Page 47 of To Crave Truly

Tears burned the backs of my eyes as I pictured my mother, in the same state as me right now, begging for my life to be spared.

Fingers gripped my chin, his nails digging into my fractured cheek, causing me to cry out in pain.

“And do you know what I said to her?” His voice was gleeful. Manic. “I said that I was going to make you turn out just like me. And then I slit her throat.”

Something inside me snapped.

Broke.

I roared as all the hate and fear and anger fuelled the absolute rage that burnt my veins. Power exploded from me, like a sonic boom destroying everything around me. My father was flung clean across the room, landing in a heap right where his desk used to be. That piece of furniture was in bits, scattered across the floor.

I slammed the power of the wind down on him, delighting in the audible snap as the pressure cracked a couple of his ribs. His eyes widened and his skin paled as he tried to breathe through the pain. He wasn’t fucking laughing now, was he?

I was so angry. All the years of pain and hatred flew to the surface, and I wanted to give that to him tenfold. But there wasn’t anything I could physically do to him that would really make him suffer.

But I could take away everything that he loved.

“What was it you always said to me, ‘beware the consequences of ignorance and stupidity’. Well, maybe you should practice what you fucking preach. You have no idea who I am or what I am capable of. I could easily squash you, like the pathetic worm you are, and there is nothing you could do to stop me.”

“You’ll regret this.”

“No, father. I don’t think I will.”

“Fenris…”

I knelt down and brought my face close to his. “I’m going to take it all.”

I wrapped my fingers around the ring on his finger, the one that marked him as the Arch Mage of the Arcane Forum.

“No,” he whispered, finally understanding.

“And you’re going to watch, knowing there’s not a single thing you can do to stop me.” I pulled the ring from his finger and sensed his magic desert him. The magic turned its back on him, and I almost felt sorry for him.

Almost.

I slipped the ring onto my finger, watching as it resized itself to fit me. A feeling of wonder washed over me, and I finally felt free. Free of my father, of the burdens of my past. Free of the hatred of him and, as I looked down at him, I realised that I felt nothing for him. Not a single fucking thing.

“Goodbye, father. This is the last time you’ll see me. You are hereby banished.”

“No!” he screamed, but I didn’t care. I turned my back on him and walked out of the library with my head held high.

“Master Crowe,” Gideon gasped. I almost chuckled. Trust my near death to be the thing to finally get some kind of expression out of him.

“Gideon, get everyone out of the building. Now.”

There must have been something on my face because I got no argument. He scuttled off and I walked out the front door. Within five minutes everyone was stood on the lawn in front of the house. Apart from my father, who was a weeping crumpled mess.

I opened my palm and created a ball of fire. Then I hurled it at the house, and I burnt it to the fucking ground.

Chapter Twenty

Lori

Ihadn’t been in the mountain since I’d first arrived at the Conclave with Jasper. They had some extra holding cells in here and I’d found myself waking up in one after I’d invaded Jasper’s mind and almost killed him.

My heart sunk as I thought about him. I hoped he was okay and not doing anything that would piss Mordecai off. I needed him to live. I don’t think I could bare it if—

Nope. I wasn’t going there. I was focussing on the task at hand. Stealing the lapis lunae and betraying all my friends.

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