Page 57

“Have you considered my offer?” Tiernan asks, tucking a dark crimson rose behind my right ear.

His hand softly traces along my jaw, as he drinks in the sight of me.

There’s such a longing in his features, like a king starved of affection, all the while hoping I’m the cure to his ailing soul.

However, it isn’t my companionship that this atrocious man craves…

It’s what my ability can offer him. I see it—the invidiousness—in the wolfish gleam he fails to hide.

The mania has slowly eaten away at him over the years, devouring him whole. His lust for power overrules any goodness—if there is any—left within him. Aria’s murder is the barest glimpse of his capacity for cruelty, and if I were to offer him my ability freely…

No !

He shall never taste the fruits of what I could bring him. Even if that decision places me in the dungeon for the rest of my days, so be it. I refuse to become as corrupt as him. “Yes, Your Majesty,” I say coolly, backing away from his touch, “and I must decline.”

He quickly grasps my arm, lightly squeezing. “Enlighten me as to why that is, my darling,” he bites out through gritted teeth.

“Do you truly believe that your display of executing that woman at the masquerade would sway me in your favor?” I ask incredulously.

“Her punishment fits the crime of conspiring against my court— against me ,” King Tiernan seethes. “Do you dare claim to support that group of rebels to my face, my darling?”

His eyes glow slightly as a twisted smile crosses the sharp planes of his face.

I jerk my arm from his grasp. “No, I’d never be that injudicious, my king,” I reply sharply.

“I’ve never heard of such a group until that obscene display last night.

However, if that’s how you wish to dole out justice , then I’ve seen quite enough of such punishments to last a lifetime.

So, no, I don’t align with them, but I also can’t help you find your blood gem.

Throw me in the bloody dungeon if that’s what you desire, but I won’t be a pawn in your games. ”

I’m already walking away when his velvet voice stops me in my tracks. “You’d refuse me even if I could bring your family back?” he asks.

I stop, fists clenching at my sides. I can’t move or speak. What he is implying is ludicrous, even for him. No creation can awaken the dead—only Siorai can do such a thing.

The hair on the nape of my neck prickles as his dark presence looms behind me—trailing his hands along my arms. “What’s the matter, my darling?

” he whispers against the crown of my head.

“You miss them, don’t you?” I swallow thickly, refusing to answer.

“Yes,” he continues, breathing in my scent.

“The stench of guilt and shame heavily wafts from you, my darling. It’s such a tragedy for their lives to be destroyed—and some so young.

What were their names again?” He pauses.

My hands tremble as I grit my teeth. “You don’t know their na?—”

“Rolph, Amelia,” he says slowly.

My heart drops.

“Little Fion and Aine,” he continues.

My vision blurs and hot tears sting my cheeks as I recall the memory of their limp bodies.

Their laughs.

Their hugs.

“Maeva and I are going to play dress up,” Aine says excitedly.

“Stop,” I whisper.

“Deidre, Aidan, Cillian,” he continues.

I see Deidre reading and drawing in the parlor.

Aidan and Cillian’s mischievous grins.

I bite my lip in an attempt to stop my quivering chin. As my breaths increase, I feel ill as I try to shake my mind free of the memories.

“Stop,” I plead, louder this time.

My starlight pulses under my skin as the king steps closer. I feel its hum, begging for retribution.

No, Maeva, Saoirse begs. This isn’t the time to be impetuous. He’s provoking you.

I know she speaks truthfully, but my restraint is on the verge of snapping as King Tiernan pushes my hair to the side—his hot breath caresses my ear.

Maeva, my dear, Saoirse pleads, listen to m ? —

“Cara,” he croons.

Cara’s broken body is in my arms as she coughs up blood.

Her hand slowly falls away. “Until Eternity, sister,” she whispers.

“STOP!” I roar as my starlight unleashes, flinging the king across the courtyard.

With a satisfying thud, he lands against one of the decaying hedges.

Pain courses through me as my ability thrums in my chest—awakening me.

My hair floats on a phantom wind, as my body rises off the ground in a blinding luminescence .

So… much… power…

So much rage.

Energy courses through me as the pounding in my ears continues its onslaught.

Searching, I find the king, but he isn’t crumpled on the ground as I’d anticipated.

Rather, he watches me with a keen curiosity, leaning against a hedge.

His golden eyes glow fervently as his shadows coil around his forearms, desiring a tryst perhaps.

I smirk, flexing my fingers as I consider how I could easily kill him and end the suffering of this kingdom. He might’ve survived a strike from my starlight, but could he overpower the full weight of it?

Only one way to find out.

Maeva, stop! Saoirse growls.

I ignore her protest because even she can’t withhold this darkness from me.

Tiernan claps, elated. “Look at you, my darl?—”

“You can’t bring them back from the dead,” I sneer, my voice engulfed in the flames of my anger. My starlight flecks off in all directions around the courtyard. However, he doesn’t cower as I expected.

He laughs half-heartedly. “Oh, but I can,” he coos, “if you retrieve the Crógemma.”

Liar.

My starlight swirls around me like a vortex, readying for an assault that I’m more than willing to launch at the king. “You’re lying,” I seethe.

All it would take is a massive surge and he’d be dust.

I raise my arms, ready to finally end his miserable existence when the soft sound of a woman humming echoes around the courtyard—giving me pause.

A shimmering image emerges out of my peripherals.

I turn my head toward whatever Tiernan manifests to attack me, but I find myself at a loss for words.

My hands drop to my sides as Cara walks toward me, donning one of her favorite dresses.

She is humming one of the songs from the ball.

Her amber hair is thrown into a high ponytail, cascading down her back.

She looks exactly as she did in my room the night before, but in the daylight, she seems almost reflective.

This has to be a trick.

I look at the king, and his amber eyes are no longer glowing.

It’s not a deception.

Cara’s spirit is here.

As the fight leaves my body, I slowly lower to the ground, my hand reaching out toward her.

“Cara?” I whisper.

Her lips part to reveal her brilliantly beautiful smile.

“You can bring us back, Maeva,” Cara’s spirit says.

My face feels hot as I run to her, but she vaporizes into nothing.

“No!” I gasp.

“There’s one of my favorite girls,” Rolph’s voice says from behind me.

I spin, looking to the opposite side of the courtyard, and there he is, arms outstretched toward me.

“Papa!” I yell, racing toward him, but he too vanishes before I arrive.

“You can save us, my Darling Flower,” Amelia’s voice calls from my left.

I only see a glimpse of her before she vanishes and is replaced by Aidan and Cillian.

“Bring us home,” they say in unison.

“I-I don’t know how,” I cry.

“Yes, you do,” Deidre says from behind me.

I turn to find her standing near the king.

“The Crógemma can bring us back,” she continues.

“I love you, Maeva,” Fion’s tiny voice calls from beside me.

I look down to see that beautiful little boy smiling up at me. I reach for him, but he’s gone in an instant, just like the others.

“We were supposed to play dress up, Maeva,” Aine cries.

I spin again, looking into the glossy eyes of a heartbroken little girl. She’s huddled in a corner, rocking her small body back and forth. I drop to my knees, crawling toward her. “I know,” I cry. “I’m so sorry, Aine. I-I didn’t know.”

She sniffles, and my heart shatters. “You can save us,” she cries as she vanishes.

“How?” I yell, looking around frantically at the courtyard. “Please tell me how.”

“The Crógemma,” Cara says as she materializes again, standing above me.

“It’s the only way, my sister. Tiernan can use it to call us back home.

” I reach for the shimmering spirit, but she moves outside of my reach.

“Get the blood gem, awaken the Na Fírèin, and bring us home,” she coos. “We can be a family again.”

Then she’s gone.

“No,” my voice rasps out as I strike the cobblestone where she stood moments before. “Come back. Please.”

I scramble, searching for any signs of their spirits, but the courtyard is vacant except for me and the king. My body slumps as guttural sobs rattle in my chest. I scrub a trembling hand down my face as the guilt drowns me in its sweeping undertow.

How could their spirits be here?

They aren’t real, Maeva, Saoirse interjects.

I just saw them, I snap. Emyr said that souls could get trapped here if they were cursed… What if Siorai cursed them because of me?

Siorai wouldn’t do that to them, Maeva, she growls.

You don’t know that, I cry. How could you? You’re just a voice in my head, and the god of the realm hasn’t spoken in years.

Saoirse is silent before finally replying. You’re distressed, which has caused your judgment to become cloudy at best. You must think rationally. They wouldn’t desire for you to be wrapped up in this business with the king—even if it could bring them back.

My nostrils flare.

They’re dead, Saoirse, I reply, my voice monotone.

Suddenly, a heap of stones for a wall appears in my mind between the space of her voice and my own.

My dear, I ? —

They’re dead because of me, I interrupt, laying the stones in rapid succession. And if they’re cursed here because of it…

I lay more stones before continuing. I’ll save them, and you can’t stop me. I’ll storm the gates of the Abyss before I allow them to have this fate.

I quicken my pace to finish the wall that I’m constructing between us.

Maev—

I don’t hear anything else as I place the last stone.

All is silent in my mind once more.

Saoirse’s advice has only ever led me into more danger and trouble than I desired. I had a happy life in Aurelius before any of this started, and I won’t allow her to sway me from desiring to have it back.

Breathe in. Breathe out. In. Out.

Footsteps approach me as the trembling in my body ceases. The dark boots of the king stop just inches away from me.

“Can you really bring them back with the Crógemma?” I inquire sharply.

His soft hand brushes along the top of my head. “I can, my darling… with the help of the Crógemma and the Na Fíréin,” he coaxes. “However, I’m unable to retrieve it without you. If you do this, I’ll bring them back and allow you to live out your days in Aurelius… in peace.”

As I lift my gaze to the king, the hand that was on my head is now extended toward me. I bite the inside of my cheek in contemplation. If accept his hand, there’s no coming back from this decision.

“Will you accept this request, my darling?” Tiernan asks, gaze searching.

I sigh, reaching for his hand. It immediately engulfs mine as he helps me stand.

“I accept,” I reply.

An exuberant smile slices across his features, and he whistles for Domhnall. The strange creature appears in the blink of an eye. “My darling has agreed to the quest,” King Tiernan says to the Scythe. “Bring in the High General and the Cadre. We have much to discuss. ”

The creature nods, raising its strange hands.

Immediately, there’s a shift in the air around us as the wards around the courtyard fall. Emyr and the others are standing near the entrance, watching it attentively. “Shall we?” King Tiernan asks, offering me his arm.

I hesitate for only a moment, afraid that I made the wrong choice.

If this is the only path to bring back my family, then so be it.

So I nod, curling my hand around King Tiernan’s bicep as we walk forward…

Sealing my fate with the Demon King of Zulgalros.