It’s hard to breathe, the air around us tight and thin, constricting further with each agonizing second that ticks by.
Does Jace even realize he’s the one causing it?
My eyes fill with tears as he comes to stand over me, chest heaving.
“Tell me that this is some sort of sick joke.”
A cracked sob bubbles from my lips. “Iwish I could.”
I reach for his hands like a beggar. And he rips them away—a dark angel with no mercy.
“I don’t believe it. Irefuse.”
“Serena.” Zadyn says my name with a tenderness I don’t deserve. I can barely meet his gaze.
“I’m sorry, Zadyn. It just—I’m so sorry.”
I had prayed against all odds that it wasn’t true. What I had been suspecting for weeks now. But what happened when Jace raised that blade to Kylian is undeniable. It was in that moment that I saw the truth of everyone’s words. It clicked.
And I am so ashamed.
Kylian himself appears too stunned to remember that he’s just been rendered powerless, staring at me as if seeing me for the first time. Like we’re strangers. Like he hasn’t threatened everyone I love, threatened me.
He doesn’t seem afraid. But I’m guessing that’s because he knows that even though he can’t defend himself with magic, I will. Because of our bond.
Jace lifts his hand and drops his dagger at my feet. It clatters against the tile, the sound shrill and grating. With one last loathing glance, he storms away.
100
SERENA
TWO WEEKS AGO
Amber eyes inspect me from across the small table. I wait for the door to close behind Zadyn and Mar before turning back to the stranger wearing my mother’s face.
“Say what you need to say.”
She moves to the beverage cart, picks up a crystal decanter, and pours out two shots of golden brown liquor. Handing one to me, she sits.
“What is this?”
“Does it matter? You’ll need it for what I’m about to tell you.”
I glower at her before taking the glass and tossing it back.
She sighs, and begins, “The Fates are angry. You have been evading a destiny they took great care in mapping out.”
I lean in, my brows slashing together. “Who are the Fates?”
“The weavers of destiny. They have great plans for you, but you must stop running. You must start facing what you are meant for.”
“And what is it I’m ‘meant for’?”
“When your ancestors died, they cast out their energy to preserve their line with the intention that you would return to finish what they started. That you would be this world’s salvation. That you would defend and protect its inhabitants, as they did.”
“Protect them from what? What are you saying?”
She flips over the first card she placed in front of me.The Wheel of Fortune.
