She hesitated, stammering. “A promise?”
He nodded. “Yes. To Cadaith, to yourself, and to the people you are going to protect.”
Nymiria nodded, teeth nibbling at a piece of skin on her lip. She hadn’t intended on approaching the podium just yet, but it felt as if her feet were moving by themselves. She walked the winding circle of stones to the center, the familiarity of it all coursing through her body, the power that lurked inside of hertinglingthe closer she got. By the time she was standing in front of the podium, her core pulsed with power, those silver moonflowers that decorated her skin were fluttering to life. Small, white blossoms with pink centers dancing as they bloomed along her skin.
She remembered having a dream similar to this, remembered that feeling, but it was so long ago that she couldn’t recall much else other than the stone and…
Aziel.
He’d been there.
Licking her lips, Nymiria glanced back at him. He still hovered at the edge of the clearing, his eyes focused solely on her and nothing else.
“What do you feel?” He asked.
Nymiria shook her head. She didn’tknowwhat this was. It was obviously her power, but how could she even begin to explain the calling inside of her without sounding mad? It felt as if all of the blood in her body was pumping in a different direction, like her core was physically being pulled in the direction of the stone, begging forsomething.
And then, there it was.
That blinding, mind-altering fear that always seemed to creep in.
Flashes of blood, gore, blades against throats. Long nails digging into pale flesh. Aziel looking up at her from the floor of the throne room, his eyes filled with both determination and terror, pleading with her.Pleading. Her mother.
Vines.
Thorns.
Roots and shadows.
Nymiria staggered away from the podium, the books that were once in her hands now strewn across the forest floor. She clutched at her chest, lungs burning. It ached.
It ached so deeply that she felt as if she were going to die. Her heart was going to explode. And in that moment, she wanted it to. She wanted it to pop inside her body, ending the viciousness that was her bloodline. Ending it all before she could make it worse.
Worse…
She always made it worse.
Even if she wanted to do something good, even if she wanted to save everyone and fix everything, she always made it worse.
Warm hands cupped her cheeks, brushing away hot streaks of tears that had seeped from her eyes. She kept them closed tight, shaking her head back and forth as that melodic voice in her ears begged for her to breathe, tolook.
She didn’t want to look. She didn’t want toseeanything. She’d seen enough.
“Nymiria,” Aziel whispered. “Nymiria, open your eyes. Tell me what’s—”
He saw it then, too. He saw the flashes of her memories, the monsters in her nightmares. He saw it all. His whole body trembled when he saw himself on the throne room floor, going rigid with disgust when Inasha looked at her daughter and said.
“Is it because I had him first?”
The phantom pain on his back reappeared, biting through his spine, but he didn’t let go of her. He held her, watching her convulse, watching as she tried to ward away those memories. It had to have been longer than a few minutes. It felt like an eternity. And Aziel could feel, hear, and see it all. Every nightmare. Every moment she was cursed to carry with her for the rest of her life.
“Nymiria,please.” He leaned down, lips brushing over her temple.
A blast of energy sent him tumbling backwards, his hand shooting out to brace himself on one of the stones of the labyrinth. When the spots in his vision cleared, Aziel saw her curled in on herself, her whole body shaking furiously as she tugged and ripped at her hair.
“Take it away!” She screamed. “Take it away, please. Just make it go away.” Aziel slowly lifted himself to his feet, taking a soft step back in her direction. He reached out his hand, only to jerk it back to his side when her head snapped up and her eyes settled on him. “Tell me that you can make it stop. Give it back to me—your power. Erase it. Take it all.”
Aziel shook his head, breaths uneven as he moved closer. “I can’t do that to you again, Nymiria.”
