No, it is absolutely fucking not. I shake my head, not understanding what is happening. What did I miss? Or worse, what did he not tell us? “What was the command?” I whisper.
His gaze snaps to mine, and for the first time, a ripple of unease travels the length of my spine. “I am a devourer.”
“Of?”
“Power, life, and blood.”
“And I ask again, what was your last command?”
“To devour the Grimm bloodline and erase it from the future.”
My mouth hangs open at his confession. Charming moves closer to Gwyneth with the new threat at our backs. But while the call is strong, something else is more powerful.
A whip of magic slices the air and hits Nash in the chest. He stumbles back.
“Complete your destiny,” the female demands.
He slaps his hands over his ears and shakes his head. “No, I would never.”
“Wait,” Gwyneth murmurs. “I read about this. The first narrative and how it was designed. He’s a weapon, or his bloodline was. Much like we are the architects.”
Making him, what? Our born enemy? No. He is Nash, my dark, tortured knight. And now everything about his reluctance to get close to me is painted in startling clarity.
“I need to leave,” he mutters, taking a step back. This is how they’re going to succeed, by picking us off one by one until we’re alone. How could they have lived an eternity and understand nothing about the psyche and soul?
I release Gwyneth and take a few steps toward him. He raises his hands and shakes his head. Silly knight. I close in on him until he’s backed against the wall, his shadows spilling from his control and darkening the marble floor.
“Don’t come closer,” he demands.
I ignore him and slide underneath his outstretched arms so our chests brush together. I cup his cheeks and hold his gaze. “You don’t scare me, Nash Stirling.”
“I should.”
I shrug and allow a small smile to lift my lips. “Perhaps, but while you see yourself as the destruction, I see something different.”
“What do you see?” His words are a plea to rescue him from an undeserved fate.
The people behind us shift, both the Idols and those I care for restless and uncertain. “Cover us in your shadows, and I’ll tell you.”
He sucks in a breath, and the world goes dark, cocooning us in his power. I press my lips to his, and he freezes before holding me so tight my bones creak. I pull on that thread that binds us and feed my words into his mind while continuing the life-altering kiss. I’m not sure I can do this, but I’m going to trust my gut.
“Don’t you see?”I start. His breath catches. Oh, yes, he can hear me.“It’s you, Nash. We have the blood of the Idols to begin the power removal, but you’re the key to breaking this hold and letting everyone in the realm claim their destiny and write their own story. You consume excess power, and there’s no one more excessive than the Idols.”
His eyes widen as he digests my words. We have the spell, but I’ve already proved I can’t contain that multitude of power. I had all but accepted that I wouldn’t live beyond beginning everyone’s story anew—not that I shared that with anyone. I’m not built to take it, but he is. It’s destiny.
“I don’t know if I can resist their call,”he directs back.
My tongue flicks against his.“The moment you chose to make a wish upon star for my return, you chose me and our love above any narrative forced on you.”
I feel the tempo he accepts what I’m saying. The change in him may be small to the world, but it’s momentous in my soul.
“Could you two stop sucking each other’s faces and get back to the problem at hand?”Malachi says, again in my mind.
This time, my eyes widen.“You heard that?”
“We all did,”Hart adds.
We break apart, and I grin at my knight and wrap my hands around his wrists.“So what do you say, Nash Stirling? Ready to fuck some shit up and get back to the rest of our lives?”
