King Euron snickers at me and the room falls eerily silent. I don’t dare break eye contact with him, I can’t let him know that he has made me feel fragile.
“Alora, my dear,” he huffs the words out as amusement crosses his face, “you don’t realize I already have.”
Confusion distorts my face as he stands up and steps aside from the doorframe.
A form stands in the doorway, swathed in ebony black I couldn’t forget no matter how much I wanted to.
Green eyes look down upon me, lips twisted into a snarl of disgust. His hair is pulled back into a tight knot, not a hair out of place.
He looks like an angry god ready to deliver justice.
My voice sounds small, far away as I croak out his name.
“Kassiel?”
A chorus of laughter fills the room and it feels as if I’m falling through the very floor.
I sit up in an effort to see if this is a trick of my mind—if The Nightmare is using his magic on me.
He continues to stare through the door, unfeeling bemusement flowing off him in waves as he looks down upon me.
“Foolish, little warrior.” He scoffs, his words lined with mockery and turns towards King Euron.
They grasp arms and King Euron pulls him into an embrace.
“You’ve done well, Kassiel. All of the training you’ve endured, and it was all for this moment. I couldn’t be more proud of your loyalty.”
His words aren’t registering as I try to piece them together.
Glimpses of scenes unfolding with Kassiel, always eager to watch me, to study me. The convenience that he was able to betaken in the first place when he’s had enough training to last lifetimes. And the way that he seemed to find ways to be there for me when I was vulnerable. The moments begin to all feel calculated.
Suddenly, the realization hits me. This was his plan the whole time. Dig under my skin and insert himself into the life of the lonely commander.
It was almost too easy, pretending to be the wounded animal I’d want to help.
He’d resorted to being captured so I’d feel empathy for him—so he could spend time with me and I’d eventually see familiarity within his dark crevices.
My heart fractures and numbness envelopes me starting in my limbs.
I utter with a sob, “Was any of it real?”
The Nightmare laughs in the background, clearly entertained by the scene unfolding.
The Devourer hardens his face to me before answering, “You have such determination to be different. It’s pitiful really, Alora. In the end, you were mere torment for me to endure.”
It feels as if I’ve been slapped. I can’t help it when my face snaps to the side, as if I could cower from the recoil of his words.
He continues, lancing me with another blow, “It’s sad that someone with your magic is so naive.”
With that, he turns from me, leaving me to lay there on the floor and pick up the broken pieces of myself.
It’s the last thing I remember before blinding terror seizes me into submission, locking me away inside my own mind—in the same loop of me trying to make Hanin breathe as I slam on his chest only to fail, again and again.
Chapter 34
Alora
Ihad awoken to the distant sound of humming. Soft white sheets are pulled up to my chin, the silk texture sliding as I twist to my side to locate the sound.
