A cold sweat broke over David’s skin when he dug deep into her psyche with his next words, injecting magic straight into the most primitive parts of her. “And you don’t love me, Anna. You never did.”
Finally,finallyshe succumbed. Her pupils blew out until the blue disappeared. Inside her, that shining strand of love went numb, strangulated by the tourniquet of his magic. “I don’t love you,” she whispered.
He pressed his lips to her temple, then whispered into her ear, “I’m going to let you go, and when I do, you won’t remember this conversation, but you’ll feel better, Anna. You won’t hurt. Your heart will no longer be broken. You won’t love me, and you won’t remember that you ever did. Do you understand?”
He’d never been able to change someone’s feelings, but he’d never exerted this much energy in the attempt. If it didn’t work, at least he could tell her that he’d tried his best.
But in the seconds that followed, the entirety of her emotional landscape remodeled inside her, eradicating him, and he knew he’d succeeded.
He’d…succeeded.
The rabid animal in his chest fell silent, curling up in its lonely ice prison.
“Tell me you understand,” he commanded.
“I…understand.” Her tone was robotic. Drugged. Breathless.
His fingers dragged across her skin as he released her, likely the last time he’d ever touch her this way. He stepped away, watching carefully for any sign it hadn’t worked.
Clear blue eyes took stock of his hands, his clothes stained with her blood, and finally his face. Anna’s head tilted as bemusement danced over her suddenly bright emotions. “David? Is something wrong?”
He stood still, afraid of what came next. He forced his stare away from her, bouncing from the wall to the cot to the floor—anywhere but her. “No. Nothing is wrong.”
She glanced in the multiple directions of his gaze, then returned her attention to him. “What are you looking for? Did you lose something?”
His eyes fell shut, and he batted away the acrid laughter thatwanted to surface. Had he lost something tonight? Not really. He’d lost Anna the moment he sensed that connection to Isobel dig a grave in his chest.
But he must have still believed in the potential between them, in the mere possibility, because whatever was happening behind his ice felt like someone had taken a drill to his very foundation and cracked it to pieces. He wanted to rail and cackle and be sick all at the same time.
Yet he couldn’t do any of that. Anna wanted him gone, and he could do that for her. He’d do anything for her.
Even disappear.
“Yeah, I did lose something,” David finally said. “But it doesn’t matter. I can’t get it back.”
EPILOGUE
Elenya crossed her legs as she watched the man across from her pour a cup of tea. This cozy cottage of his had become something of a second home to her over the past few decades, and her gaze lingered on the wild forest beyond the tall windows to her right. After the Follower War, eastern Luxoria had been all but abandoned and the forest had taken over. The Light glimmered in every leaf, every flake of snow. This small hamlet at the edge of the wilds remained the last standing vestige of what was once Galadaine Manae’s stronghold, now riddled with untamed magic.
The man had known her for centuries now, so when he handed her the saucer, she knew he’d prepared it just as she liked. She took a sip and hummed at the notes of cinnamon within the brew. “Thank you,” she said.
He leaned back and set his ankle on the opposite knee, thoughtful. “Is she any closer to discovering who her mother is?”
Elenya shook her head. “I’ve given her what clues I’m able. Yourmistress’scoercion is difficult to maneuver around.” Her tongue soured at the wordmistress. She found it difficult to even think of the woman, muchless say her name.
He chuckled, a dark sound incongruent with his fair hair and sylphian looks. “One must be cleverer than her. Not an easy feat.”
She sipped her tea, the better to hide her pity. He’d been living under the woman’s coercion for so long now. No one knew better than him how tricky resistance could be. “I am doing what I can,” she said.
The man sighed and slid toward her a book lying on the table between them. “Give her this.”
Elenya peered down at the title:The Children of Morgan.“What is it?” she asked.
“A genealogy.”
Surprise rendered her temporarily speechless. “Is—is she in it?”
“She is, but under her birth name. Princess Ellianna.”
