I never deserved to.
“Say it out loud,” Morkai said, his voice a taunting hiss. “Confess the darkness in your heart or it will burn you from the inside.”
“No,” she said through her teeth. “That’s not me. Those thoughts aren’t mine. I would never wish my pain on someone else.”
“Then why won’t you take her pain away? Why won’t you willingly take her place?”
“That’s different. This isn’t real. You aren’t real.”
“I am the shadow you won’t acknowledge. I am the ember you wish you could smother.”
“I don’t care what you think you are. Just let her go.”
Morkai’s gaze darkened into a glare. “I’m disappointed in you.” With that he released Mareleau’s throat and thrust her into Cora. Cora pulled her friend close, lungs heaving with relief, but as her arms closed around Mareleau, the other woman collapsed into ash. Tremors racked Cora’s body as she stared at her soot-covered hands. At the pile of ash that was once her friend.
Finally, she saw the source of the flames.
They were coming from her all along.
* * *
Cora wokewith a sharp cry but stifled the sound as she blinked into darkness. Her chilly room was a balm on her sweat-soaked skin, and for several long moments she simply lay there, listening to the beat of her heart, the pulse of her breaths, until both settled to a more natural rhythm. Once she could rise from her bed without shaking, she crossed the floor to her window. Pulling back the long velvet drape, she found an inky night sky muted by the frost coating the window.
As she stared out at the dark scenery, she willed her mind to sharpen, to fully separate from the dream. Once it did, she realized what day it was. Or soon would be.
The day of her wedding.
That calmed her down, aided in clearing her mind.
She couldn’t have been asleep for long, considering the lack of light on the horizon, paired with how late she’d gone to bed. She should get back to sleep if she wanted to be rested for the grand event. She was already sleep-deprived as it was. Over the last few days, sleep had become second to spending time with Mareleau and Noah. Though her friend had Larylis and Helena to support her and give her chances to rest amidst the chaos of having a newborn, Cora wanted to be there too. Since Mareleau was rumored to have left Ridine, she was forced to remain in her suite, something that drove her half out of her mind. The least Cora could do was spend time with her.
Images from her nightmare shot through her mind. Of Mareleau’s horrified expression. Of the blood trailing down her throat as the sorcerer dug claws into her neck.
Are you all right?Valorre’s question cut through the memories, dispersing them.
She calmed once more as she connected to her unicorn friend’s consciousness. He wasn’t as near as he normally was, but he was still within range to communicate.Yes, she conveyed back to him.
The blood mage can’t hurt you, Valorre reminded her.He’s gone. He’ll never come back.
I know, she said. He was right, yet she hated that Morkai could still haunt her like this. Worse was the dread that was her constant companion—the knowledge that while Morkai may be gone, his father remained. Everything that had happened to Cora, to her friends, to her kingdom, Darius had begun. He may not have asked his son to try to harness fae magic in the human realm, but he’d sent him on a mission to find El’Ara. That mission had led to all the knowledge had Morkai discovered. To Emylia. To the prophecy. To Lela.
To Cora.
Fiery rage burned in her heart. It reminded her too much of her dream, but she wouldn’t give in to those terrible visions again. Sleep called to her, but she dreaded returning to the nightmare. And there was one place she could count on to make her feel bold. Brave. Accomplished. To remind her of just how strong she was. With resolve in her heart, she donned her robe and strode from her room. The halls were empty this late at night, save for the guards patrolling them. They acknowledged her with deep bows as she brushed past.
She left the keep and entered the wing of the castle she sought. One that rarely saw visitors. Then up a dim staircase she climbed, to a tower that once held so much darkness. Moonlight greeted her as she entered the North Tower Library, bathing the circular room in a pale glow. It fell upon the clean flagstone floor, the freshly polished tables, the bundles of herbs and flowers that hung to dry from the rafters.
Satisfaction flooded Cora. This room had belonged to Morkai, but no longer held an ounce of his influence. Cleaning the library had taken much of her focus over the last several months, as every item had to be energetically purified before it could be burned or buried. Just weeks ago, her task had been completed at last. The room belonged to her now.
She could have sealed it off and never set foot in it again, but she’d decided to do the opposite, invading it with her own energy. Her own magic. Here she could fully be a witch, honoring the practices the Forest People had instilled in her. Not that she had many chances to truly practice magic these days. Yet taking over this room, using it to dry herbs, to collect stones, leaves, sticks—anything that caught her fancy while out on forest rides with Valorre—was enough. It was proof that she’d bested Morkai, in life, in death, and after.
She breathed in deeply, allowing her pride to grow. “I defeated you,” she said to the room, her voice devoid of quaver. “You may haunt my dreams, but you’re gone.”
No darkness echoed back. No shadows flickered in reply. There was merely peace here.
Her muscles uncoiled and she strolled along the perimeter of the room. She’d had it fully refurbished with a new couch, a single bookcase, and a few small tables and nightstands. She stopped at the nearest nightstand, its surface decorated with an array of crystals she’d found by a stream nearby. They were arranged in a circular pattern around several crisscrossed sticks. Together they formed a talisman for protection. She smiled down at her work, but her grin faltered as her gaze fell just beneath the tabletop, to the narrow drawer there. Gingerly, she slid it open.
Moonlight glinted off a cuff made from two elongated talons, as dark as obsidian. It was the magic-suppressing collar. She hadn’t known what to do with it after she’d found it in her pocket upon returning from the meadow last summer. It was a dangerous object, one the Elvyn had used to stifle her magic. Yet it had also saved her and her friends in a couple of ways. When she’d used it on Teryn, he’d been able to temporarily wrest control of his body from Morkai. When she’d used it on the crystal, she’d been able to break the stone, freeing Teryn’s ethera. Unlike Morkai’s belongings, it didn’t hold any dark energy, so she couldn’t bear to destroy it.
