They needed to believe me. If they thought I could actually control my power, they might let me try. They might let me be someone other than a useless fae. This was it—my chance to make a difference. My chance to mean something.
All my life, I suppressed the darkness. Locked it up in a chest deep in my soul and tried my best to forget about it. It was fucking suffocating.
That made me wonder, how good would it feel to release it? To let it seek its purpose after all this time?
I could kill Cornelius. I could end all the suffering he was causing, all the suffering he could cause in the future.
But then I would be alone. Again. The only other person who knew what it was like to have a death gift would be gone.
It was worth it,I reminded myself.
“Rummy has a point,” Xavier added.
I tried not to let my surprise show, but damn did it feel good to know at least one person was on my side.
“Cornelius likes her,” he said.“Likes herlikes her. If we take her back, he’ll want to trust her again. And he needs her. She’s the closest we have to an inside man.”
“He wants me to trust him,” I added, “and he has no reason to believe I don’t.”
“Right,” Jessiah added. “Except for the fact that we fled the kingdom. Wouldn’t it be suspicious if we just returned out of the blue?”
“I’ll say you forced me to go. Or that there was an emergency back at Scarlata, that I got cold feet. Whatever we decide, he’ll believe me.”
“He’ll want to believe you,” Jessiah murmured. “After spewing all that shit about you being special, about destiny. He seemed damn near desperate.”
Wolf stood and paced across the study. Hells, we were right back where we’d been weeks ago, the five of us stuck in this room trying to do what was best for the kingdom.
I was much less grumpy this time around, I’d admit.
“We could do one other thing too,” Wolf said. “Assuming we decide sending Rummy is worth the risk, which I’m still unsure about.”
Beside me, Jessiah tensed. Even his wings tightened behind his shoulder blades. “What is it?”
Wolf paced a few more times, his steps slow and rhythmic.
He was silent so long I was on the verge of losing my mind.
Finally, he stilled. “You said Cornelius is taking powers from the citizens of Pericius, right? That means he has a plethora of abilities under his belt. It wouldn’t be fair to send Rummy back there with just one gift.”
I stilled, my heart thumping in my ears.
The rest of the group was just as silent as the weight of Wolf’s words slowly fell over the room.
“What if we lent her some of our magic?”
“Is that even possible?” Huntyr stood, too, following Wolf to the corner of the room.
For a long moment, he didn’t respond, his expression thoughtful. Eventually, he snapped out of it and turned to us. “It’s been done before. It’s like the bond that allowed us to share power, but it wouldn’t be permanent. We’d simply lend her our gifts until she returns. She’ll be protected then, and Corneliuswill have no reason to assume she’s returning more powerful than when she left.”
Jessiah shook his head. “What if he takes all of those powers, too?”
“I won’t let him,” I interrupted. “I won’t let him take anything, not my powers, not anyone else’s.”
Without looking at me, Jessiah sighed. “And we’re just supposed to trust that you can fully wield your power along with a slew of others without practicing at all?”
My chest tightened. I understood his resistance, I really did, but if it meant stopping Cornelius, if it meant saving all of those people, I would find a way. It was the least I could fucking do.
My heart thumped as I studied him, silently begging him not to give up on me again. “I can do it, Jes. You have to trust me.”
