Page 40

She gulped and inched back until Hel’s hand against her spine stopped her. “We agreed you wouldn’t change any more elves. He will tear through Calladira.”

“I said the elves of Palenor were safe. We’re not in Palenor.”

Oh, she hated his trickery sometimes.

Aldrich shook uncontrollably and screamed again. His roar echoed through the high ceiling and halls, and the hairs on the back of her neck rose. His golden-blond hair was already fading and his skin shined with a sickly pallor.

The tattoo on her thigh that kept her from changing began to tingle. “I can’t watch this,” she whispered and whirled to leave. Hel caught her wrist and turned her back.

“This needs to happen. He betrayed you once. He’d do it again. Traitors can never be trusted, but as a pale one he will be loyal to me.”

“It’s what you’re forcing him to become,” she breathed. “Cut off his head, I don’t care, but this?”

“Listen, love, it’s going to happen on the battlefield, and you need to be indifferent about it. I know you hate them, but we need them against the council.”

A tear slid down her cheek. It wasn’t just that he was turning, it was that Hel was the reason. Hel was the reason there were pale ones at all. She couldn’t seem to tear away from watching the horror. Aldrich slammed the back of his head against the ground and bucked and screeched so loud she pressed her hands to her ears.

Hel released her and his eyes softened. Go outside.

She didn’t care for Aldrich. She would even kill him herself without a second thought but watching anyone turn into thismade her sick. When Aldrich’s lips and eyes changed to the color of ink, she had to look away.

She’d somehow separated Hel from the pale ones because she hadn’t truly seen him with them. She’d almost forgotten this was who he was here in Adalon, the wicked villain feared by all.

A crease formed between his brows when she looked up at him. She had to find her husband in his eyes, the male she’d loved through the ages and fell for again. She needed to see he wasn’t just as much of a monster as the thing Aldrich was changing into.

The harshness in his expression fell and shifted into something close to sadness.You don’t have to see this. It’s alright. Go.

That was her husband. The Hel she knew, the one with his soul still intact. The Black Mage was a persona… but the pale ones were very real.

Valeen, go outside,he said more forcefully.

The fresh air made it easier to breathe. The doors shut behind her, muffling the terrible sounds. Her gaze swept around the town. The children who’d been playing were gone. The people walking and talking had run. Not even guards or soldiers came out into the open. The quiet emptiness was so unnatural for a city.

She sank onto the steps and hugged her knees.

She didn’t know how long she sat there before Hel settled beside her.

You’re angry with me. He stared ahead with the tips of his fingers drumming together.Why did you cry for him? He kept you locked up. He treated you in a way you know I’d never tolerate.

“It wasn’t him I was crying for,” she whispered, staring at her hands.

He pulled his hood back and looked at her, but her gaze was fixed on the toes of her boots now.

His fingers slid along her jaw, closed around her chin, and turned her face. “Then who?” His brows pinched and his lips parted slightly.

“You.”

“Ah.” He dropped his hand and the lines in his face smoothed out. He rubbed his thumb over the runes along his knuckles. “Ryvengaard was our sanctuary, and you forgot who I’ve become.”

It was because she knew who hereallywas before the betrayal and the wars and execution. Before he was ever the Black Mage.

He went silent for a few beats.

“I just want this all to be over.” She cupped his face. “I just want peace. I want to lay in bed with you all day and not worry that someone will sneak in to kill us. I want to hear you really laugh again and never have to be… cold and cruel.”

“If all of Adalon passed away into darkness, if every realm was burned to ash, I would still love you. If I had to become something so little as cold and cruel to save you, Valeen, it’s worth it.”This is only the beginning.When the chaos becomes too much, when you doubt everything, and you think the darkness has taken me, remember I’m still your Zaurahel, and I always will be.He took her hands and kissed them one at a time. “One last fight, love, and when it’s over I’ll be your peace.” With his thumb, he swiped another tear off her cheek. “But you don’t have to fight. I will do it for you. You can go back with your sister and never see a battlefield again.”

“You know I won’t let you fight this war alone.”