“I once told you that if you hurt Peyton, we’d be enemies, but we all hurt her in the end. We were all born into darkness. What matters is whether or not we choose to step into the light.”
She reaches up to press a kiss on my cheek. “You’re doing better, Striker. I can see it.”
Before I can catch my breath, she returns to the others.
When I descend the steps down the front of the Academy with Slade and Lucinda, I take a deep breath and a leap of faith.
I clear my throat as I turn to Lucinda to say goodbye. “I’m proud of what you’ve achieved here.”
Her eyes suddenly fill with tears. “Thank you, Striker.”
Walking away from the Academy to return to the Legion with Slade, I have to ask him, “Why did you take the chance ofallowing me to train with the Legion? You had no reason to trust me.”
He gives me a faint smile. “Because you were handed an object of pure power, and you rejected it.”
“The White Wand.” My forehead creases as I recall what I’ve learned about Slade and his long-ago interaction with Lady Tirelli. “Like you gave back the Keres feather.”
He laughs. “Yeah, well, the difference is that you were smart enough to destroy the wand.”
I press my hand to my chest, where I burned the bone, my beast’s fire consuming it. I’m still not completely certain how I did that. At the time, I believed it was because I destroyed whatever I touched, but that certainty no longer holds true in my life.
I have hope now.
Slade shakes his head in humility before he says, “Let’s get back to the Legion.”
Two months later, after I’ve been with the Legion for eight months, Archer and Cain’s baby girl is born.
When they trust me enough to hold her on their visit to the Legion, I discover that something’s shifted.
The scales have tipped.
I’m no longer angry. No longer seeking violence.
My beast’s fury is a constant, butIcontrolhim, and I won’t falter.
I approach Slade the next day.
“My stepfather,” I say, giving him a steely glance. “It’s time.”
He looks up from his ledger, in which I’m now determined to write my stepfather’s name. “You’re certain?”
“That demon has had eight months longer than he should have had. He has nothing to threaten the Factions with now that you have the rings back. I’m grateful for the time you’ve given me to prepare. I’m ready.”
Slade gives me a nod. “Then suit up.”
I offer him a brief smile because the suit I’ll wear is very different from the one he plans on wearing.
6. PEYTON PRICE
Iwake to the sound of rain and a far-away scream.
Even on Mount Greylock, where I live in a secluded cabin with my sisters, the darkness and violence of the world bleed through. Especially when it rains. It’s as if the water in the air provides a conduit that wouldn’t otherwise exist, magnifying cries for help.
There is no peace for me and my sisters.
I jolt upright, immediately checking on them.
They’re wide awake where, only moments ago, they were lying on rugs around the fireplace, fast asleep. Each of them is now sitting, their heads tilted and their gazes distant.
