Page 102 of Realm of Wind and Vines
For a while, we just remain like that.
With my cheek pressed to his firm chest, I listen to the steady beat of his heart.
The wild passion through the mate bond has simmered down to a steady flow of love. It fills me like a warm sparkling sea.
But to my surprise, that dark rage and hatred inside me doesn’t disappear. They remain there inside my soul, thrashing about like the merciless waves of an endless, storm-plagued ocean.
Even though Draven is back, I still can’t return to who I was before I stood there on the plains outside the Unseelie Court and threw open the massive gates to all the rage and hatred inside me.
I suppose it makes sense, though. Because it wasn’t just about losing Draven. It was decades, centuries, of being treated like crap. A hundred and sixty-seven years of hunger and pain and humiliation at the hands of dragon shifters and fae alike. An entire life of being distrusted, punished for crimes I haven’t committed, and blamed for all the wrongs of this world even though I am not responsible for them.
Losing Draven wasn’t the cause. It was the final drop in a massive dam that has been ready to burst for decades. The final drop that at long last shattered the walls. And now, the walls are broken. The flood is already out, crashing over the world and sweeping away everything in its path. It’s too late to put it back behind the walls again.
The sound of my dad’s final gasp echoes through my head and the sight of my mom lying in a pool of her own blood that has turned half of her silver hair red flashes before my eyes.
That black rage and hatred inside me roars like a crashing thunderstorm.
No, there is no stopping the flood now. I am no longer the person I used to be. The Selena Hale who left the Seelie Court last year, ignorant like a child and so full of hope, is dead and gone.
Panic and dread suddenly stab through my chest.
The Selena Hale that Draven fell in love with is gone.
Pulling him tighter against me, I drag in an unsteady breath while my heart starts thundering in my chest.
“What’s wrong?” Draven asks.
My heart almost breaks all over again. He could feel the moment I tensed up. Of course he could. He sees me, all of me, in a way that no one ever has before.
“I, uhm…” I begin hesitantly. “I’m not… the same. As I was before.” Clearing my throat, I try to compose myself enough to speak in complete sentences. “What I said in Orion’s dining room before we left… I meant it. I don’t want justice anymore. I want revenge. I don’t care who I hurt. I just want revenge.” Anger creeps into my voice, making it hard and sharp like a blade. “I want my fucking revenge!” My chest heaves, and I drag in an unsteady breath as that flicker of dread hits me again. I swallow. “So I’m not the person you fell in love with anymore.”
He slides his hand up to my jaw again and cups my cheek. Edging back slightly so that he can see me, he tilts my head back until I meet his gaze again. His eyes are dead serious as he locks them on me.
“You want to destroy the world? I’ll help you burn it down. You want to kill everyone? I’ll help you slit their throats. There isnothingyou can do that would make me stop loving you. I love you, little rebel. All of you.”
My heart stutters, and I drag in another unsteady breath as I gaze up into his serious eyes. “Even the really fucked up parts?”
“Especially the really fucked up parts.” He gives me a knowing look. “Because I have them too.”
A short laugh full of relief and gratitude escapes my lips. With his hand still on my jaw, keeping my head tilted back, he leans down and steals that laugh from my mouth with a possessive kiss.
When he draws back and meets my gaze again, his eyes burn like golden flames. He flashes me a devilish smile.
“You wanna be villains? Let’s go be fucking villains.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
When the Dryad Queen told us to follow the lights, she apparently meant those glowing golden orbs that float between the trees. After putting our clothes back on, Draven and I found a trail of those shimmering spheres running straight into the forest in one direction. I glance at them as we follow them towards where I’m assuming the Dryad Queen is waiting for us.
The small balls seem to almost pulse, making me wonder if they’re actually some kind of living creature rather than a product of magic. It’s hard to tell, though, since my knowledge of the dryads and the strange woods they live in is incredibly limited.
We walk for a surprisingly long time before we finally see a group of people standing inside a large ring of those floating orbs. Lyra is inspecting a glowing sphere next to her. There is a smile on her face as she watches it. From across their loose circle, Alistair watchesher.
Galen is pacing back and forth, trampling the soft grass underneath his boots, while Orion simply stands there with his back straight, looking effortlessly regal and unbothered. A fewsteps away, Isera is leaning her back against a tree, her arms crossed over her chest.
All of them turn their heads to look at us when we come into view.
Relief washes across Galen’s face. “You’re okay.”
