Page 23

CHAPTER 22

I look past the glowing darkness I am trapped in, and I see her—the woman who dared to invade my space.

We are inside my mind. I don’t know how she did it, but I know she did. She stands before me, small and determined, her hair the colour of fire. Her hands hang at her sides, even as I prowl her way.

“Stop,” she orders. “You cannot hurt me here, so why bother?”

“Why are you doing this?” I shout, hating being trapped. I can feel it both internally and externally, like their chains are on me again, keeping me in the dark as I slowly starve.

She flicks her fingers, and a low light glows around us like she can hear my thoughts. “You are not trapped, not like before. I will never do that, but this is the only way I could stop you from dying. If you can’t be stopped, then you will need to die. I can’t let someone walk around killing innocents. This is your last chance. Either we work together or we both die.”

“Why would you risk your life?” I ask.

“Because I believe you can be saved. I believe that there is someone inside who doesn’t wish to be what they made you into. I believe you are more than this monster, and you were never given the chance to be anything else.”

“You do not know what you speak of,” I retort. How dare she?

She attacked me just like everyone else.

Does she not see I have no choice? If I do not satisfy the monster they created inside me, then the pain becomes unbearable. I do not wish to hurt others. I do not wish to be this .

I did not ask to be created.

Images flare between us, as if projected from her. They are of her, chained to a chair, covered in blood and being tortured.

I stare at the images, my stomach churning.

“You are not the only one who has been hurt by this world,” she says softly. “You just wanted to appease them, to make them proud, didn’t you? You cannot help who you are, though. None of us can. I know pain and betrayal. We are not so different. Yes, I risked my life, hoping you could be different if someone gave you a chance.” She trails off, and the images fade. “My name is Tate. I am a hunter, but some of my closest friends are monsters. I kill, but I always want to save. I seek revenge and blood, but I hate the way it makes me feel. I am neither good nor bad, but something in between.”

“I am evil. They told me so,” I hiss. “It is not worth the risk.”

“We are all evil here. We have all been abandoned, hurt, trapped, and betrayed. Together, we can be more, but it is your choice, not theirs—not this time. What you want to be is your choice.”

I stare at her, wondering if this is another trick, but I can sense the sincerity in the bond tying us together. She doesn’t want to kill me, but she will if she has to. She wants me to trust her. She wants me to be better, and something deep inside me wants that too.

I don’t know if I can endure it—the madness is thick within my mind. I know she senses it, but she doesn’t say anything.

“Name, my name is Addeus. My creators gave it to me. It means?—”

“Halfling,” she finishes and holds out her hand. “Would you like a different name?”

“No, I want to remember what they did to me and where I came from.”

She smiles, and the darkness around us slowly fades until I am back in my body. She smiles in reality. “It’s nice to meet you, Addeus. Welcome to the team.”

I jerk back as a man pops up in front of me, grinning.

“Hi, I’m Tem.”

“Ronan.” A man waves from the back of the room, positioned as far as he can get from us.

“As lovely as this is, how about we get out of this dark, damp place? I have a debt to settle,” the white-haired man remarks.

Tate rolls her eyes and grins at me. “Are you ready to leave this place for good?”

“The portal?—”

“We can break it.” She speaks so confidently, even I believe her. “If you are ready?”

“I’m ready.” I nod, looking around at the place I was born and then trapped. The world above, even in darkness, was beautiful, unlike this place. I don’t know what will happen or where Tate will take me, but if I can taste freedom, even for a moment, then it’s worth it.

I follow her down the corridor, and something strange fills me as I stare at the bones piled there. I was starving after breaking the chains, able to see them in the water above but not taste them until some fell through the portal. I had no choice. Some of them were old and rotting, but I did what I had to.

“You’re feeling shame,” she murmurs. “Don’t. We have all done what we needed to so we could survive.” She glances up at the portal. “We are going to need to blast it to break it.”

“If we do, it will fall, and the link to this place will disappear,” the fae says. “So we better be quick.”

She nods as we gather below the portal, and then she looks to Tem. “Want to do the honours?”

He grins like he’s happy, waving his hand, and then the portal screams and starts to close. Sliding one arm around her waist, I push off from the ground and leap through the opening and into the lake above, powering through it like I have done many times before. This time, though, the portal doesn’t try to suck me back. All I feel is a link to the woman in my arms as I swim up and breach the surface.

She sucks in air and swims to the edge. I simply push from the water and land next to her on the embankment. A moment later, the others follow, and she stands, pulling her legs from the water as we stare at it.

There’s a glow within that grows brighter, yet we don’t look away, and then it explodes before suddenly going dark.

“It’s gone,” Tem says. “The portal is closed. You’re free.”

“Thank you.” The words feel foreign on my tongue, but I know that is the right phrase.

“You’re welcome.” She smiles at me. “Now let’s go dry off and get you some clothes. I might know someone who can help.”

The smile she gives me unnerves me.