Page 119 of In The Dark

Is he lying about the wards? Did he actually know we were in there, or did he only notice my missing memories?

I study him, realizing that I must use every ounce of my training in the brotherhood if I want to get us out alive.

“What do you know, Isa?” Elion grumbles, a bright white power crackling at his fingertips in warning. Only he doesn’t scare me—not anymore.

“Isa,”Rydian says.

A laugh escapes me, a slow smile playing across my face as I step forward. “I know that you’ve been stealing my memories, but I’m ready to step into my role now.”

Within seconds, I wear the mask of the skilled assassin he’s raised me to be, slowly tilting my head up. Locking my gaze with his, I continue to take slow, calculated steps forward. A mask of indifference slides into place as my smile turns cold.

Ezra moves to intervene, but I hold my hand up, fingers outstretched and freezing him in place. Not because he wants to, but because I make him. Fear spreads wide across his face like a wildfire, his feet slowly coming off the ground.

I could end him right here if I wanted to.

My hands burn from the heated surge through my veins, wild and unrestrained, eager to be unleashed. With a ferocious quickness, my body hums with power, and I close the distance, each step calculating. My gaze locks with King Elion when I stop just shy of the dais.

Elion grins, eyes glinting with something between pride and malice. The drumming of his fingers suddenly ceases as he leans forward, watching me with amusement, as though he’s been waiting for this moment.

“And what role is that?” His voice is smooth, dripping with curiosity.

I put it together shortly after speaking with Milena, but it was when she spoke of my mother that I began to question it. The depth of my magic was undeniable with how fast it was coming in despite my essence being siphoned—power strong enough to shake the realms, and I justknew.

I have only seen power like that a handful of times in my life—only royalty is able to obtain such strength.

Only bloodlines chosen by the Fates.

I smirk. “As heir to Elderheim, Father.”

EPILOGUE

TWO WEEKS PRIOR

The moment I grabbed the crystal from King Elion’s desk, a heat of energy surged up my arm, and I knew it was mine.

Yet even after taking it, I couldn’t bring myself to have that conversation with Rydian, knowing he would scold me for being reckless—sneaking back into the archives by myself.

But after a week, I wanted to confront Milena about the relationship my mother had with King Elion in private, believing she had the answers I was searching for.

Like who my father is, because I had the suspicion that it wasn’t King Andre. And King Elion’s physical similarities with me couldn’t be mere coincidence.

Not with the power surging through my veins, humming constantly, begging to be unleashed despite my essence being pulled out. Shifting from a burning heat to an iciness forming at my fingertips.

I only planned on being gone today, having told Rydian I hada mission. And so I Veiled out of my chamber and into the woods first thing this morning.

Crisp leaves fly across the wet ground, forcing me to pull my cloak a little tighter across my chest as I follow Grim further into the trees—leading me to Milena.

The Howler is as terrifying as he is beautiful—dark gray with a white undercoat, fur thick for winter. His haunches reach the tops of my shoulders, making the top of his head near my total height. He makes me feel small.

His bushy tail barely grazes the frozen ground, brushing my ankles as we walk further into the forest. After a few silent minutes, we arrive just outside what looks to be a den made solidly of stone. The ground is covered in a light layer of snow, and I look up. It’s easily as tall as I am, if not a little bigger.

“Milena is inside,”he grumbles.

My brows pinch. Why not just meet in her cottage?

Warm light flickers across the stone and although cold out, it’s surprisingly warm inside. The ground is covered in an array of leaves as the scent of pine and earth fill my nostrils.

Grim steps aside. Milena kneels near a dark ebony-coated Howler as an orb floats above them, as she has just given birth to seven pups.