Selfishly, I’d wished to be born fae so many times I’d lost count. Now, I wished it for the sake of others. Had I been able to wield the spark from birth, Wymond would be the one taking his final breaths. And Mother help me, I would never forgive the gods for cursing me with this burden.
I’d never forgive myself.
“I don’t think so, Sidrick,” Wymond said. “You’re too valuable to your High Lord. Besides, I want to watch you come apart, to remember how it felt when you go back to Caius with your tail between your legs. I want you to deliver the news that I possess the spark, and if he doesn’t bend the knee, I will kill everyone he loves before I take his court from him.
“That will be his punishment, and yours, for harboring her. For allowing her to make Lumnara so unstable that my family died. But,” he drawled, “I’m not so cruel that I won’t offer the little whelp his last words.”
He lowered Kaelun down and released the grip on his throat. The instant his feet touched the ground, Wymond’s dark powers tightened around me, and the grunts of pain from the others let me know he’d done it to them too.
The message clear—make a move, and we die.
My bottom lip quivered as I stared up at Kaelun, who was gathering himself to speak.
This kind, loving fae still shone with life even as tears stained his cheeks. He smiled at his brother through the pain with a serene, almost accepting look.
“Tell Addy I love her,” he finally said, and my quivering lip turned into silent sobs, shaking my body with grief.
“I will,” Sidrick said, his voice loving and calm. I could onlyimagine what holding back his emotions cost him. “We’ll take care of her. I swear it.”
“I know,” his younger brother said. “There’s a note for her in my nightstand back home. Make sure she gets it.”
Sidrick nodded, a tear falling loose.
“Tell Uncle C that I’ll still see him on the flip side,” he added. A full sob escaped me from the memory, knowing nowthe flip sidehad such a different meaning. “Forgive yourself, brother. That goes for all of you.” He looked at us all in turn. “Even you, Uncle Artty. I chose to be here. Remember that.”
“That’s enough,” Wymond said, cutting off Kaelun’s next words.
“Soldier,” Sidrick called out. “It was an honor.”
Kaelun smiled at him, saluting as he said, “The honor was mine, Sir.”
Without another word, Wymond pressed both hands to Kaelun’s chest. His warm chestnut eyes met mine as he mouthed,Be strong. And then, he crumpled like dried autumnal leaves crushed in the High Lord’s palm as he fell to the ground in a heap of ash.
I didn’t hear Sidrick’s uncontrollable howls of grief. Nor did I hear Artton utter threats of retribution. I didn’t hear the vicious laugh, or Thaddeus’ taunts. I didn’t even turn to the male who I was bound to, even though I could feel his gaze bore into me.
No. I just stared at what remained of the kindest, most loving soul I’d ever met in utter disbelief—and I knew I couldn’t survive another loss.
“I demand a bargain,” I said, the words barely audible.
The cacophony of sounds bombarded my senses, and I raised my voice. “I demand a bargain.”
“Nyla, no,” Endymion plead from my side, the only one close enough to hear me.
“I. Demand. A. Bargain,” I yelled at the top of my lungs.
The room fell silent.
“What did you just say?” Wymond asked, voice hard.
I looked him in the eyes and lifted my chin. “I said, I demand a bargain.”
“Ny, don’t,” Tarrin called.
“Silence!” the High Lord snapped.
His magic loosened its grip on me, and I wiped my cheeks clean as I stood to face him.
“What exactly is it that you have to bargain with?”
