I curled my hands, and the chains rattled. But my magic just sizzled on my palms. Without access to Kalen’s mist, I could only kill her by touch. I could not spray it toward her as I’d done to the enemies in Dubnos, not alone. Together, Kalen and I would be her end, but apart, we could not win.
“So let me repeat myself,” Andromeda hissed. “He either dies or you make this vow. Your choice.” Her eyes flicked to Kalen’s crumpled form. “I would make it soon if you want him to heal. He doesn’t have long.”
“No.” His word was so softly spoken I wasn’t certain if I’d truly heard it at all, but then he continued. “Don’t do it, love. You have to stop them. You’re the only one who can.”
A great sob shook my body, clanking the chains that hung from my wrists. Something in me cracked at the broken sound of his voice, in the defeat of his words. He would gladly sacrifice himself to save the world. He always would.
Chest heaving, I dug my fingernails into my palms. The puddle of Kalen’s blood had spread, creeping across the stones like fingers, closer and closer to where I was trapped behind the pillars. Images flashed in my mind. Kalen’s rare smile. The strength of his arms around my body as he kept me safe and warm. The rumble of his laughter.
The scent of his mist, both soothing and electric.
This vow would save him, but it would be the end of everything between us.
I would never get to look into those sapphire eyes again. The eyes that had saved me.
I felt like I was standing on the edge of a knife, and everything within me broke.
“No,” he repeated, his voice louder and more insistent this time, as if he could read the path of my thoughts. He probably could.
“Kalen, I’m so sorry. I can’t be the savior of the world,” I whispered with tears streaming down my face. “Because for you, I would sacrifice it all.”
And then I closed my eyes and said the words that would condemn me forever.
I made the vow.
Bellicent cried out, “Death has risen from the ashen remains of a great city. The time of the gods has begun.”
Epilogue
Tessa
Iwas a broken thing when Andromeda released me from the manacles, shoved the gloves onto my hands, and carried me away from the ruins of Gailfean on her wings. My surroundings were a blur, and my heart was so numb that I had no fight left in me. She had stolen it from me, along with everything else. Bellicent stayed behind, calling after us that Kalen had already begun to heal.
At least he was alive.
At least I had not sacrificed everything for nothing.
And for that, I could not regret what I’d done, even if it meant I’d doomed us all.
At some point, I must have drifted to sleep or my mind became so numb I couldn’t think, because the scent of brine twined with the cloying stench of rot jolted me awake. Andromeda clutched me tightly against her chest, and sick clung to the back of my throat. I wondered what would happen if I squirmed out of her arms. I would fall, but I bore wings myself. I could fly away from here.
If only I hadn’t made a vow.
“Ah, you’re awake.” Her icy voice slithered through me as she held me tighter, her arms as unbreakable as steel. “Welcome to your new home.”
The new home turned out to be Malroch, the storm fae city on the coast that Toryn’s brother had been visiting. When we landed on the castle’s spire, I let myself take in the whitewashed buildings, the streets lined with corals and seashells, and the swooping seagulls that filled the salt-drenched air with their song.
It seemed Toryn’s brother had been busy. Soldiers marched through the streets, heavily armed. The mist was a heavy cloud overhead, but the streets were free of it.
From a small, small part of my mind, I knew it was an important observation, but I couldn’t bring myself to care. Not when I’d never again see Kalen.
My eyes slid shut. This city was beautiful, but I couldn’t bear to look at it.
“You’re clearly exhausted. It’s hard for me to remember you have human blood in you. I’ll let you get some sleep, and then I’ll introduce you to the others. You’ve already met my brother Sirius, of course.”
Rage went through me, but it died like a spark beneath a heavy gust of wind.
“I can see we have a long way to go before you’ll see me as anything but your enemy.”
