Page 242 of Children of Fallen Gods

I felt an expression twitch in the muscles of my face — a sneer at my lip. “I am not like you. I will not leave behind the people of mine that the humans have stolen. And I will not leave her.”

“Aefe is gone, Caduan. She has been gone for centuries. This thing is not her.”

“It’s more convenient to believe that,” my voice said. “But I have had enough of leaving my blood behind. The humans have proven who they are. They have proven that they will never stop.”

“You are trying to cure yourloneliness.”

“I am trying to right the wrongs thatyouhave brought upon our people.” Anger flooded me, and I could feel the king’s grip on me weakening, as if knocked off-kilter by the sheer force of his own rage. He whirled to Ishqa, my feet pacing forward. “Perhaps to you it was always worth sacrificing some meaningless lives in the name of your petty political games. But that is not the world I have built. Our people deserve to know thatany oneof their lives are worth burning down humanity.”

“You want her because of what she is. Because of the power she offers.”

“I am notyou,” I spat.

And there was no time to think, no time to move, as I whirled around, pressed my hand to Tisaanah’s temple, and, in one violent burst, ripped Reshaye out of her mind.

Tisaanah screamed. Her knees buckled. The pain overtook me, too — overtook even the presence within my mind. The power it had taken to do that exhausted all of us.

There it was. An opening. Seconds. Not even.

I had no time to think. I dove for it.

My magic roared past his. Every flame in the Scar suddenly brightened, like the sun had emerged from behind a cloud.

I slid my hand over the blade still clutched in Tisaanah’s shaking hand, then pried it from her grasp and did the same to hers. Her head lolled, then weakly lifted to look at me. She was bleeding magic, bleeding life. But her eyes told me she knew what I was asking her to do.

Her eyes widened. “No.”

“Cut it out,” I choked out.

She shook her head. “No.”

I felt the presence within me collect itself. Start to rise, start to reach for power again.

We had no time to argue. I pressed my palm to hers, our blood smearing together.

“Do it, Tisaanah. Take my magic and do it.”

Her eyes glistened with tears, reflecting flecks of fire. My fingers closed around her hand, knuckles whitened.

“Now,” I choked out.

Just as I felt the fey king diving for the connection between us again.

Just as Tisaanah pressed her other hand to my cheek and whispered, “He got the parrot to match the coat.”

If I had control over my own body, I would have thrown back my head and laughed.Who the fuck even does that?

Tisaanah’s mouth formed, “I love you.”

The passageway opened between us.

And I gave her all of it. All of my magic.

Chapter Eighty-Five

Tisaanah

It happened so quickly.

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