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At least that was what I hoped.

It was the real Cassial’s attempt to disarm us, weaken us, just in time for Duwar to be used against them with little effort.

I took a deep inhalation, sucking in the horrid scent of blood. Slowly, the real Duncan lifted his eyes and locked them onto me. It took great restraint not to crack with a sob. I didn’t dare move a muscle.

There was so much I longed to say. Words that lodged in my throat, promising to choke me. So, holding Duncan’s strange stare, I did the one thing that I could. An action that would show him – not tell him – that I loved him.

I lifted a hand to my eye, lowered it shakingly to rest above my heart and then pointed toward him.

I love you.

I waited, with bated breath, for Duncan to complete our sign. To lift his hand and gesture toward me, proving to me that he had some strength left him in.

But he didn’t.

The only way he reacted was as his lip drew back in a hateful snarl.

Realisation hit in so suddenly, I couldn’t hide it from my face.

Cassial noticed, offering me a winning smirk, thinking my pain was a result of Duncan’s refusal of me. But he would never refuse me that answer – not when he was dying, not when he was possessed and not when he survived judgement all to come back to me.

“What will it be, Robin?” Cassial glowered. “You wanted this moment, and yet you waste it with simple gestures. The fey approach like the swift storm of promised death.”

There was no replying to Cassial without giving away the detail I’d just figured out. I looked up, ears ringing, the glass vial tickling over my molars as I positioned it. “I accept your proposal, willingly. I will take the burden you wish to give me and do with it as you desire.”

Cassial’s eyes widened. Did he expect more of a fight? Not wanting to disappoint, I silently told him that the fight would come. “You surprise me.”

“I surprise myself.” My blood ran cold; even with the iron limiting my magic, I felt powerful. Because I knew now what Seraphine meant. Everything she’d done, all her sacrifices and lies, led to this moment. And I wouldn’t waste it.

Because I was in control, whether Cassial figured that out or not.

“I will give you Duwar, and with it, you will draw the source of magic out of every fey before you.” Cassial loosed his hold on my leash. The chain dropped to the ground with a thud, splattering in boot-trodden mud. “Once the fey have been whittled down to husks, you will complete Aldrick’s wishes, and transfer those gifts to the humans behind you. Am I clear?”

“Very.” I clenched my fingers tight, refusing to look at the fake Cassial. Even as the real Cassial lifted him from the ground and held the limp male to his chest with a broad arm hooked around his waist.

“You promised me you wouldn’t hurt him,” I gasped, forcing out the emotion, trying to show some semblance of worry. When in truth, I wanted to laugh. I had no care for the weak, limp person in Cassial’s grasp.

Cassial didn’t reply. He was using the fake Cassial as a way to control me. Even as he gave his Nephilim the order to remove my iron cuff, it was all a test of boundaries and trust. I could’ve unleashed the sudden rush of my magic at him, but that would have ruined everything.

Patience was never a virtue I had. My father once told me it would take a firm hand to teach me the lesson. He was right – almost. It took two hands from two different men to teach me the importance.

Which was exactly the game Erix was playing. I could almost feel his eyes on me, scoring through my skin, telling me it was all going to be okay. If I had it in me, I could’ve searched the surrounding area and found him.

He was waiting for his signal – as I commanded – so I would give it to him.

“Use Duwar to sever the magic in the fey, give it to the humans. Is that all you require of me?” I asked, mouth drawn into a tight line.

“Let us first see if you survive that,” Cassial grinned, lifting a mouth that didn’t belong to him. His foot was tapping, his fingers drumming over the fake Cassial’s body.

He was nervous.

And he should be.

“I’m ready,” I said, chin jutting forwards.

The beat of fey traipsing closer toward the camp had grown louder in the passing moments. I felt the vibration up my feet, followed by the distant screams of Cassial’s human shield, likely scrambling to get out of the soldiers’ path before complete annihilation.

Cassial nodded, tongue lapping his lower lip. There was certainly trepidation in his eyes as he lifted his hand toward me. I thought back to what Erix said he’d seen in Duwar’s realm. How the physical embodiment of Duwar had laid a hand on Duncan’s chest, imbuing him with power.