Everything.
Refusing Kylian means that I spark a war. One that destroys this world. One that kills my friends.
But if I say yes…if I agree to marry him, to be his queen…then I would be standing against Aegar. Against the people I love. Which means that they’ll die anyway.
Kylian was right about one thing—I did look happy with him in the vision. With our…family.
How is that possible?
How on earth can I be happy with him? How can I find a way to love him knowing what he is—a ruthless monster. A beast waiting to destroy the people I love.
Doubt wedges itself between my racing thoughts. It could easily be a trick. Just another bargaining chip to get me to agree.
But, no. It was soreal. I could feel Zadyn’s lifeless form. I could feel the tether linking me to the cherubic faces of those little boys. Their ethereal, hauntingly beautiful faces. Everything I hoped my children would look like one day.
I may not be able to make sense of it, and though every fiber of my being revolts, I refuse to take the risk and damn my friends.
“You’ll kill them all anyway,” I whisper. “No matter what I choose. They die.”
“Aren’t we all just players in the Fates’ design?” He cups my arms, staring at me through the mirror. “Who are we to resist our roles?”
A wave of chills echoes through my body.
“Promise me you won’t hurt them.”
“I won’t go out of my way to. But if they stand in my way or it comes down to the choice between my life and theirs, I will choose mine without a second thought.”
Our eyes lock in the mirror. The shadows swirling around his wrist recede as he holds up a small velvet box. Flipping it open, my eyes land on a ring with a massive ruby rock set in a halo of diamonds. It gleams like a droplet of blood from its satin bed.
“So,” Kylian murmurs against my hair, a glint in his sensuous eyes. “Do we have a deal?”
I force a swallow, wondering if I’m about to make the biggest mistake of my life.
“We have a deal.”
11
ZADYN
Days pass as we wait for word from Ilayna that she’s been invited back to the castle. We are haggard, sleep-starved, and on edge. I watch Jace’s sanity withering away with each passing second she remains out of reach.
I know how he feels. I just do a better job of hiding it.
My eyes drift out over the shimmering black ocean as I feed more sticks into the fire. We decided to set up camp here along the shoreline to be closer to the keep. Closer toher.
It physically hurts to be separated like this. To not hear her voice, to know she’s suffering and I’m not there when every part of me is hard-wired to protect her. To keep her safe, to keep her happy. So far, I’m failing at all three.
The palms part as a cloaked figure steps out of the forest and drops her hood.
Ilayna.
The first time I saw her was in the marketplace. It was late. She was stepping out of a carriage bearing Vod’s royal crest. I watched the footman help her down the steps before she disappeared into an old building. I paid off the old fae with the glass eye and followed her as ifguided by the Fates. I didn’t expect to find myself inside a pleasure house.
“Why are you following me?” A honey-sweet voice called from behind me.
There she stood, eyes wide like saucers. Trusting. But I could read all the pain and suffering there, all the crushed innocence and stubborn hope in the face of bleak despair.
I could sense the goodness in her.
