The shock causes my body to shake. I feel weightless. I grab my sheets, needing to hold something. Anything.
This makes no sense.
“Fae can’t give their magic away.”
“Yes, they can.”
My throat thickens as I stare down at the sheets.
Titus steps to the invisible wall that blocks Sable. “I don’t know how to pull her in?” he mutters. “I’d choose her instead of you, considering you want me dead.”
He starts to reach out to Sable.
Oh…. now it makes sense. A final request Everett asked of me before he left. One I did not listen to, but now I realize I should have.
The past.
“I need you to promise me something, Selene. Promise me you will not kill the man who kills me.” My older brother looks down his perfect nose at me; his face stern, yet his eyes are loving.
“Man? Do you assume a human can kill a fae?” I joke as I tug on the leather straps that hold his rerebraces in place.
I frown. These straps are old. The smith made him new armor, but he offered it to a soldier.
“Human, fae, no matter the magic, we are all the same. Forgetting that fact is what has caused these wars. Greed and self-proclamation, it all spiraled when the runes were stripped from these lands.”
My sigh is heavier than the armor covering his body.“Not the runes again, Everett. The gods banished them for a reason.” He’s always so focused on these runes.
Focus on the war and staying alive!
“Selene, the gods did not remove them. We did, and one day, we shall help return them.”
“I don’t care if the runes return; I just want you to.” Reaching up, I playfully pinch the tip of his pointy ears.
“Make me a promise: you won’t try to kill whoever ends my life.”
My hand drops as my forearms stiffen.“Absolutely not. I will hunt them down.”
“Don’t be a huntress,” he scorns, as if that title carries a bad omen.
“You were the one who taught me how to hold a bow.”
“I was teaching you how to survive, not kill. Do not forget that.”
“The two share the same meaning during times of war. Killing is surviving, and surviving is killing, Everett,” I retort.“You’d better survive, and yes, that means kill. I need you. I can’t suffer this world alone.”
His throat bobs, and his eyes cloud over.“Our suffering will end in a dark symmetry, my dearest sister.”
I know that tone. He saw a vision of the future.
What weight must his shoulders bear, knowing the steps I will take before I have found the path to venture down?
“You saw my end,” I admit in a hushed whisper.
He grabs my hands, trying to calm me. Everett could always tame wild animals. He failed only once, with our sister, Sable. No one could tame her.
“Selene,” His grip tightens, hard enough to bruise.
My heart skips a beat.“What did you see?” Just tell me!
