Page 219 of A Fate in Flames

The weight of his words settled over me like a shroud.

“They promised her my power, and she believed them.”He laughed bitterly.“Expected them to simply hand over what they had stolen.But the Wielders never intended to honour their bargain.They used her, and then… they betrayed her.They cast one final enchantment, sealing my power beyond even her reach.”

“They betrayed her?”

“Of course they did.”His smile held no warmth, only cruel satisfaction.“She was a fool to think they would simply hand it over.They knew what she would do—that she would seek to claim it for herself.”

He paused, savouring the memory like fine wine.

“She came crawling back.Desperate.Furious.Begging for my forgiveness.Swearing it had all been a terrible mistake.”

I lifted my head, meeting his gaze as my own impending betrayal tormented my mind.

“What did you do?”

Something flickered behind his eyes.

“I let her go.”

I sat up abruptly, pulling the sheets to my chest.

“You just… let her leave?”

He let out a low, dark chuckle.

“No.I stripped her of everything—her titles, her standing, the power she held within my dominion, then I cast her out.I made certain she would suffer, wandering—grasping for something she would never find.”

His expression sobered, his voice dipping into something quieter, deadlier.

“But she never stopped searching.Never stopped scheming.”

His fingers went completely still against my skin.Suddenly the air in the room felt too thin.

“And now, after all this time… she has found another way to take what she wants.”

My stomach plummeted into freefall, something ice-cold slithering down my spine.

“I knew.”

My pulse thundered so loud it drowned out thought itself.

“Knew what?”

Dalkhan’s gaze never wavered, his expression unreadable.

“That you were sent by her.”

My body went cold—the air fled my lungs.

Dalkhan resumed tracing slow lines down my arm, his touch featherlight as he relished how I’d gone rigid.

“Did you truly think you fooled me, Elira?”

“I—” The words turned to ash in my mouth.“You knew.All this this time, you knew…”

His eyes gleamed with dark satisfaction.

“Of course I did.I know all.”