I swallowed hard, my throat dust-dry. “You bred me as a weapon. You are not my mother,” I whispered, “and you never will be.”
Her smile held infinite sadness. “This was never about bonds, child. Only survival.”
Not just our world’s survival, I realized, but the survival of all things, a cosmic balance too vast for any mind to fully grasp.
“Don’t call me child,” I snapped. After a heavy pause, I had to ask. “What about Grace?”
“A mistake. A distraction that ended,” she said, her voice going flat and final. “Do not concern yourself with her fate.”
“You’re a heartless bitch. But that doesn’t surprise me.”
“I am the necessary evil. I did what no one else could. Nature is cruel. Survival is harsh. As long as Ruin exists, no world is safe. You understand that better than anyone.”
She was right, and I hated her for it.
“So you gave me to him,” I accused. “To be consumed.”
“I sacrificed everything. My home, my nature, my daughter. If burning myself to ash would have ended him, I would have done it without a second thought.” She paused, her gaze unwavering. “You understand that drive, don’t you? If I could spare you, I would. But you have always been the key.”
“The weapon,” I corrected her mercilessly.
I would sacrifice myself a thousand times to stop my father. The difference between her and me was, I would never sacrifice Killian, Sy, or any of those I had come to love. She saw people as chess pieces, while I saw them as reasons to fight.
“An apology would only sound hollow,” she continued. “After you were born, I prepared your path. Every betrayal, every manipulation, every moment of suffering was to forge you into someone strong enough for this moment.”
“To be sacrificed on the evil god’s altar for your greater good,” I said, the words bitter on my tongue.
“This time will be different,” she said softly. “You rose from ashes no one else could survive. You found strength in connection, not in isolation.” She swallowed, meeting the unforgiving hardness in my gaze. “Even my…interest in your mate served a purpose.”
“You tried to enslave him,” I shot back.
“I am not proud of it.” For the first time, a hairline fracture appeared in her composure. “Eons of loneliness corrupt even celestial beings. He was the first to ever refuse me. It stung my pride more than I care to admit.”
But it went deeper than wounded pride. She’d known Killian was meant for me, so she used the situation to push me toward my potential. Every moment had been orchestrated, even her own humiliation.
“During my search, I found something else. A wounded bird of pure light—the last drop of old magic Ruin has sought across worlds.”
My breath caught.Sy.
“I hid it in the only place he would never look: inside the daughter he saw as mere sustenance. I fused it with your soul, where even his feeding could not reach it.” Something resembling regret flickered across her stunning features. “I could not spare you the pain. But I could ensure you would survive it.”
The weight of a lifetime of manipulation pressed down on me. Every moment, every choice, guided by her invisible hands. And yet, she had protected Sy. She had given me the strength to endure. She had made certain I would not face my fate alone.
The air shifted abruptly, the pressure dropping like the calm before a storm.
“He is returning,” she said, her mental voice sharp with urgency. “You need to consume me. Now.”
“What?” The word came out strangled.
“Five elements to freeze the void abomination. The Seed of Heaven in your bones. Heaven’s Arrow in your chest. Death magic from your mate’s bond. Your dark flame—your goddess essence.” She pressed a hand to her own heart. “And a celestial star. I am the final piece.”
Panic clawed up my throat. “No. I’m not going to—I won’t eat you!”
“It is the only way.” Her hand touched my cheek, solid, warm, and callused. It was the first time she’d ever touched me.“I have waited for this moment since before your first breath. You will absorb my essence until I become part of your power.”
“There has to be another way?—”
“There isnot.” Her voice hardened, stripping away any comfort. “What comes will be worse than anything you have known, without your sister to share the pain, without the mercy of unconsciousness. You must feel every second of his feeding. You must stay awake through all of it. Only then will you know the exact moment to strike.”
