nowhere to be found.
I took the sun away.
And the king is looking down at me, the widest grin I have ever seen appearing on his face.
Chapter 42
Braxton
Rays of light burst out of her. It slams me and everybody back and makes me cover my eyes with my hand as screams keep erupting from her mouth.
It is only then when the screaming stops, I can take my hand away from my eyes to look at her. Little sobs come from her, the light rays from her making it visible where she is. My feet run towards the sound, towards the girl who is being balled up on the ground. My hands reach forward because of the dark, trying to steady myself.
The sun is away and the light rays coming from her are dimming. It is darker than at midnight, but she still shines. The king hovers over her. I fall to the ground next to her, brushing her hair out of her face.
As she feels my touch, the sob starts to become louder.
“Ssst,” I try to comfort her, my hand on her back as she starts to vomit. My hands grab her hair, and before the puke evolves out of her mouth, I get the last strands of her hair out of her face. “Ssst, you are okay.” No words leave her mouth, only loud sobsbetween the vomiting. My hands brush her back softly as tears well up in my eyes.
The king killed Fintan.
My father killed Fintan.
My trainer, my father figure.
Eliane’s father.
But somehow, the king got what he wanted. This was his goal.
I look at the man grinning. The man who is supposed to be the one who cares for me. But if I wasn’t his blood I would have probably been long gone.
Despite the dark, the shadows around him are becoming visible. They fly like little whispers in the air.
Eliane’s eyes are closing, like she is almost falling asleep, her sobbing quieter with each breath. I turn her around, on my legs, brushing her burning skin. Someway, the sun is still gone, but her light is almost dim.
I watch the king as I cover Eliane with my body.
Somehow, Zephron is now being held back by two guards. I must have missed that part, because I have no idea how he got there. Like the shadows are praying and bowing for the king, they lift him up from the ground.
He raises his arms in the air.
People scream, gasp, freeze and some even run away from the scene that is about to happen. I have no idea what the king is about to do. I know he is untrustworthy, but he seems like he got a whole plan figured out. Not for long, though. He is too far out of my reach at this moment, and as adrenaline rushes through my body, I don’t find the balls to leave Eliane lying down on the cold hard ground.
