Page 198 of A Crown of Tears and Treason
He recoiled as if I’d slapped him. My anger was a living, pulsing being, radiating off me.
Good. It hid the devastation lurking underneath, threatening to consume me.
Please, he whispered in my mind and I fought so hard to ignore what I heard in that formless voice–desperation. He could have just as well kneeled, begging for my forgiveness.Tell me how to fix this. Tell me what you want me to do.
“Get out.” My fingers dug painfully into my scalp, as if I could somehow claw into my head and dig him out. I bent at the waist from the strain of trying to shove him away from my mind. Sever this wretched bond that only seemed to glow brighter the harder I tried to cut it.
“I will do my absolute best to dampen my thoughts from you.” He raised his open palms, as if dealing with an unruly, scared animal. He was wrong. A beast lurked beneath my skin, just like the tattooed one on his back, and it wanted to be free of the confines that had shackled it.
The stitches on my power were coming loose, burning and wanting to scorch. Something. Someone.Him. To do something to stop this pain from swallowing me whole.
“Get. Out,” I hissed. “Out of my mind, out of my house, out of my life. You aren’t welcome in any of them from now on.”
Even as I spoke the words, a part of me fractured more. The part that was wailing in distress, like it had been mortallywounded, begging me to rush into Zandyr’s arms and let him explain anything and everything.
Zandyr’s shoulders slumped. I’d never seen him look utterly defeated.
“Evie,” he whispered.
That word. That one word undid me.
My power blasted out of me, tendrils shooting down my arms.
“Get the fuck out,” I said in a deadly whisper that suited me just fine. “Before I burn this house down with both of us in it, for all of Malhaven to see. Adriana Vegheara poisoned her husband for a lesser offense. Donotthink my threat is empty, Dragon. Remember, I don’t fear death.”
Not mine, at least.
Death would stop this chasm of sorrow. The pain, the absolute horror my heart had to endure could vanish. One flick of my wrist and it would all stop.
Zandyr must’ve seen the truth. Heard it, sensed it, I didn’t give a shit. Because his eyes widened with fear. Not for him and his miserable life, but for mine. That I might actually do something to hurt myself if he didn’t listen.
“As you command.” With a swift bow, he backed away toward the door, eyes not leaving me for a breath, as if he was afraid I might truly vanish from him if he dared blink.
At the threshold, he stopped. The muscles in his jaw and neck twitched.
“I am sorry. I hope one day, I will be able to prove to you just how much. And to tell you everything,” was all he said before he disappeared.
As I sucked in air, the blue tendrils vanished.
I swayed on the spot, my stomach threatening to spill onto my dress. This mockery of a dress that suffocated me.
“Leesa!” I roared.
I yanked the russet crown off my head, ripping hair and pins along with it, and threw it to the floor with all my might.
It only clanked and bounced underneath the bed, as if taunting me with its resilience.
Leesa rushed through the door, eyes red and brimming with tears. “Yes, Your Grace? What can I do? How can I help?”
“Help me get this dress off,” I whispered hoarsely, as if I’d been shouting all day. Inside, I had been.
“Your Grace, I can’t,” Leesa whimpered. “Tradition says that only the prince–”
“I don’t care.” Fucking traditions and fucking rules. I was drowning in this fabric, it burned my skin. “I want it off.”
“Please.” Leesa kneeled, fresh tears flowing down her beautiful cheeks. “Let me get the prince, he’ll be happy to–”
“Very well then.” I flicked the switchblade open. My one true companion.
