Hells, there was so much more I wanted to say. So many things I wanted to do with him before now. So much time to make up for.
I was confident that I could kill Cornelius, yes.
But there was still that tiny whisper in the back of my mind that told me I might never see Jessiah again.
No—I pushed that thought far, far away. This wasn’t the time to doubt.
This was the time to fight for the life I finally felt like I deserved.
Ishould have been afraid. There was a pretty large chance that I did not survive this encounter. Hells, it was a miracle I even made it this close to the front gates.
But it was time that bastard got what he deserved.
Cornelius made me feel special. Made me feelseen—like I belonged here.
Hells, maybe I did.
Maybe that tiny part of me I kept hidden for most of my life was desperate to fit in here.
I took another step toward the front gates of Pericius. The usual crowd of angry citizens outside was quieter now. Subdued, almost as if they’d lost hope. Lost the will to fight.
That silence nearly broke my damn heart.They were giving up.Either that, or Cornelius had taken enough of their powers that they no longer stood a chance against him.
I was here to make him pay.
The chill of the frost caressed my skin as I stopped walking a few feet away from Pericius’s entrance. The few citizens around me stepped away, making room for me. They had no way of knowing who I was. They had no way of knowing what I was here to do. But they avoided me like I were on fire—looking at me beneath their exhausted, dull eyes.
“Cornelius!” I tilted my head up toward the wall and funneled the approaching surge of anger into my words. “I know you’re in there. We need to talk. Let me in!”
A few seconds passed.
Nothing.
“Cornelius!”
Was he really going to ignore me? Was he going to let me stand out there, screaming like a damn idiot, while he laughed behind his tall walls and enormous stone castle, stealing powers as he lived his life in luxury?
The gates shuddered and the ground beneath my boots vibrated. A few moments later, the gates opened.
I expected guards swooping in to carry me away. Weapons drawn. Front doors protected.
What I didn’t expect was Cornelius standing before me, alone aside from the two guards who opened the gates.
I shivered at the sight of him. He stood tall and stoic with his chin held high and his royal uniform in perfect condition. Not a single piece of hair was left out of place.
And he stared at me as if he were seeing me for the very first time. His eyes remained hardened as he scanned me from head to toe.
“This is a surprise,” he started. “When you and your friends left in the middle of the night without a trace, I assumed it would be for good.”
I took a step forward and pretended to be fearless. Confident. Like I had nothing to hide. “You think I’d leave without saying goodbye?”
Maybe he wasn’t buying it. Maybe he knew all along, and he was luring me in now to kill me for good.
But then the corner of his mouth lifted, and the old Cornelius—the one filled with flattery and lies—cracked through. “Well, I’m glad you’re back. I was worried something might’ve happened to you.”
“Please.” I flipped my hair over my shoulder and walked through the open gates. “You can’t get rid of me that easily, Cornelius.”
This was it. This would be the defining moment. Would he realize right away that I was different? That my magic was different?
