My mouth parts as breathing becomes difficult again. Blood rushes into my ears, my throat constricting like the very grip ofdeathis on it, squeezing until there’s nothing of me left.
“Please, tell me you didn’t,” I whisper, forcing my gaze to stay on his. Begging,beggingto be wrong in my assumption of what he is going to say next.Please, no.
“I knew King Dolian wouldn’t tolerate a guard, no matter how tenured they were, leaving their post for any length of time. Anyone who paid attention could see that he was obsessed with you, and—”
“No.” That single word is all I can manage between the tight pains in my chest.
“I reported to my commander that I had witnessed Alexi leaving his post—”
“No,” I whisper again, shaking my head vehemently. As if doing so will reverse time and make Flynn’s words untrue.
“And he started observing him too, until—”
“No!” My hands dig into my hair as I stand and begin to pace in front of the couch.
“I didn’t know that my actions would lead to his death, and that is a regret I have carried with me since I learned who Alexi was to you,” he insists, his voice a shaky murmur as he stands. “I didn’t know. You have to believe me when I say that. Please, tell me you believe me.” I hear his words, but they do not resonate.
“You—youliedto me!” The imaginary shields and walls I built for my own mental and emotional protection crumble completely, leaving raw turmoil to devour me fully in their wake.
Memories of the night of my failed escape—when Flynn confessed his feelings for me—come to the forefront of my mind. He had said those thingsknowingwhat he had done. To Alexi.To me.
I never want you to doubt anything when it comes to me.
“You let me fall in love with you knowing thatyouractions led to hisdeath!” I scream.
The truth is, I find you so captivating…
“You consumed me, as if I was nothing more than fuel to your fire, and I—” I fall to my knees as the ringing in my ears intensifies. My bodyacheswith this betrayal, and my magic within me hums coldly in response.
The truth is that when I look at you, it’s like peering into a blazing sun.
“Rhea,please,” Flynn begs.
The truth is, I feel that there is no limit to the things I would do for you…
Lies. Lies. Lies.Lies.
Looking up at him—his eyes red and filled with anguish—I let my anger power my next words. “Iburnedfor you, and now, all that’s left of me is ashes at your feet. I don’t want your words,Flynn. They meannothingto me now.”
He stills, looking more pained than when a sword was driven through him. Dark, foreboding power explodes from my heart and down my arms and fingers, the icy tingling unstoppable as I scream and screamand scream. Distantly, I’m aware that Flynn is kneeling before me, but it is like someone has placed a dark veil over my eyes. All I see is infinite inky black. Sounds echo around me as the world shakes, and I hover over my knees.
“Rhea!” He shouts my name, but it sounds so muffled—so far away. How could we ever move past this? He used Alexi as nothing more than an opportunity—a pawn in a game neither of us asked to be a part of.
I love Flynn with everything that I am—everysingleshattered part of me. Even now, I can still feel that love trying to prod its way through the swirling oppressivenothingness.
But I don’t know if it’s enough anymore. And that realization… It fully wakes whatever that dark beast inside of me is. My body feels completely numb, my heart a frozen chamber hidden behind more layers of ice than ever before. I am no longer Rhea Maxwell; instead, I am whatever this pain thatdwells within molds me to be. Hadn’t that always been the case anyway?
I hand over control to my magic and sink down deep within myself. While I cower in a corner of my mind, the consuming darkness wraps its icy, sharp talons around me. The screaming continues, but I can’t tell if it is me or Flynn.
“Hello, Rhea.”
My eyes flutter open at the sound of her voice. Her ethereal cadence instantly calms my heavily beating heart. I hadn’t been to this place—the Middle—since I had nearly drowned in the river.
“That was a terrifying day indeed,” she says softly, as if speaking the words too loudly will make the memory of the ice water filling my lungs real again.
Coming up onto my elbows, my head tilts back as I search the sky, but it’s like shadows are obscuring my view. The stars and galaxies of blazing color I’ve become used to seeing here are muted, distorted. When I don’t answer her—knowing she can either read my mind or hear my thoughts—she sighs.
“You have expelled some of yourothermagic,” she says, causing me to jerk as I look around for her.
