Page 28 of Crown of Darkness
I can’t hide the truth from him any longer. Not if there’s to be any hope for us.
“Since we’re sharing, there’s something I need to tell you.”
Instant frustration. “Vi, is this really the time?” Roughened hands slide down the curve of my waist. “Because it’s been days since I’ve been inside you.”
“Yes. Yes, it is. Because if I don’t tell you now, then I don’t know if I’ll be able to find the courage again.”
Thiago draws back, staring down at me.
“Do you remember the night of the Queensmoot when I drove my mother back?” The words blurt out of me.
A new sort of wariness enters Thiago’s eyes as if he senses a trap about to spring closed. “Yes.”
I press my cheek into his palm, clasping it there. Desperate for it to stay there. “You thought it was part of the bargain I made with the Mother of Night. That she would loan me her power in order to defeat the curse and throw my mother back.”
“What are you trying to—”
“She broke the curse and that was all.” I press my finger to his lips. Those damning lips that promise to steal my soul. “What if I was to tell you thatIwas the one who threw Mother back? That the power I wielded was… mine.”
Silence.
He’s not even breathing, and I need him to say something. Anything.
“You’re not strong enough.” Quiet words full of denial, as if he senses a glimpse of the truth.
“Not my fae magic, no.”
Shadows sweep across his face, but I stall him again, holding up my left wrist—the one that wears the golden cuff that prevents magic from being able to find me.
“You couldn’t work out why the fetch tried to kidnap me,” I say quickly, “but you knew Angharad was searching for theleanabh an dàn—the child of destiny—in order to sacrifice her to the Horned One.”
“Her?” He catches that tiny slip, because nobody ever said it was a female.
I tip my chin up. “Me.”
He starts shaking his head, and each step back makes my heart curdle a little. “No. No, you’re not—”
“The Morai said it first.” I wrap my arms around myself as he retreats. “They said I would break the world apart and bring about the end of Unseelie. That’s why they attacked me. And the Mother of Night.... That’s why she made a bargain with me. She wants me to set her free. She said my mother slept with one of the Old Ones on Samhain when he was freed for the night, and he spilled his power within her womb. I can feel the Hallows. I can feel the power of the ley lines. I can wield it. I used that power to push my mother back at the Queensmoot.”
And a torrent of magic so bright and burning burst from me, driving her to her knees.
“I am theleanabh an dàn.”
Thiago’s jaw drops.
The truth crashes over him like a tidal wave, and every flicker of it paints his face. Horror. Denial. Then anger. It’s a storm that bruises his eyes, but he cuts right to the heart of my fear. “You’ve known for months. Why didn’t you tell me?”
My heart feels like a small, helpless thing, crushed by a relentless fist.
“You were going to kill theleanabh an dàn,” I whisper, “to prevent Angharad from getting what she wants.”
Thunder darkens his brow. “And you thought I would... That I would….”
“No, of course not!” He wouldn’t hurt me. I know he wouldn’t hurt me. “But….”
“But,what?” Thiago looms closer, his expression incredulous. “You thought I would turn away from you? You thought I would….” He breaks off with a curse, his lip curling in a snarl. “No. I’m not even going to say it. Because it’s such a fucking insult to me. To us. I love you. I’ve told you a thousand times. I will never stop loving you. But when will you believe it?”
“My mother—”
