“Wonderful.”
Batting his hands away, I try to see what’s happening between Kaden and the Hadeon. My protector stays strong, as he adds to the wall of fire with another blast. Kaden yells, swiping again.
Reid tries to touch me again and I snap, “I’m fine.”
“LikeSeti’sHell you are,” he mutters, and pushes my cheek, inhaling as he sees the full damage. It’s not pretty.
Mal corrals us back to the forest. The fire is spreading, surrounding us from Kaden’s wrath. If we don’t leave now, we’ll be trapped. Burning by Hellfire is not how I plan to die nor do I plan on letting my mate kill me. With all the flames, the beast will grow desperate—which doesn’t help any of us.
“He could have killed you.” Mal glares back at the beast. “He still might.”
“He was startled?—”
“He could havekilledyou,” Mal stresses again. “He would have if the Hadeon had not interrupted.”
Reid wraps a brotherly arm around my shoulders as we slink into the forest. We go slow, not trying to draw Kaden’s attention. “My brother would never kill his mate,” he defends.
“Your brother might not.” Mal jerks a thumb at the beast, growling as his skin sizzles. “Butthatis not your brother. He will kill to heal. He will kill to claim. He will justkill. I’m sure you’ve heard the stories of the curse growing up.” His jaded eyes grow darker. “We certainly have. You know how this goes.”
My chin trembles as I ignore the prick in my eyes. Mal isn’t wrong.It’s not Kaden.
I might want it to be, know he’s in there, but that snarling beast is only a curse manifested. He only thinks about survival, and right now he’s intent on having us. He will kill us—and where will that leave Kaden? Where will that leave the world?
I may not want to be responsible for it, but it’s my destiny to save it. And I can’t abandon the world over something preventable.
Against the raging pain in my throat, I lift my hand and call for his heart. It surrenders, the thumping becoming one with my own. It echoes in my ears, drowning out the pain and grief and I just listen, entranced.
I don’t want to do this—but I must.
“I’m sorry.” I pull his blood, bending it to my will, and force himto fly back through the woods. He breaks branches, claws up the dirt to stop, but I don’t release him. When my powers grow weak, and his heart grows faint in my head, I finally stop.
Tears fall from my eyes and I look away to hide them.
Reid rubs my arm, trying to chase away the pain. “It’s alright, Max. You did what you had to do.”
“You might think this cruel,” Mal says quietly, “but it was best. If Kaden had come any closer, your Hadeon would’ve killed him. You know what that would do to you.”
Broken hearted. Dead. Alone.
“Watch what you say,” Reid threatens. “You don’t know what she’s going through.”
My body erupts into tremors, my throat so sore I can barely breathe. And yet, it’s my heart that feels the most unbearable suffering.
I just used my magic on my mate—the one person I should never have been able to do so. And now? I feel dirty, and sullied from it. I broke a cardinal rule and I will never feel clean from it.
“Hate me for what I say.” He shrugs. “But she did the right thing. That is not your mate, Dark Queen.” Mal turns to leave us. “I know Kaden. Have known him since I was a young Fae. That is not him. That is the beast the Moorgate family has held on to for centuries. It is not the Fae who became a shield to the rest of the Fae Kingdoms.”
“You’d do well to remember who owns his body. Lest you become his next meal.”
Mal walks back to the campsite while Reid pulls me to the side, our guards all sitting at attention. How did Reid get them to stay behind?
Doesn’t matter. At this point, my body hurts too much to think.
Huffing behind me, the Hadeon returns to the darkness to help my mate. Maybe I don’t know whySeticonsiders me worthy, but without him, I’d be dead.
How am I to use my blood to save my mate if every time I get close, his curse takes over?
There must be a way.
