My life had been nothing but pain. Isanara was a joy who could be taken away from me. Kyna died. Kyrelle would die, too. Everything I had risked would come to nothing. Loving Garrick was supposed to be an escape, but he’d hurt me, too. And when it all ended? When I finally, finally, met my second death? I would be bound to the Dark God for eternity.
Anger vied with despair. Loneliness. Even if I had Garrick, it would only be for a moment. A blip in the never-ending hellscape of my life. The Dark God was right there in front of me. He’d gifted me this power. Maybe it was enough to destroy him.
It was him or me.
My power did not just rise. It roared. It blurred my vision, a haze of pale blue and sparkling white consumed everything. The air around me was not just cold. The tiny particles of dust crystallized into ice. Frost took physical form. I dragged in a breath, my throat punctured by a thousand tiny, icy cuts. Butit felt right. Why had I ever tried to hold it back? I could have anything I wanted with power like this. I could kill anyone who wronged me.
I could kill a god.
My power reached into him. There were organs, just like mine, and I froze them all. Blood rushed, thicker than mine, its composition more complex. But it was no match for me. I turned it to ice in his veins, stopping that critical function. Another moment, another flood of power, and I’d never have to see the handsomely smug face ever again. His voice would never invade my consciousness. I would be free. Just a little bit more.
“Do it.”
My control snapped. I’d never really had it. The power controlled me. It took everything I had, and it still was not enough. I could still feel his hands gripping my arms, still feel his presence in my mind. I pushed harder. I’d give everything. This was the only thing that mattered. This was why I’d been resurrected. Power should not be contained or controlled.
Turquoise eyes flashed in my mind. A shimmer of lavender.
“That’s enough.”
The Dark God severed our connection with a singular, definitive snap.
I fell back on the bed, the physical connection broken as well, the force sudden and almost painful even with the soft cushion of a mattress and blankets. He’d insisted on the bed. I’d thought it was to torment me, but it was for this. He’d known this would happen.
More manipulation. The surge of power had taken everything. It had almost taken my life. It had tried to erase Isanara and Garrick.
I blinked rapidly, the fog of frost clearing. The fire was dark. The only sounds were my gasps. “That was…”
“Glorious?”
“Terrible,” I said.
I pushed myself back up to sit. Every muscle in my body ached, but I could not leave myself vulnerable to him a second longer.
“Great power usually is,” he said. He looked precisely as he had before—before I’d tried to kill him.
“You are supposed to be teaching me to control my power.” I meant it as an accusation, but it came out confused.
There was no control in what had just happened. It was the complete absence of it. The frost took on a life of its own, taking shapes with a force I’d never imagined in my worst nightmares.
“You cannot master a power you do not understand or respect,” he said. The hands that had gripped mine and carried me through that torrent of power rest on his knees now, perfectly poised and relaxed. As if I had not just tried to murder him. “And to do either, you must learn its full extent.”
I’d never had a chance. When he’d decided it was enough, he’d snuffed my power out like it was nothing. I thought what lived inside of me was powerful. But the Dark God… the darkness inside of him redefined the word.
A chill of fear straightened my spine.
“And is reading minds the full extent ofyourpower?” I asked even though I was now afraid to know the answer.
His blue-black eyes narrowed on me. I could not tell if the expression was annoyance or interest or something else. “I can readyourmind, Koryn.”
He drew out the word for emphasis. My own brows contracted, but I did not try to stop them. There was no point in trying to school my features when he could see into my mind. At least for the moment, he was speaking aloud.
“So, you don’t torture Garrick this way,” I said slowly.
His lips thinned into a line. “I am not saddled with a mind-tie to the halfling,” he said.
Relief shook through me. He did not have a connection to Garrick. They were not talking about me while I was in the room. Not growing closer while I—while I what? I did not care what either of them did. They could have each other.
The only relevant information here was that I was the only one being mentally violated by the Dark God.
