Page 14 of Fortune Fae Academy

An Alpha ruled.

A Beta adored.

An Omega submitted.

But Roderik, he didn’t just seek to rule. He wanted toconsume. His greed was what drove him and his desire to have more than anyone else.

My mind argued that Axel had also overstepped his role. He certainly didn’t act like Rowan or me as another Beta.

He had turned himself into an Alpha and upset the natural order, but that hadn’t made him go insane.

If anything, it had made him better. He had never fit into his role as a Beta, so he had made one for himself.

And his new role fit him like a glove.

Given the unique circumstances of our mate-circle, perhaps Axel was exactly what he was meant to be.

Roderik wasn’t like Axel, I decided. Even though the Regional Alpha was going against the natural order of things by taking multiple Omegas, perhaps that wasn’t what had corrupted him. As unsavory as that was, I sensed something else had defiled his spirit.

Because I could see the truth of him now that I could really analyze him. The screen that displayed my Omega offered me nothing, so I would glean what I could from the Alphas in this room.

It was faint, but the more I focused, the better I could make out what was different about his Dust signature.

A thousand loose strands hung from him like nooses on the end of an executioner’s tree.

It was obvious to me now that I could see the truth.

One of the illegal activities against the Web was to kill for Dust. Looking at Roderik, I imagined this was why the practice was considered taboo.

He had taken all of those prematurely severed timelines and wrapped his soul with them until they had strangled anything that had once held compassion or logical reasoning.

He only existed for his ambitions and nothing else mattered. No cost was too high. No line too deep to cross.

“Shard…” Roderik said as he rubbed his chin. “There’s an old story about it that my mother used to sing to me. How did it go?”

Amell recited it with ease. As an ancient Elder, he’d probably written the verses a thousand years ago just for the sake of reiterating them now.

“Beware the Shard, little Faeling. Beware the sharp edges that cut and slice.

Its power is fearful.

Its ruin will be great.

For the Thousand-Year Curse is bound to its fate.

Don’t look at its light. Run with all your might.

Beware the Shard, little Faeling. Beware the sharp edges that cut and slice.

Because if you hold it in your tiny hands, you will lose more than your fingers.

You will lose your soul.

And the future we could have had? We’ll never, ever know.”

The Web shimmered with Amell’s words. It wasn’t just a silly song, one that even I had heard in my youth.

It was a prophecy.