Thomas smiled, sharp and cruel. “Choices, choices. Fate is a web, dear gods, and every thread you cut strangles someone else.”
“If it does not hurt me, Elowyn, or my family, I don’t care. It is worth it," I said quickly.
“What if it hurts your beast here?” He nodded toward Ezra.
My eyes shifted to my best friend… my family.
Ezra tilted his head, his crimson eyes narrowing. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“Do you know who your mate is married to?” he asked Ezra.
“Lord Philip.” Ezra snarled. “You think I didn’t figure out everything I could about him?”
“How did that go for you? I bet you didn’t find out very much.” Thomas stared Ezra down. “He’s very evasive and keeps his true identity close. He is even able to shift his appearance.”
I stared at Thomas, trying to figure out what this had to do with Loma. Thomas turned toward me and a shadow of pity crossed his face.
“Lord Philip is Loma’s brother,” Thomas continued softly. “You kill Loma, and you will need to kill the brother too. In fact, you need to kill their whole family because if you don’t, you will have them storming Elloryon for retribution. But just know that killing Lord Philip willhurtFarris.”
Ezra staggered, clutching his head as if the thought of her being hurt had struck him physically. Then he straightened, eyes hardening as he sneered at Thomas.
“She will be fine. I was the only one she wasmeantto love.”
“You misunderstand, Ezra. She will not be heartbroken.” He stopped talking for a moment like he wasn’t sure what to say. “He is a vyrak. His sister as well.”
Ezra looked confused. But I stilled at the name. They didn’t exist anymore.
“You’re wrong,” I snapped.
But the words from the Book of Knowledge came back to me.Unfinished duty.The heavens had reshaped fate, binding me to it in a way that ensured I would finish what I had started. My eyes squeezed shut. I had been certain it was already done.
“I’m not.” Thomas studied me carefully. “Now you understand why the heavens intervened in your fate, Abram. You know how badly the vyrak can damage the realm. They were the reason you and your siblings had to get rid of Kilryn…or at least you thought you did."
Understanding crashed into me all at once. The heavens had known I would choose Elowyn over fate itself, and they made certain I would have no choice but to save her from the vyrak. That I would wipe them out once and for all, before they could threaten the realm again.
“What the fuck is a vyrak?” Ezra asked.
“It’s a creature with no true magic of its own—unless it binds to someone else. A parasite. It feeds off its host until they’re drained dry. It forms a bond with the one it steals from, one that can only be broken if the host dies. But if the vyrak dies first… I don’t know what will happen,”Thomas answered.
Ezra whipped his head around to Thomas.
“That fucking leech is attached to Farris,” he hissed.
“Yes.” Thomas looked at me oddly.
“So, if we kill Loma, we have to kill her whole family, and we don’t know how that will affect Farris.” I sighed. “We’ll just take out Loma without it being traced to us.”
Thomas began pacing around us, muttering to himself. Ezra suddenly reached out and grabbed Thomas by the throat, slamming him back into the wall.
“You better start fucking talking.”
“You have to kill Philip.” His eyes locked on mine. “He is Elowyn’s fated mate.”
Everything stopped.
My thoughts went silent. My body locked in place. Pain seized my chest so violently I couldn’t draw a breath. Elowyn—bound tohim? To something so wrong it made my skin crawl?
Philip didn’t deserve to look at her. He didn’t deserve her trust, her laughter, her love. He couldn’t love her. Not the way she deserved.
