A male I’d never seen before sat on a low table nearby, staring at me with a mix of hope and dismay.
“It’s me,” the woman said in a creaky voice. “Your fury.”
“I have no fury.” Other than the one burning within my heart. Rage could twist a man into something he abhorred, but I ached to use it to lay waste to the king who’d cursed me for a lifetime.
A glance around told me we sat in the blue parlor at Weldsbane Manor.
“How did you get inside my estate?” I asked them with a sneer. “Though it truly doesn’t matter. Leave, no. Both of you.”
“Vexxion.” The woman’s grip tightened on my shoulders. “It’s me. Tempest. Please. It’s me.”
“Jeez,” the male said, rising. “She loves you. You need to treat her better than this.”
“I don’t know either of you,” I bit out.
I lifted the woman off my thighs and placed her on the sofa beside me, rising and rounding the table to put distance between us.
She got up and the man moved to stand beside her, his arm going around the back of her waist as if she needed support to keep from falling.
“It’s alright,” he told her softly. “Give him a moment to let things settle.”
“You two need to leave,” I said again. How had they gotten past my wards, and why did they act as if they knew me?
Was this yet another trap sent my way by the king?
“We’re fated mates, and I’m not going anywhere,” she snapped, stalking over to stand in front of me. Her leather tunic and pants hugged her curves, and for one moment, I was tempted to touch her. The feeling scorched across my bones.
I shook the inane emotion off.
“I don’t have a fated mate,” I drawled.
Her chin lifted, and her gorgeous green eyes met mine. I could sink into them while I sunk my body into hers and—
Fuck, what was wrong with me? I didn’t know her and whatever her scheme was, it was not going to work.
She held out her arm, turning it to reveal a symbol etched on her skin as beautiful as her. “What do you think this is?”
I knew very well what it was. I’d studied my own each night, tracing my fingertip across the pattern, placing all my wishes for something better into a relationship that might never happen.
And colors . . . My life had only been shades of gray and now . . . I saw colors.
Because ofher.
“You’re Brenna,” I croaked, revealing more of my emotions than I liked if only for a moment. I flipped my arm over to show the world her symbol’s match.
“I’mFury,” she said. “YourFury. I was born Brenna, but I don’t remember having that name.”
“By the fates,” a woman said from the doorway to my right.
I reached for one of the blades at my waist and pulled it, rounding to face the threat.
“Whoa.” She came to an abrupt halt and lifted her hands. Unlike Tempest, she wore a simple linen tunic and dark pants. She’d pulled her long red hair back, securing it at the nape of her neck. “There was a time when I worried you might hurt my friend, but as far as I know, you were never eager to kill me.”
“Vexxion’s back,” Brenna—Tempest—said to this and the other women entering my parlor. The second wore her darkhair in tight braids, and her deep brown eyes pretty much glared.
“He doesn’t seem to remember me,” Tempest said. “Any of us, I guess.” She looked up at me with so much pain in her pretty eyes I ached to stroke away the tears tracing down her cheeks. It was all I could do not to tell her everything would be alright.
I’d spent so much of my younger years longing for the time when I’d meet her, telling myself that together, we could defeat any threat and rise from what was left to build a new, wonderful world. I never thought I’d actually find her. I’d begun to believe she was dead.
