“You interrupted my dream, Tormik,” he wheezes.Shit. More broken ribs. “And it was delightful.”
For a beat, Father just stares at him.
“Did you touch my daughter?”
Zev breaks into a salacious grin. “Tormik, please. That’s between me and my wife.”
A sharp crack reverberates through me as Father backhands Zev.
“Answer me! Did. You.Hurt. Her.”
The mock playfulness vanishes from Zev’s face. “What did you think was going to happen to her?” he seethes, face twisted with rage even as his voice cracks with pain. “When you wrapped her in a bow and gifted her to your enemy? Where did this sudden concern come from, Tormik?”
“You despicable bastard,” Father hisses, knuckles white around his staff.
“You’rethe one who sent your daughter to your enemy’s bed. Whatever she’s endured, it’s by your hand.”
The sky rumbles, low and ominous, then—
—a bolt of lightning strikes the ground a few feet behind the platform.
A startled gasp escapes me.
And my world burns to ash.
Chapter Sixty-Four
Ashrillringingblaresinmy ears, sharp and relentless.
The sky had been clear moments ago—inky black night stretching endlessly overhead. No clouds. No warning.
So where did the lightning come from?
The flash still burns behind my eyes, seared into my vision.
My gasp caught Father’s attention. His head snaps toward me, ice-blue eyes narrowing. Zev follows a beat later.
“Mayah…” Father starts.
Wind slams into me as I barrel out, the tent flap snapping like a whip behind me. My legs tremble as I approach him.
The lightning couldn’t have been Zev. He’s bound with iron.
A fractured sob escapes me, and I know.
I justknow.
“It was you,” I whisper, edging closer.
“Mayah,” Father says again, and it’s his stern voice, the one he uses when I haven’t lived up to his standards. “You’re confused.”
I amlivid, is what I am.
“The lightning. Isawit. It wasyou.”
Father descends from the platform and strides toward me. His hands rest on my shoulders, but I shove him away.
“All those nights I spent cowering in my bed,” I whisper. “Those storms. They wereyou. You’re a stormwielder.”
