“Now that we are together again, it will be.” She pulled back, nearly swaying on her feet. “There are clothes in the dresser already. I’m sorry, Sylaira, but I really need to rest for a bit. You are welcome to join me once you’re settled in.”
I couldn’t deny my own fatigue. And the last thing I wanted was to be alone with my thoughts. So as Heraphia bid me goodbye, I hurried to change out of this ridiculous dress my fuckingmatehad placed me in. I considered tossing it into the waste bin I found beside the desk.
But something else had me shoving it to the rear of the wardrobe. I donned a matching linen set, the fabric soft against my skin without clinging, exactly what I needed with the wrap still around my knee.
And when I hobbled into Heraphia’s room, I found her fast asleep. Quietly, I leaned my crutches against the wall and shuffled onto the bed. My friend sighed and shifted as Inestled in beside her. Her familiar scent, familiar warmth, was enough to make salt sting the corners of my eyes.
I brought my closed fist to my mouth and bit into my skin to stifle my sobs. The Issaraeth had always been the harbinger of my doom, even before I knew he was my fated mate.
And I had kissed him anyway. Allowed myself to believe that beneath the mask was a broken male.
That fateful day where he’d ridden upon our group in the lake country had only been the beginning of his torment.
And so the breaking continued.
35
Veined marble streaked past as I stalked through the wings of Thalvireth. Yet instead of the holy white, all I saw was red. Of course, my fucking sister brought Dasha to myhomecoming. I’d bet on her being so furious with my delay that she’d drag me into her rooms privately for a berating.
Instead, she’d staged a spectacle of it. Now Sylaira knew of my betrothal, and she hated me all over again.
I turned the corner and of course, Iaoth was there, lying in wait like a viper coiled in silk.
“Get out of my way,” I snapped as I approached.
Her long, claw-like nails tapped against her bare upper arms. “We need to talk.”
“Later.”
I shouldered past her, not caring that it was farharder than needed to move her out of the way. But no one was around to witness anyway. Not even her royal guards.
“Now,” she hissed, fingers digging into my forearm as I pressed it against the door. It swung inward, and I stepped inside, gripping the wood so she couldn’t follow me.
Radiant magic flared from her, wedging a space I couldn’t close with brute force alone. And Goddess did I have enough wrath to do it.
“Fuck off, Iaoth.”
“Oh, you are not getting away from me, not right now,” she spat, taking a long step forward. Magic burst from me too, building an ivory barricade and disallowing her entry. “Lower it right this instant or I will tell the whole court you consumed blood magic from a Demon!”
A growl ripped out of me—feral, primal, and furious. I’d been a youngling then, as she had, and I hadn’t known until far later that I’d been affected by it. Not that she’d provide any context to anyone she told.
My sister glared through the barrier of our powers, unshaken by the undercurrent of violence.
We remained locked in that challenge, a sibling battle that had raged for centuries.
She wasn’t backing down.
“Fine,” I snarled, surrendering my hold and releasing the door.
I spun on my heel, tossing my pack onto a distant chair. It scraped across the ground from the impact. I rounded another piece of furniture, nails digging into the back of it in a desperate attempt to control myself.
“What in all the worlds is wrong with you?” Iaoth slapped her hand on a polished table for emphasis. Metal clinked against glass, her rings chipping the surface. “It has been decades since you broke down like a child.”
“Oh, I’m a child?” Sarcasm dripped from each word. I couldn’t help myself. I was unraveling at the seams. And my sister’s presence was doing nothing for the utter agony piercing my chest like a volley of Demon arrows.
If I was going to bleed out, at least I could do it all over her Goddess forsaken throne. Especially with the Korona’s recent treatment of me, her own fucking brother.
“You couldn’t even bother to show some excitement when Dasha was there to greet you after your extended absence. I know you don’t want this, Vaeron, but stop acting like a spoiled brat.”
