Page 53 of Trial of Thorns
“Tell me,” I announce with a stronger voice than I thought possible.
“Well, you’ve certainly grown more of a backbone.”
“My TASK,” I scream, ready to explode.
“Your task, my dear old friend, is to kill him.” Reveln’s face appears before me, boyish and innocent.
I shiver.
“No. Not him,” the voice instructs. “There will be time for that yet to come.”
I turn my attention to the form at the far left of the orb. “Him,” the smoke tickles as it whispers in my ear. And my attention focuses on Reahgan.
His silver eyes are as harsh as I remember, his face full of arrogance and hatred. I remember the feeling of his light holding me down so that I couldn’t move.
I shake my head. No, that isn’t the memory I’m here to face. All I need to know is that Reahgan, the future king of all the fae—is evil. No one else saw it but me.
Kill Reahgan, again. That’s my task.
A dagger appears in my hand, a familiar weight, magic rippling through my body as I grip it. This is the act that forever changed my life.
Movement to my right catches my attention. The young Reveln approaches me, his face crumpled in despair. My mouth falls open as I peer into his silver eyes—so different from his brother’s harsh ones. So different from the Reveln I know now.
He was young and unscarred.
I am the one who scarred him.
I am the one who shifted his life irrevocably and made him live with this pain and anger until it warped him into the person he is now. I often see his brother in his eyes and that, of all the things that hurt, is what kills me the most.
Young Rev, only a year older than me at the time, drops to his knees and begs me not to kill his brother. “Please, Cae.” I shiver at the sound of my name on his lips. “Please don’t hurt my brother. Please don’t do this to me!”
I step forward, tears already streaking down my face. “I have to.”
“Please don’t do this to me!” he screams. “Don’t you know what we could be?”
The blade loosens in my grip, and I nearly drop it. “Yes,” I whisper. Emotion dragging my walls down. I would give anything—anything.
I shake my head from the haze. No, there is no going back. This is who I am now.
“Yes,” I whisper to the sweet Rev, tears covering his soft eyes. I touch his face gently. “I know what I gave up. But that was lost so long ago.”
I shove the blade through Reahgan’s heart.
