Page 43 of A Bond so Fierce and Fragile (Compelling Fates Saga #3)

Frelina

S he hated this place.

Frelina knew her face should mirror the emotions within her—the anger and frustration and, if she was honest, the fear at being alone here in this strange world—but the reflections staring back at her carried none of that.

There was sorrow in every face as she spun and whirled to find anywhere without a haunted version of herself looking at her, but in every pair of amber eyes, there was only sadness and despair.

“Stop it,” she muttered when the urge to curl up into a ball to hide from the wide eyes tracking her nearly overtook her. “Stop it.”

Instead of giving in to the impulse, Frelina closed her eyes, drawing deep breaths to calm herself.

In and out through her nose.

But the air did little to calm her racing heart, and when a deep, melodic voice broke through the strange humming noise—the one she thought she might have heard before but couldn’t place—she was ashamed to admit she jumped a foot in the air.

Hello, Frelina Rantzier.

Frelina made herself breathe again. She wasn’t interested in speaking to whoever or whatever this was.

That was a lie, child.

Frelina shook her head.

She wasn’t going to entertain this. She wasn’t here for herself.

They’d come for Lessia. For Merrick. To hopefully find a way to keep her sister alive.

But that’s not the only wish you carry in your heart, is it?

A tremor ran down her back. She didn’t like this voice. She didn’t like it at all.

“Who are you?” Frelina demanded, although her words didn’t carry the harshness she’d intended. Her voice had risen at the end, and she winced at herself, finally opening her eyes again.

Those figures around her still glared with that devastating expression, their large eyes filled with tears.

Gods, was that how pathetic she looked?

You do not know me?

How would she…

“You’re a god, I presume.” She didn’t get her voice right that time, either, the fear rippling across her skin making her words shake.

Low laughter traveled through the room, somehow making the mirrored walls contort, their surface swirling with rings like when she threw stones at the water back home.

“How is that funny?” Frelina bit out, eyes tracing the rings as they increased in size and danced around the versions of herself that lived in the mirrors.

You do not need to lie to me, Frelina. I see the fear in your soul. It’s taking over. As for your question… my name is Zharra.

The god of life.

She couldn’t help but roll her eyes. Wasn’t that ironic?

It’s no coincidence we speak today, child. We’re all called to those who need us the most.

“I don’t need you!” Frelina raised her voice, unsure why her gut twisted so hard she nearly bent over. “I am here for Elessia. To save her.”

You lie again.

Ice—actual small pieces of ice—blew through the space. The light—Frelina had no idea where it came from—flickered for a second, shifting into dark, then light, then dark, then light again.

I see you. I hear you. I know you. You cannot lie to me. You’re scared. Perhaps more than any of your friends here today. And I know why.

“I am not.” Her voice wavered so much she needed to take a breath before continuing, the sense of needing to submit to this damned god flooding her and making her bend her neck before she was able to catch herself. “I want to save Elessia!”

I never said you didn’t. I said it wasn’t your only wish.

Tears began building behind Frelina’s eyes, and she blinked frantically to rid herself of them, but it was impossible, especially as the voice spoke again.

You fear you will die alone. That you won’t find love or friendship, or experience any of the things you’ve read about. You fear no one aside from your family will ever care for you. You fear that you’ll never feel desire or passion or pain that comes with life.

“Stop it!” Frelina lifted her hands to her ears to shut out the voice, but it only continued booming through her head.

No matter how many walls she slammed up, it broke through every single one as if they were made of feathers that the wind could easily blow away.

You fear that you’ll never get that first kiss. That you’ll never have a man hold you to whisper sweet words into your ear.

“I said stop it,” Frelina cried, tears rushing down her cheeks. “Stop it!”

I’ve seen how you watch your sister and her mate ? —

“Stop,” Frelina begged. “Please… stop.”

Why? You ask yourself these questions each night. Are you too frightened to hear the truth?

An ache spread in Frelina’s head from how hard she pressed her hands against the sides of it, and she shut her eyes, the light flickering over her eyelids pulsating red and black.

She didn’t want to hear this. She didn’t.

Please! Please!

There is no mate for you in Havlands. That much I am allowed to tell you.

Her wails joined the voice now.

“Please,” she continued begging. “Please, please, please.”

I’ve seen a future where you die alone. No parents left in this world. A sister sacrificed. Unloved. Living in fear.

“No. No, no, no!” Frelina fell to her knees, surprised at how painful the mirror was as it slammed into her.

The physical pain sliced through her mind, breaking through the panic.

“No,” she said again. “No.”

She’d always known this. She had never believed she’d get what Elessia had. She didn’t deserve it. Not like her sister did.

The sister they were here for.

A shallow breath made its way into her lungs.

This wasn’t about Frelina. They weren’t here for her. What was happening now… it was a distraction. By the gods who’d cursed her family. By the gods who’d forced her sister to become a pawn in their game.

But they cannot lie, a small voice reminded her.

Frelina’s hands dropped to the floor, landing beside her knees.

It didn’t matter. So she didn’t have a mate?

She had Elessia. She had… friends.

Raine, the stupid, drunk bastard, had somehow become her closest one.

Even Merrick… They understood each other in the way only those who loved someone about to die could understand each other.

You are all alone.

“No!” Her voice didn’t shake this time. “No, I am not.”

Her eyes opened, and she glared at the tear-streaked faces before her.

“I am not alone.”

Frelina’s hands pressed into the cold floor, and she pushed one of her legs to straighten. Then the other one.

“I am not alone.” Frelina repeated the sentence as she got to her feet, as she started walking up to one of the reflections she’d avoided before.

“I am not alone.”

Halting right before it, she lifted a hand and pressed it against the glittering wall.

Her reflection—and the eerie, foreign expression on it—melted away, and she nearly fell forward when the entire wall followed, disappearing as if it had never been there in the first place.

Another sound reached her ears, and it stabbed into her heart like a dagger.

Raine was on the ground, head covered with his hands and knees tucked in close as he screamed, “Don’t do this to me! Don’t do this to me!”

Frelina sprinted up to him, dropping to her knees beside him and grabbing his shoulders. “Raine! It’s not real! It’s not real!”

The Fae warrior’s entire body shook, and something fell from his lap, clinking as it hit the mirrored ground.

That stupid flask.

Frelina hated it so much, but she still picked it up, trying to shove it into Raine’s hand.

“Here!” she urged. “This will help.”

A scream tore from Raine’s throat. One she wished never to hear again.

It wasn’t just pain that fueled it. It was agony, torment, and grief. Grief that she’d had a taste of in his memories, but that now was even more raw because… it wasn’t muddled.

“Th-they took it!” Raine screamed. “They took it!”

Frelina continued to try to give him the flask, and when he still refused, she unscrewed it herself, her nose immediately wrinkling at the harsh stench.

“Drink!” she tried to demand, but he continued to push it away.

“They took it,” he wailed again.

“Took what?” Frelina finally secured the lid, letting the flask tumble to the floor once more. “What did they take, Raine?”

She didn’t recognize his eyes when he looked up at her.

They were…

Clear. Not bloodshot. Not hazy or glassy but… clear.

Understanding pebbled her skin, and she couldn’t help the slight jerk weaving across her shoulders.

“They took it,” he said again, eyes going wild. “I can’t… I can’t do it. You know I… I can’t.”

“The alcohol? Raine, it’s still in there.” She’d smelled it, after all, and there was no mistaking that smell—not even as it mingled with the strange, otherworldly one of this room.

“No!” Raine shook his head so much his red hair flew around it, nearly whipping her own face. “They took m-my ability.”

“They took your magic?” Frelina could feel the color drain from her face.

Could the gods do that?

“No.” Raine’s eyes went unseeing before they shut, his closed eyelids twitching and features pulling as if he was in great pain. “I can’t… I can’t drink it anymore. They took it from m-me. S-said I was wasting… wasting my life.”

Oh.

Oh, fuck.

“Are… are you sure?”

Frelina didn’t know what to say. She’d finally understood earlier today why he had to drown out the memories, why he relied on that flask like a babe did on its mother.

He couldn’t live without the distraction.

Raine didn’t respond.

A low wail, almost a humming sound of pain, echoed around them as he began rocking back and forth.

“Raine!” Frelina shook his shoulders, but he didn’t react. “Raine! You’re scaring me!”

No response, but that soul-crushing sound continued to build within the space, bouncing off the walls, becoming louder and louder.

The mirrors responded to it, and Frelina watched with wide eyes as their reflections began warping, then cracking, and she realized what was happening.

The Fae before her was breaking.