Page 19 of Inheritance
It gave me immense pleasure to wind my hand up and firmly smack him in the face, shattering this moment between us. His head reared back, and his eyes flew open, still glowing a deep red as he growled at me.
Dropping my legs from around his waist, I slammed my palms into his chest to get him to let go of me. "This isn't done," he said possessively as his hands still firmly held me up on him and against this wall. I had no physical advantage.
But I did have my sharp tongue.
"I got what I needed. You can see yourself out now," I said with a cold bite to my words.
"Fine," he agreed, dropping me to the ground and snapping his fingers.
Instantly, my powers were contained within whatever lock he managed to keep on them as he grinned at me.
Had he seriously learned nothing from our conversations?
I lifted my chin as I asked in a steady voice that didn't portray how fast my heart was still beating from that heated interaction, "You do realize the only point you're proving right now is mine, right?"
His eyes narrowed to slits as I smiled a sickeningly sweet fake grin. "A child and his tantrums, once again."
"You used me. Don't act all high and mighty," he quipped back.
A chuckle bubbled out of me, and he looked at me like I'd lost my mind.
"The difference is that I used you to possibly have the chance to go be with the people I care for and to save a kingdom from tyranny."
Walking up to him, I shoved a finger into his chest sharply, "You use me to try to fulfill your own selfish desires. We are not the same."
If looks could kill, I'd be dead right now from the enraged expression on his face.
His fists clenched at his side as he breathed deep, shallow breaths that came out like ragged pants before he turned on his heel and left, slamming the door behind him as he did.
Inhaling deeply, I let out my breath slowly as I walked to the light switch and turned it off. Padding back over to my bed, I slipped under the covers and gazed out into the sky. I needed to get out of here while I was full from that feeding—and before he could steal my powers from me completely once more.
Tomorrow, I'd actually attempt to break this lock on my powers and escape. No more hoping that he would see reason and actually be a decent person, deep down.
No, Luce was officially dead to me.
CHAPTER NINE
Colt
My entire life had been spent training to lead a House. I’d trained with the military and even had combat experience, but I could have never predicted that I would be playing such a vital role in an active war.
The Kingdom of Pura hadn’t been part of any large military efforts in my lifetime, so the most I’d ever expected to face was civil unrest. No one could have prepared for this, and it should have made me uncomfortable, even scared. Yet, as we continued forward on horseback, the dawn sun to our east, I felt calm wash over me.
I knew how to call for my house, and I knew they would respond. There were a lot of things I had come to learn to doubt recently, the revelation of hard truths making me realize the world was different than I’d assumed, but I knew where my house stood. I would call them, and they could come to aid our efforts to save the Kingdom of Pura. Jace’s words hadn’t been wrong: this moment was fundamental to the future of our realm. Everything relied upon our coming together as one.
Ahead of us stood the barrier between our forces and Obumbratio. The entire wall of energy was clearly crafted from Dark Elf magic, the surface seeming to constantly fluctuate between purple and silver. It was oddly beautiful; despite the danger I knew it represented. The danger the entire House of Runes represented to us...outside of Finias.
I had to admit that, despite our difficult start, I’d come to respect Finias. As we rode next to one another, I even found myself concerned about the shadow that seemed to cross his features as he examined the barrier. I didn’t know the full extent of what he had gone through, but we had all borne witness to the scars on his skin, so I knew it must have been bad. More than bad.
While it was uncomfortable to accept that cruelty and pain were part of what had formed Finias into who he was, his ability to talk about it made me respect him. Instead of making excuses for himself, he had embraced who he was, and it made me proud to call him a friend...even if he still wanted to kill me. Hopefully, Ama could dissuade him from that one. I quite liked being alive.
I wouldn’t lie though, his story served as a stark reminder that, while my parents and I had our differences, at the end of the day they had truly tried their best to prepare me for this world. I wasn’t certain why, but my mind immediately jumped to the idea of having my own children and the fact that, if I ever did, I would try my best to replicate aspects of my parents’ behavior. Not all of it—they hadn’t been perfect, and they had put an insane amount of pressure on me, but the way they had taught me to lead and take care of my family were things I would never forget.
“Are you going to be okay?” I asked Finias. Ahead, Jace and the others rode slightly behind Pandora and her lieutenants. We came to a stop about one hundred feet or so from the barrier before Finias answered as we dismounted our horses.
“Am I okay?” Finias asked, looking somewhat amused. “No. No, Colt, I won’t be okay until we have Ama back. Until my parents are fucking dead. Then, I might be a bit more ‘okay.’”
It didn’t surprise me that he wanted his parents dead, but it did surprise me the ease with which he admitted that was his intention. It was clear how much he hated them.
