I was a fucken hypocrite.
How angry had I been at Tarrin for the exact same thing? For not protecting me? For not showing up in the way he needed me to; even though I’d abandoned myself long before him. I’d abandoned myself every time Cassy hurt me, and I stayed silent. When I hadn’t fought for Eithan.
But the greatest sin of all was when I slid that blade through my leathers.
How dare I cast stones at Tarrin when I was just as guilty?
Uninhibited tears streamed down my face. “I’m so sorry.” My voice cracking from the sob I couldn’t hold back. Shifting, I scooped her onto my lap and pulled her into my chest. “I’m here now. I’m here. I’m not going anywhere. I promise.”
She leaned into me fully, wrapping her tiny arms around my neck. I placed a hand on the back of her head and cradled her in close. She started to cry in earnest then.
“Shh,” I soothed over and over again as I silently promised her that I would never abandon us again, that I would hold faith in us, and in others. More importantly, that I’d remember that we had a reason to live.
I brushed a kiss atop her head. “I love you,” I whispered.
Those piercing green eyes made their way to mine as she pulled back enough to place a tiny hand on my cheek. “I love you too.”
We held each other’s gazes, feeling the truth in our words, until, finally, we became one.
I sat there for long moments, missing the weight of her in my arms, but reveling in the warmth of her in my heart.
The white expanse around me began to shift, the tug similar tohow the Dream Realm released their nightly patrons in the morning. The Fates were sending me back.
Panic gripped me.
I’d decided to live, but there was a very real possibility I’d visit Father Death before long. My situation hadn’t changed. Worst of all, I wasn’t entirely sure the magic that bound our bargain would deem my side fulfilled.
I never offered Wymond the spark. I’d made sure of it. I’d known it was a massive gamble to bank on him assumingyield fullyhad meant my power—but I’d intended to die for this bargain.Thatwas what I’d offered him.
I could only hope the Fates’ gambit in keeping me alive had taken this into account.
The room around me slowly came into focus until I was standing behind Wymond with my left hand against the warm, russet skin of his back; my right gripping the dagger.
The very clean dagger. I’d fully expected to find it coated in crimson, but to my surprise it appeared as if the fates had stopped it from happening in the first place, as opposed to reversing the damage.
It took a moment to note the absence of Wymond’s voice reverberating through my hand as recited Thaddeus’ incantations. It took even longer to realize the Great Hall was silent, and not in the way it had been before—this was absolute, like how the snow bowing evergreens with their weight in the dead of winter steal sound from the forest.
I spared a glance over my shoulder to find autumn leaves frozen in mid-air, their lazy decent halted by Lady Time—and judging by my surroundings, she’d held her hourglass at bay for everyone, and everything, but me.
Ripping my hand away from the High Lord, I slid the dagger back into its hiding place. I wasn’t sure how much time I’d been granted, but I closed my eyes for a moment and breathed in deeply as I found my bearings.
My mind raced with everything that had happened, and my reliefquickly shifted to raw, unfettered anger for the High Lord of the Autumn Court—who stood now stood as helpless before me as Kaelun had stood before him.
Without a second though, my eyes snapped open, and I was moving toward the golden sword still stained with Thaddeus’ blood.
This ended here.
This ended now.
The sword was heavy in my hands, but my fury—no, my vengeance—was stronger. I swung the blade in a wide arc toward Wymond’s neck, and a small part of me was disappointed that his eyes were frozen closed in concentration. I wanted to see the look of panic and disbelief in his deceptively warm honey-brown irises when he realizedIwould be the one to send him to the seven hells so he could burn for eternity for what he’d done—never to be reunited with his family.
The golden blade glinted in the warm colors pouring down from the stained-glass ceiling as it hurtled toward its target.
A cry of pain rang from me as the harsh blowback of the sword shot through my hands and wrists. I’d swung the blade as if slicing fresh snow, only to be met with the harsh resistance of a mountain.
Screaming, I swung the blade again and again and again, until I’d lost count.
Voice raw, I panted as I stood there staring down the High Lord of the Autumn Court. If only, looks were enough to kill.
