A chill runs down my spine. “So this beast is still on Panthas?”
“As are many things here, Selene. Perhaps my new creatures can make a rune to help combat it.”
Combat and not kill. His words were chosen carefully. I want to scratch my skin and shake him free.
Tristen lifts his chin a fraction. “If your new creature can make runes, then why was my brother involved?”
A cold look settles on Elderan’s face as he states, “That leads to the second amendment I’m allowed to make. I have yet to make the creatures that can create runes. Titus will be one of them.” He claps his hands in glee.
In a heartbeat, I’m standing, my dagger aimed at Elderan’s heart. “You’re not touching my mate!” I growl.
He looks lazily down the blade. “That blade can not splay me open.” To prove his point, he leans into the tip. His skin simply bends around it.He chuckles as he stands and tugs at his robes. “I’m giving you the opportunity to save your world, to choose good over evil.”
“Your mentorship feels evil!” Disgust drips from my words like venom as I glare at him.
“My creations will safeguard everyone, regardless of whether they are fae, vampire, or otherwise. That doesn’t seem evil to me. I can’t magically save you, but my guidance hopefully can.” He points an arthritic finger at Tristen. “Like I mentioned, Tristen, it’s time to pull your weight.”
Oh shit! “You… you intend to make Tristen into your new creature,” I breathe.
Elderan applauds. “You truly are a marvel, Selene. Galen ought to have heeded your advice. Tristen will be first, but eventually, Titus will need to be changed. You’ll need many more if you wish to fight Nerina’s creatures, plus the others that have been born here.”
“Yeah, no thanks.” Tristen seizes me and pulls me back to the door’s location. With his eyes trained lethally on Elderan, he begins kicking the wall with his heel. “Please open the door.”
“Oh, it’s far too late for manners.” With a laugh, Elderan begins flexing and cracking his knuckles. “I’m helping you as a grandparent would. I’m ensuring my lineage survives.”
I open my arms, trying to cover Tristen. “Change me! Leave Tristen and Titus out of this.”
Elderan stills, looking at me as one looks at a sunset. “It is Tristen’s fate.”
“Fate can change. Everett taught us that,” I argue, but my pleas fall on deaf ears.
Tristen kicks the wall with more force. “I’ll pass, but thanks,” he spits the word in contempt, “for the offer.”
Elderan’s exhale lands harder than Tristen’s fruitless kicking. “It’s funny you think you have a choice, Tristen.”
Chapter
Forty-Four
Tristen
If we make it out of this room, Titus will kill me for putting Selene in the line of fire.
“It’s funny you think you have a choice, Tristen,” Elderan beams.That old, crusty prick snaps his fingers. A force slams into us, trapping us against the stone wall.
“I can’t move,” Selene whispers. The fear in her voice would break Titus’s heart.
I gulp down my apology for dragging her here. This is all my fault. I’m going to be the one to kill my brother’s heart.
Elderan steps closer. He looks like an over-cheery hugger ready to smother me. “This is an honor. One I hope you will carry with pride. I like challenges; it makes time not feel like a void. I could have turned my back on your world, and let the new evil that has evolved here take over. It seemed cruel to watch another world fade into nothing. To watch more of my children die. So, I made a truce.”
“If you’re looking for a ‘thank you’, you’ll find no gratitude from me,” I sneer.
“You remind me of the others. So prideful until you hit rock bottom.” He sweeps his foot over the floor, and dust stirs. “This is bottom—well, shortly it will be. It’ll be interesting to see you stand, or stumble. I can offer my advice, but it’s up to you to follow it,” he shrugs.
“You said you wanted our survival!” Why can’t I feel my shadows?
“I do. I want you all to survive. This new world will be wild and feral at first, but everything can be tamed. My other children learned that the hard way. I had to allow them to watch their siblings fall so they would respect the lesser I created. Humbled men are willing to agree to peace, Tristen. Remember that. It’s good advice.”
