Page 229 of Mother of Death and Dawn

Caduan chuckled. “When I first met you, I never would have thought you would be so foolishly trusting.”

“You know the consequences of the powers we tamper with. It could destroy this world.”

“Then advise them to surrender.”

Clack, as Caduan calmly placed another piece.

CRASH,as Ishqa sent the board smashing to the floor and leapt to his feet.

I tensed.

“This is ridiculous, Caduan,” Ishqa spat. “What will you do when this is over? What will you do when you stand upon a pile of corpses and ash? Will that make you feel better? Will it help Aefe? I warned you once about the intersection of vengeance and victory. You are not looking for victory, you’re looking for vengeance, and nothing you do will ever be—”

“If you want someone to blame, blameyourself.” Caduan rose, too. “None of my people will ever suffer the way that Meajqa did, the way that Aefe.Never again.Someone needs to be willing to—”

Caduan’s body lurched.

He doubled over, his hands pressed flat to the table. And in the same moment, Ishqa leaned closer.

I didn’t wait. I was already coiled. I was already moving.

I lunged onto the balcony. Ishqa gripped Caduan’s shoulder. I caught only a glimpse of his face, his brows furrowed deep, before my body slammed into his. We landed together in a tangle against the railing, my blade already poised at his throat, my magic pulsing at my fingertips. Tiny sprouts of vines grew slowly across his skin.

“Aefe,stop!” Caduan commanded, before I could land my strike.

“Let me kill him,” I snarled. “He was moving for you.”

But Caduan was not even looking at me. He was looking only at Ishqa—and in turn, Ishqa looked only at him, wide-eyed, even as I pinned him.

“Now, I understand,” Ishqa said, almost sadly. “After all this, now I understand.”

For a moment, the whole world balanced on a knife’s edge.

Ishqa murmured, “Does she—?”

“Enough.” A shadow passed over Caduan’s expression. He turned away. “Kill him, Aefe.”

You have waited for this for five hundred years,a voice inside me whispered—and it was only now that I realized that voice was myself, as Reshaye.

I leaned over Ishqa, and at last, his gaze turned to me. His face was the final, dying sight of my old life. And now, mine would be his.

Ihatedhim.

And yet, he looked at me with only resigned sorrow. “I am so—”

His blood sprayed over me. I cut his throat with such force that the blade hit bone. Leaves and flowers grew over his skin, consuming his mouth, his nostrils, piercing those beautiful eyes and smiting them from his face.

My heart was racing, my blood rushing in my ears, my muscles shaking.

I hated him.

I hated him I hated him I hated—

I let out a ragged, wordless cry and pushed Ishqa’s body from the balcony. This person who had dominated my dreams and nightmares was nothing but a limp sack of flesh as he fell to the rocks below.

I rose slowly, shaking with rage and grief and hatred and anguish and, and, and—

Caduan reached for me wordlessly, and I let him pull me into his arms as I wept.

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