Isla tried to fight it, fighthim, but she couldn’t find the strength. She tried to picture that silver pool, but her mind was flooded with darkness.
She remembered how he had twisted and manipulated her other memories, and she begged,beggedthe universe, that he wouldn’t alter these. Anything but that.
Cronan flipped through her precious moments as if searching for something specific, until a memory fully crystalized, and she saw herself bleeding...using pain as power. The ground around her burst forth as her abilities exploded around her. Isla’s eyes were dark pools. Glowing. Filled to the brim with power.
This, Cronan hadn’t changed. It had really happened.
“Look at you,” Cronan said. “Rising to your full potential. Losing control. Finally showing who you really are...”
A flash of gold bled into the memory. Oro, waking her from her trance. Telling her he didn’t recognize her.
Isla turned to him—and plunged her entire hand into his chest. She squeezed, watching his eyes bulge...
And ripped out his heart.
His body fell, lifeless. She just watched, a bored expression on her face. His still beating heart was in her fist. She slowly brought it to her lips...and took a bite.
No.
No, she—
Isla watched as power surged from the Isla in her mind. Her abilities were blotting out the sun, the entire sky. She was unstoppable, formidable—
No.
Seeing herself kill Oro, the pain of his body lying dead at her feet, it sent her thoughts scattering, her mind closing.
Cronan wrenched it open again and dove back in. Suddenly, she was seeing a village. She was watching darkness spill out of her like an endless night, tearing through it. Destroying everything.
“Yes...” Cronan said. “You see, we are not so different, you and me...Your flair...we both consume”
No. She wasn’t anything like him. He reveled in destruction, and this...this was the biggest regret of her life.
He wasn’t done. Cronan flipped to where she was in front of Grim, on their wedding day. Saying vows. Holding hands.
Instead of completing the ceremony—Isla shoved her hand through Grim’s chest, stabbing her nails right through his heart.
No.
Seeing her kill both of the men she loved...knowing this was what the prophecy promised...it was too much. But instead of making her crumble, it summoned her strength from its hidden depths.
It sent a wave of defiance through her brain, forcing Cronan out.
She gasped, and she was back on the cold floor. Cronan was staring down at her. He looked entirely too pleased.
“Interesting...” Cronan said. “Is that what you were so desperate to hide? That king...and my heir?”
Isla didn’t say a single word. She held her chin high even as her entire body was trembling.
He lifted her with his mind to his height—and she spat in his face. He tightened his control over her body to the point where she could barely breathe and studied her closely, as if seeing her for the first time.
“This lock...” he said, “hastwokeys...I wonder if they’re looking for you.” His mouth turned into a cruel grin. “I wonder if they’ll be foolish enough to come and get you...”
Her stomach dropped as she was swept backward, flying through the room before she hit solid metal—one of Cronan’s knights. Cronan’s laugh echoed through the room as the knight hauled her back, her boots dragging against the floor.
“If they do...if I find them...then I’m willing to bet you’ll become whatever weapon I need you to be.”
ORO
