Ivan shifted, his body tense and coiled like a spring. She felt his gaze but kept her eyes forward, refusing to meet it. Even so, it skimmed old scars, resurrecting pain and pleasure alike.
His gaze wasn’t just on her face—it was everywhere, reading, deciphering, understanding, accusing. A reflection of the dance they had always played.
A dance of truths and lies.
Of hope and despair.
Shouts echoed from the top of the Pit, mingling with the clash of bodies and the scream of metal against metal. The Legionnaires around Osin moved closer, forming an unbreakable wall.
But Osin’s gaze stayed locked on her.
A low chuckle escaped his lips, chilling in its softness. “They believe, I imagine, that you possess some sliver of power to aid their pitiful cause. Shall we show them how very mistaken they are?”
Before she could brace, shadows exploded from his outstretched hand, tearing from every corner of the Pit, a writhing, snarling mass surging straight for her.
Elara didn’t think—she moved, wrenching the blade up.
Light detonated up her arm. The Wound of Light’s power bursting free like a dam blown wide.
No careful threading. No measured pull from theDraoth Cara.
Just force.
The light ripped through her, then outward—an erupting wave that slammed into the shadows and tore them apart, scattering what remained like ash.
Osin rolled his eyes. “A party trick.”
In one swift motion, he hurled Calista to the ground and slammed his foot into the floor. Shadows erupted beneath Elara, twisting up like a nest of snakes. They caught her—wrists, legs—coiling tight, dragging her down. She strained against their grip as Ivan’s presence slammed into her mind, pressing hard. She shoved back harder. Refused him. Refused to use what he wanted.
Reynnar’s gods-damned soul.
Elara’s scream tore through the air as her fingers finally went slack. The blade slipped free, clattering against the stone beside her.
“Time and time again, I offer you the chance to prove your loyalty. To show your worth.” Osin sighed softly. “For that is your role, Hallowed. Tosubmit. Toobey. Toserveme. It is, after all, in your very nature.”
“Lies!”
He cocked his neck. “Did the Void fill your head with tales, whisper promises of greatness? Tell you that you’re something special, some preciouskeystone?”
Elara's teeth ground together, but he laughed. “Thatis the lie, Hallowed. You are nothing more than a stain, an abomination against humanity and against the one true goddess, Aine. Just like the rest of the Sidhe.” He took another step closer, his voice dropping to a near whisper. “Though I’ll grant you this—you all serve a purpose. A purpose I have been entrusted to see fulfilled. To heal, to consecrate, to give back what your kind stole before the Great Divide.”
“Why go through the charade, then?” Elara spat, struggling against his shadows. “If I’m such an abomination, why the song and dance?”
His mouth twitched. “At first it was necessity. You see, the people needed a symbol, someone to embody this great ‘gift.’ A shining example of the blessings bestowed upon them—until, of course, it wasn’t so benevolent, wasn’t quite sofree. And when it all began to crumble, when reality bled through the illusion, they needed someone to blame. Someone expendable. Convenient.”
He took a step closer, the faintest hint of mockery glinting in his eyes. “But not me. Oh, no. I remained their salvation, their hope. The one to kneel before. The one to beg for mercy, mercy I might graciously grant—if they proved deserving.”
Elara's stomach churned. “You're sick.”
“No, Hallowed. I aminevitable.”
He pressed his shadows tighter, squeezing around her ribs, climbing up her throat.
Elara’s vision blurred as she fought it, forced her gaze to focus, catching sight of Calista in the distance and Ivan’s hand slipping something small and glinting into hers.
She tore her eyes away, a sudden, searing pain rippling through her chest, dragging an agonized whimper out of her. The shadows burrowed deeper, winding tighter, coiling like vipers around that dark, festering core—theparasite. Osin’s mouth twitched, his eyes narrowing into icy slits at her as the sounds of battle drew closer.
And then—a flash.
