Page 172 of A Fate of Ice and Lies
“The orb kills whoever destroys it,” I told my mate.
“It must be destroyed,” Alastor argued from behind us.
I was surprised to find him sitting against the stone castle walls, as if it were the walls that kept him upright, his features drawn and eyes distant. He looked so very, very tired, I couldn’t help the pull of sympathy I felt for him.
I took the orb from Elias and walked the few paces toward Alastor, where I stretched out my hand and offered the orb to him.
“Then you destroy it,” I told him. “Did you know it’d kill Elias when you told him to destroy it?”
“I didn’t. I. . .” While he didn’t continue speaking, I heard his thoughts as echoes in my mind. How he hadn’t lived, not truly, for thousands of years. How he’d suffered and gone without at the hands of his sister, who rarely thought to feed or hydrate him as she siphoned his magic and parts of his soul to herself. How his death would be a mercy while also serving to hurt Leanora when she couldn’t continue to use him.
I knelt beside him and took his knobby hand in mine. “You get a chance to live now,” I whispered although I knew fae ears could hear me. “We’re not destroying it,” I continued, when he only stared at the orb. “There has to be another way.”
“She was never here,” Alastor said, his voice distant and eyes hazy. “When I went to grab her, she was nothing more than shadow and smoke.”
Elias shook his head. “I felt her when she touched me, though.”
“Magic can be a traitorous thing.”
“So can ambition.”
I turned to face Elias before I stood back up.
“Alastor and I were able to break the connection between Leanora and the fae in the dungeons,” I said. “Before we go back to the human realm, y’all need to build the shield again to protect your people while we’re not here.”
“The dragons and I will do it without your magic,”Nalari told Elias.
Elias nodded, shuffling from one foot to the other.
While the dragons worked in silence, I said, “I know now the part of your history that was erased and rewritten.”
While I told them what I’d learned about Elias’s family, I kept a watchful eye on my mate. Weighed every fallen and defeated expression that crossed his face. Took in the way he fisted his hands but didn’t object when I took his hand in mine. How he stared at my fingers as I ran them up and down along the lean muscles of his arm, trying to reassure him as I told him of his parents’ and uncle’s betrayal.
Despite the shield they created together, the dragons also listened, and Nalari snarled at certain points. I understood. It was a lot to take in. A lot to muddle through.Years of perpetuated propaganda that Nalari too had endured.
“Blood must spill for our history to be righted,” Alastor said, his back still leaning against the castle walls. “That is the only vengeance they seek.”
“Whose blood?” Elias asked.
“Everyone’s,” Alastor replied, his eyes cast down. “At least that’s what Leanora believes, but she wants to start with yours to make your parents suffer and to keep fate from unraveling. She knows you and Theodora are the only ones who could stop her.”
“She can’t have him,” I argued.
“She can’t have my parents or my people either,” Elias said, taking my hand to lift it to his lips for a quick kiss. “She can’t have Teddy’s realm or any other realm. How can we stop her?”
With a heavy sigh, Alastor closed his eyes and rested the back of his head against the wall. “Destroying the orb is the only way I know.”
“Then . . .” Brenton started.
“No one’s sacrificing themselves,” I said, shooting both Brenton and Alastor angry glares.
“What’s left of my soul. . .” Alastor shook his head. “It’s so small, Theodora, so insignificant. All I feel in its place is this overwhelming sense of nothingness. It’s better for me to die doing something good than live to find out I’m as corrupt as Leanora is.”
“Soul or no soul, you’re going to live,” I said. “You deserve a chance to live and find out what kind of mage you are.”
“If you can die, that means your sister can too, right?” Brenton asked. When Alastor nodded, he continued. “So an old-fashioned dagger to the chest should do it.”
“She’s powerful,” Alastor said, his voice resigned and eyes still downcast. When he closed his eyes, I worried he wouldn’t open them again. They fluttered opened and met mine. “She’s been absorbing and collecting magic for a long time.”
