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“Your father wanted to release the power.” His spittle peppered my face, and he pushed his own neck harder against the edge of the blade. “And so do you. I will never tell you where the necklace is, no matter what weapons you point at me. I am done with this.”

Oberon smashed his fist into my gut. Air gusted from my mouth and the force of his blow shoved me away from him. I gripped the dagger and slashed it at his face, but he grabbed my fingers, squeezing so tight that my bones crunched.

Pain flared through my hand, traveling up my arm to my already wounded shoulder. Hissing between my teeth, I released my grip on the dagger. It fell with a thunk in the sand.

Oberon closed his hand around my throat and lifted me from the ground. As my feet dangled beneath me, I stared into his vicious face.

“There he is,” I choked out. “That’s the Oberon I know.”

Fury rippled across his face. With a grunt, he let me go. My boots hit the ground hard, and my knees buckled beneath me.

“Stop resisting me!” he shouted down at me. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

I glared up at him. “Actions speak louder than words, Oberon. And you’ve done nothing but hurt me my entire fucking life.”

“That wasn’t me. It was the god, warping my mind. She’s corrupted me.”

“That may explain your actions, but it doesn’t excuse them.” I spat to clear my mouth and blood painted the sand. Dizziness shook my skull.

“Look at you. Not as strong as you should be yet, eh? Too much time spent behind my barrier.” He knelt beside me and shoved a finger into my chest. I tumbled, my backside slamming into the ground. “It’s a shame you’ll never get to experience the glory of your full power. This will be over soon enough.”

I narrowed my eyes. “I thought you didn’t want to hurt me.”

“And I don’t plan to.” He wrapped his hand around the back of my neck and hauled me from the ground again. “Time for more valerian.”

“No.” I struggled against him, but every inch of my body hurt. It was too much for me to fight—hewas too much to fight. If I had any enhanced strength or terrifying powers, they’d abandoned me. My body was too weak to conjure anything but pain.

We reached his horse. Once again, he rustled through his leather satchel in search of more valerian-soaked cloths. Any minute now, he would find one, and sleep would claim me once more. I might never wake again. He would take me into his city where his lover waited for him, and then he’d use the power of the god to scrub me from this world. Forever.

I was angry and tired and so very, very sore. It would be easy to just give up, and maybe Oberon was right. Maybe I was too dangerous for this world. I’d seen what the power inside me could do when it was at my fingertips. What if it came back again, only stronger? What if my every touch brought destruction?

What if I became the very thing I feared the most? Someone like Oberon.

“No,” I whispered.

Oberon turned toward me. “Don’t be so dramatic. This won’t hurt a bit.”

I yanked my arm out of his grip. “No.”

“Don’t make me force you,” he warned.

I grabbed his arm and used my free hand to yank the Mortal Blade from his belt. The steel slid from the sheath, gleaming even in the murky darkness. Oberon’s eyes went wide. He held up his hands and stumbled back.

“This is the real one now,” I hissed at him. “And all it will take is one small scrape against your skin.”

I lunged with the dagger pointed at his throat. With a shout, he whirled away from me and ran into the mists. I sucked in a breath, taking off after him. Every step shot a new bolt of pain through my body, but I would not fail this time. Just as he’d said, this had to end now.

I raced after him in the darkness. Only the sound of his huffing breaths led the way. Mist stung my eyes and my skin. In the back of my mind, I couldn’t help but wonder at what was happening. King Oberon, the powerful fae who had terrorized me for years, was running away from me.

There was a satisfying irony to that.

“No, stop!” he screamed just ahead of me. “Don’t make me fall. Please!”

Frowning, I charged forward. I found him only a short way ahead of me. He cowered on his knees, head bent, body trembling with the kind of fear I didn’t think someone like him had ever felt. I almost felt sorry for him.

My fingers twitched around the dagger.

He gazed up at me, his graying ember eyes tortured. “Just drop the dagger. I’ll do anything you want if you let it go.”