Page 64 of Mother of Death and Dawn

“Our people have managed to build something better than our forefathers. But it is delicate. I am fighting both to protect our home and to make it a stronger one than any civilization that came before it. I cannot think of anyone who deserves a hand in shaping that more than you. I am asking you—not forcing you—to help me. And I will not stop you if you want to walk away. I was wrong to say I would.”

My throat was thick. I had to force the words out. “And once you find these— these magics, then what? What will you do?”

“Even one brings incredible power, though not without its dangers to the wielder. But all three unlocks unlimited possibility. If I were to find them, and find a place where I was capable of wielding them…” His throat bobbed. “I could build a new world for us. One free of the humans and their influence. A place where no one can be victimized by them ever again.”

I thought of my sister’s body, lying on those stairs—such needless death. I thought of Meajqa’s broken smile and his missing wing. I thought of a room of white and white and white and all that had been inflicted upon me there.

I thought of the queen of Ara, and how she was inflicting such pain upon so many other Fey, every day.

“If I help you,” I choked out, “we will put an end to all of it. No one else will suffer like I have suffered.”

“Yes.”

My mind wandered elsewhere, to darker parts of my memory—to the minds I had shared. “Will we kill Tisaanah and Maxantarius?”

After a moment of hesitation, he said, “Perhaps. Yes.”

I did not have a name for the feeling that answer brought me. Was that regret? Uncertainty?

They had abandoned you. Abused you. Used you for their own selfish needs.

But… there had been love in them, too. They had once shared my soul. Even now, I felt that there was a part of me left inside of them and a part of them left inside of me. How much was that worth, though, when weighed against the horrors I had endured? The things Meajqa had endured, and countless others?

It was easy to drown love beneath hatred.

“Will it mean killing the queen of Ara?” I asked.

This time, there was no hesitation. “Yes.”

I cast one final look at the wreckage around me, and the bloodstained dais.

I could not take revenge upon my father for what he stole from me. I could not take it from the hundreds or thousands of humans who had abused me over centuries. I could not scorch their bones.

But here, now, killing the Queen of Ara seemed like enough.

“Yes,” I said.

One word. One word, and it tasted like blood. It tasted like vengeance.

CHAPTERNINETEEN

MAX

Iwas a little surprised that Sella didn’t throw us back out into the street.

But no, she was a proper Aran lady. So instead, she invited us in, quickly arranged a guest room for us, gave us an opportunity to clean up, and informed us that dinner was starting shortly. She was polite, if a bit chilly and—understandably—confused as to why we were here.

I held my tongue until Brayan and I were left alone to clean up.

“This,” I hissed, “was a terrible idea, Brayan.”

“It was better than the alternative.”

I wasn’t sure if that was the case.

He shot me a frown. “Do you even remember Sella? What with your—”

“Of course I remember her.”

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