The delusion in her voice was clear even through Briar's pain and shock. Ferria actually believed that forcing Eliam back together, that delivering him to her through Malus's bargain, would somehow make him love her.
"You're doing all of this for Eliam?" Briar's voice was sharp with disbelief. "You think reuniting him will make him want you? If it weren't for the piece of him inside me, he wouldn't even—"
She stopped, realizing what she'd just said. But it was too late.
Ferria's expression shifted, something predatory sliding across her features. "Wouldn't even what?" She moved closer, scenting weakness. "Look at you? Want you?" Her smile was cruel now, delighted. "Is that what you tell yourself? That it's only the essence he wants?"
Briar said nothing, but her face must have given something away.
"Oh, this is perfect." Ferria's laugh was sharp and bitter. "You actually believe it. You think the magic is the only reason." She circled Briar slowly, savoring this. "I've watched him for centuries. Seen him with countless others—fae, humans, it doesn't matter. He uses them, controls them, throws them away."
She stopped directly in front of Briar.
"He's never taken the eye of a Great Lord for one of them. He's never abandoned his court to save one. The magic didn't create that."
She leaned in close, her voice soft and edged with amusement. "Malus doesn't intend to let you go." Ferria's smile was one of satisfaction as she returned to the bench. "You'll have plenty of time to reflect on your mistakes. To watch Eliam whole and finally mine, and know exactly what you wasted."
The words cut deep, because Ferria was right. Briar had been so caught up in questioning, in doubting, that she lost sight of what truly mattered. She had let Arion’s words worm their way under her skin and fester.
The realization should have brought relief. Instead, it just made everything worse. Because now she knew it was real, and she was going to lose it anyway.
"He'll never love you," Briar said, the words escaping before she could stop them.
Ferria's expression went cold. "What?"
"You could have him for eternity. You could force him whole, could have Malus deliver him bound and helpless, and he would still never choose you." The anger was building now, cutting through the nausea and pain. "You've watched him for centuries and you still don't understand. He doesn't love you because he can't. Because there's nothing in you worth loving."
"Careful." Ferria's voice had dropped to something dangerous.
But Briar couldn't stop, wouldn't stop. The revelation about Allegra, about everything being orchestrated, about this woman's obsession destroying lives, it was too much to contain.
"You made my sister sick. You manipulated everything. You helped fracture Eliam and now you're helping Malus destroy the world, all because you're so desperate for someone who doesn't want you."
"He doesn't know what he wants," Ferria snapped. "He's incomplete. Fractured. When he's whole again, when he's restored—"
"He'll still hate you." Briar forced herself to stand, using the wall for support, ignoring the way the room spun. "Because the problem isn't that he's incomplete. The problem is that you're pathetic."
Ferria moved faster than Briar could track, crossing the space between them in two strides. Her hand caught Briar's throat, slamming her back against the wall hard enough to make stars burst behind her eyes.
"Pathetic?" Ferria's voice was soft, dangerous. "You call me pathetic when you've spent days doubting the one thing I would give anything to have? When you've thrown away his devotion because you couldn't see past your own fear?" Her grip tightened. "At least I know what I want. At least I'm not too stupid to recognize when I have it."
She released Briar's throat, shoving her away dismissively.
"He'll come for me," Briar said, voice rough. "Eliam will find me."
"I'm counting on it." Ferria moved to the entrance of the safe haven, checking something Briar couldn't see. "Malus needs both pieces in one place, remember? Eliam will follow, and Arion will follow Eliam. They always do, drawn to each other even when they don't understand why. And when they're all here, when we have everything we need..." She trailed off, satisfied.
Briar pressed her hand against her chest, feeling the warmth there pulsing with fear and rage and grief all tangled together. Ferria had confirmed what she had doubted. Eliam's love was real. And she was going to lose him anyway.
Unless she could find a way out of this. Unless she could fight.
The warmth pulsed once in response to her unspoken thoughts. It had saved her before. If she could figure out how to use it. How to make it manifest the way it had during the hunt, or when Malachar had attacked. The way it wanted to now, she could feel it pushing against her skin, trying to respond to her fear and rage.
She closed her eyes, focusing on that sensation. Reaching for it consciously instead of letting it react on its own. The rage that had been building finally found its focus. Briar took a step toward Ferria, then another, ignoring the way her vision swam with each movement.
“What are you doing?” Ferria asked, uncertainty mixing with annoyance.
"You're wrong," she said quietly.
