There. In the forest below, I finally spot movement. I fly lower until I glimpse the morning sunlight glinting off her pitch-black hair.
With a resounding growl, I land directly in front of her, my wings flaring as I use them to keep my balance after descending to the ground so quickly.
She gasps and comes to a halt. Her eyes go wide with fear.
“Please.” She lifts her hands briefly in a show of defeat. “Please, Theron. This isn’t what you think. You must let me go. It’s… it’s the only way.” Her lips tremble, and tears gleam in her eyes.
“The only way? What in the fires are you talking about?” I march forward and grasp her shoulders though I don’t grip her hard enough to cause pain. Even now, even as anger flows through me, I cannot fathom hurting her. I made a promise. A promise I will keep.
She doesn’t answer, but her thoughts come to me. Visions, too. Shocking images, flashes of the past. A past she should have no knowledge of. And yet…
I see her visions. All of them. Every vision she’s had since I met her.
A vision of my mating night with Elssandra in the Winter Court palace.
Then, a vision of her conspiring with her family, and godsdamn Resshan, in a snowy forest near a bonfire. It’s just after she learned I was her fated mate, though before I officially met her.
The truth continues unfolding, and it’s a shock to my soul.
Helena isn’t just part-fae, she’s also Elssandra reborn.
For a moment, I feel as though I’m falling, plunging into an abyss, the same sensation Helena felt before and after each vision.
Her mother had tried to keep her hidden, yet it hadn’t worked. Because my people are moving into human and orc lands, conquering the villages and cities that threaten our new settlements along the way. The spread of ussha and themigration of fae from the four main courts had brought me to Braemar, brought me to this human city I’d never heard of until I learned of the Braemar soldiers’ attack on the nearby settlement of faefolk.
Helena’s mother had hoped to keep her hidden not just so her part-fae father wouldn’t try to take her away, whoever the male might be, but because a priestess recognized Elssandra’s soul in Helena.
Dear gods. Fucking fires.
I stare at Helena as I keep sifting through her thoughts, her memories, her visions…
Until I see the very last one. The truth I never wanted her to know.
The truth about what happened to Elssandra.
But her glimpse into our tragic, shared past cuts off at the last moment, the moment before the worst happens. Shame washes through me. Regret. Darkness. And yes, even echoes of the rage I felt as I chased Elssandra into the icy mountains beyond the Northern Isles.
“I won’t let you do it again. I won’t let you kill me. Not in this lifetime,” Helena says in an anguished tone that shreds my heart into pieces.
“Oh, my gods,” I whisper. I can scarcely believe it.
Helena is Elssandra. They are one and the same. The same soul, though with different life experiences.
All the pieces finally fall into place.
Why I was so drawn to Helena. Why she was so attracted to me. How we could hear one another’s thoughts. The deep, endless affection that bloomed between us.
“I-I don’t remember everything,” she says. “I’ve only seen those few visions, but I would like to think that Elssandra regretted her part in the plot against you. During the vision, I feltthe bond. She cared about you… just as I care about you.” Her voice cracks over the last few words.
“Helena, I…” My words trail off. I’m in such a state of shock that I’m struggling to move forward, struggling to decide what happens next.
“I care about you,” Helena repeats, this time in a tone brimming with conviction. “In this life, I care about you and I would never betray you.”
“You ran from me,” I say with a growl. My fingers momentarily tighten on her shoulders.
“Because I thought you would kill me!” she cries.
She trembles in my grip, and a lone tear cascades down her cheek. It freezes, but I quickly wipe it away, brushing the frozen tear to the forest floor.
