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The group of fae that had been gathered around the food table laughing at me earlier all stared as I tried to leave peacefully. My darkness hummed at the fear I felt from them as I got closer.

“Well, if it isn’t the Crimson whore,” one of them snickered as I was walking by. The insult wasn’t meant for me to hear, but my darkness, already upset, surged forward. My feet stopped immediately, and I turned to the woman who had made the cruel remark. The group had stopped laughing when my eyes flashed black toward them.

“What did you just call me?” I took an intimidating step forward, and they all stepped back.

“Nothing,” she muttered.

“No, not nothing.” I stepped closer to her as my eyes narrowed on her. “Crimson whore.”

The woman tried to mask her terror as she straightened herself up and scoffed. This had several of the others in her group following suit. Pretending to be so brave in front of the monster.

“That’s right. You are Crimson’s whore. You can ask anyone in Cerithia; it’s what we all call you.”

They laughed, so I, in my maddened state, joined them by laughing along—only they stopped immediately. The brave girl swept her red hair over her shoulder with a look of disgust toward me.

“You really shouldn’t have called me that.” I stepped closer again. I knew that I should turn and leave, but my darkness refused to let me. It wanted to hurt others.

"Careful, Linea, you don’t want the whore to touch you,” another woman said in disgust. It was enough to distract me from snapping this woman’s neck.

“Out of respect for my father, I will not kill you and ruin this party.” I paused for a moment. “But just know that you will not get away with saying any of this. I will hunt you down, and I will cut the tongue from your mouth for being a disrespectful bitch. I will find you when you least expect it. I will not wait for you to be alone or wait as you walk home in the dark. No, there will be a crowd gathered in broad daylight when I come for you.” My darkness was in control at this point, and I couldn’t stop the threat from escaping me.

“Do you know who we are?” Linea scoffed. The tremor in her voice showed me that her confidence had wavered. “Our families are nobility.”

“Noble or not, you will bleed the same as any of the other fae who have died by my hands. The next time you two see me, it will be when my dagger is cutting your tongues out.”

I glanced at all of them, allowing my fire mist to swirl around me for a moment before turning and leaving. My anger simmered so violently inside of me that I thought I would burn down the castle if I didn’t escape it. I turned and headed for the closest door, needing to get out. As I ran from the castle, Irealized that I felt detached from everything that had happened. My darkness was still in control of me, and I couldn’t stop it.

“Thea!” Gwyn had caught up to me outside. “How dare you!”

I didn’t respond. Not only because I knew she would not listen, but I also worried I would lose complete control. I knew it was useless to try and evade her. She cared too much about her image to let what I said to the guests go.

“You threatened the lives of two noble daughters.”

“It was more of a promise.” I glared at her. “I could have done it in there, in front of all your guests.”

“You will not do it at all.”

“They called me Crimson’s whore,” I ground out.

“Well, you are. If you hadn’t crawled into bed with Cassius, then Cerithians wouldn’t call you Crimson’s whore.”

Her words almost made my fire burst out of me again. She had better stop talking because I could feel myself slipping farther into the darkness.

“I’m your daughter. You shouldn’t allow such disrespect toward me.”

Her jaw clenched tightly. “You are not my child.”

Her words hurt me more than I cared to admit, but only for a moment. My darkness wouldn’t allow me to be upset over Gwyn. It gripped me tighter, making my hands clench tightly. My vision pulsed red. Gwyn grabbed my arm and tried to force me back with her.

“You will come and apologize now.”

“Don’t ever touch me,” I said softly, ripping my arm from her.

My father appeared and walked toward us in a hurry.

“Thea? Gwyn?” he questioned. He stopped and took a hesitant step back from the sight of me.

“Your daughter threatened the lives of two noble daughters and refused to apologize.”