I clench my hands into fists. Grayson isn’t Howl. Death isn’t the only answer. He hasn’t gone so far down his path that there’s no chance left for him. I’m determined to find a way to turn him around. “You keep sayingIhave to kill him. I know I have to face him in battle but Baelen—”
“Can’tkill him,” she says firmly. “Baelen can’t. Talia can’t. Elise can’t. I can’t. Not even your heartstones can. There is only one way to defeat a natural-born sorcerer and that power rests solely in your hands.” Her eyes meet mine. “I gave it you.”
“You mean the storm power.” It’s my turn to persist. “But Baelen shares the storm with me.”
“He has a derivative of it. And, yes, he was a custodian of the original power for a time, but it was never his. Only you have my original power. I gave you my heart and soul. Only you can stop Grayson…”
I demand, “How do you know Grayson can’t be stopped another way?”
“I know because I did it.”
I frown, not understanding her.
She explains, “The Elven King who murdered my family… He was the first natural-born sorcerer in our history. I stopped him when nobody else could.”
I sink back against the chair, my eyes wide. “The Elven King was a sorcerer from birth? I knew he practiced sorcery but…”
She sighs. “A natural born sorcerer is not like a spellcaster. Sorcery by its nature is dark and malicious. Deep magic, on the other hand, is inherently good. But me… I became the firstdestructivesource of deep magic. It was the only power strong enough to destroy the Elven King’s sorcery.”
I clench and unclench my hands, hating the choices that are left to me. “So now it’s up to me whether Grayson lives or dies.”
“It is your choice. But before you make any more choices, you need to know the truth about everything. Starting with the Elven King.”
“There’s more?”I don’t think I can take any more.I wait for her to continue as fear and uncertainty rise up inside me.
She says simply, “He was my father.”
I gape at her, trying to digest this new information. Underneath the simplicity of her statement is sadness. The Elven King tried to kill her. Which means that herfathertried to kill her… killed her mother and brother… and then Elyria gave her life to destroy him…
“Elyria… I’m so sorry. I can’t even begin…”
She uncoils her foot from beneath her, sliding to her feet. “You read my mother’s diary so you know that everyone warned her about him, but she didn’t listen. He visited for her wedding, brought expensive gifts, but he took more than he gave. After that, he didn’t come back for eighteen years.”
She reaches down to the water, running her hand through the wash. “My mother kept it a secret, but he realized the truth as soon as he saw me. He said I had his eyes.”
“Is that why he tried to kill you?”
“He had no children. There was no elven heir. He could not allow me or my brother—filthy gargoyles—to make a claim for the elven throne. He grabbed my wing… broke it… I screamed and my mother ran in…”
She covers her face with her hands. Stands very still for a long time. Tears seep from beneath her hands, but she wipes them away.
“Elyria,” I whisper. “You didn’t deserve that to happen to you.”
She takes a deep breath, swallowing, focusing on the waterfall for a moment before she finds her equilibrium again. “What’s important now are the consequences.”
She surprises me by dropping to her knees in front of me, taking my hands. Her palms are still wet with her tears. She asks me, “Whose soul made you the gargoyle Queen?”
I whisper, “Yours.”
“I was the heir to both kingdoms.”
I gasp. “You’re not seriously telling me…”
“You are the heir to the elven throne. You are Queen of both worlds.”
