Page 51 of Crown of Chaos

“I murdered you repeatedly, and each morning when we went to the altar to gather your corpse, you were alive. I tolerated sleeping with that monster so that I could collect the power and strength you would provide me through your death. But you were like a parasite that I couldn’t eradicate from my system. That bastard knew that you’d survive, and that one day, you’d return to this place. Why else would he allow me to leave here with you nestled in my womb? It is the only thing that makes sense when I think about it, but I won’t let him have you, Aria. If he thinks he can take what I created, he’s wrong.”

My whole body shook, and I was incapable of speaking past the heaviness of my tongue. Had my sisters known any of that? One look at their anxious, guilt-ridden faces told me they had known. Kinvara was the only one who looked horrified by what was unfolding.

“You guys knew?” I whispered, watching as Sabine lowered her attention to the floor. “Answer me!” I roared, betrayal cracking like lightning inside my veins.

“When you didn’t die, we figured out that you were . . . different, but it didn’t matter. You were one of us, Aria. We didn’t look upon you differently,” Sabine explained, as if that would exonerate them. “It wasn’t like we had a vote, and you? Well, you were nobody but this screaming creature that Aurora needed to consume to safeguard us from Hecate. All we recognized was that your life ending prevented ours from the same outcome.”

I shivered with her confession and then heard Knox’s words echoing them. His cold, deadened tone replayed in my mind. “You think anyone actuallywantedyou, Aria? The only reason you’ve interested anyone is because your body lured us in like a poisonous trap. No one wanted you. We just wanted your pussy.”I’d meant nothing to any of them, and that was a hard pill to swallow.

“So, what? You couldn’t kill me, so you decided you’d turn me into a weapon? You offered me love when I’d only known pain and manipulated me into being willing to do anything for you?Anything.You counted on that, didn’t you?”

“No,” she stated coldly, holding my glare. “I didn’t intend for you to live past your usefulness to me. Freya and I summoned our mother, but I panicked and hid. She warned Freya that she sensed the monstrosity growing in her womb and told her to abort it before it could draw air into its lungs. Then Hecate murdered one babe Freya carried because she hadn’t realized what she’d sensed was inside me and not my sister. I tried to undo what I’d done, but no amount of magic or poison ridded me of you, Aria. You consumed your twin intrauterine, which was my first sign that you were a monster, but it worked out. Hecate killed Amara’s twin, and you had murdered yours. It allowed us to pretend you were hers after we realized you couldn’t be killed. It was never personal, though. Everything I did, I did for the greater good of the Nine Realms,” Aurora explained reasonably, as if she hadn’t just admitted to being a heartless monster.

“And this?” I requested, gesturing to the surrounding people and the celebration. “Is this for that greater good you speak of, too? You can see past the fact that he’s breeding witches and abusing them?” I queried, striding toward him. “Tell me, how many witches have you abducted and raped to breed your own supply of magic and personal use? Or do you just prefer putting that tiny shrivel cock in women who are too ill-kept to argue against you?”

“I don’t answer to dogs,” he grunted. “Heel, bitch.”

I struck before he’d even twitched a finger. His head ricocheted off Aurora’s shoulder, and she lunged forward, striking me promptly with the knife she’d kept hidden until this moment. I wavered, hearing Knox snarl as Kinvara screamed. My body slumped to the ground, and I brought my hands up to the knife, peering at Aurora as she stared down at me. Her head tipped as if she were listening to the weakening heartbeat inside my rib cage.

“She’s weakening enough to be drained,” she murmured in a muffled note.

“What did you do? It’s Aria, Aurora. She’s our fucking blood. What did you do?” Kinvara demanded, slipping to her knees to grab me, shaking my body as the life dimmed from my eyes.

“Swiftly, help me,” Aurora ordered. “If the elements escape her, they’ll return to Hecate! Help me siphon her magic and the life-source from her. I will need your help to secure them and hold them within me until I can figure out what to do to prevent them from returning to my mother.” The girls stepped into position, and I glared at them as best as I could. “Hold her arms and legs now. Cut her ankles and wrists open.”

“It’s Aria, for fuck’s sake! We can’t do this,” Kinvara sobbed as they shoved away her from me so the others could do as Aurora had ordered. “Stop it. Stop!” she howled, ripping at her hair as they began slicing through my limbs to drain me dry.

“What about them?” Tamryn inquired, her expression disturbed and crowded with emotions.

“They die too,” Aurora declared coldly. “Kill them all quickly and then help me.”

Tamryn rose, jerking magic to herself, but before she could deliver it, I raised my palms. My magic blasted her backward and slammed her into a wall so hard that she hit it with a sickening crunch. When she hit the ground, she didn’t move.

Then I stepped from the shadows and clucked my tongue against my teeth. Pushing the hood away from my face, I stared down at the clay version of myself that Aurora was attempting to drain. Aurora, I could see trying to murder me, now. But honestly, the bitches I’d grown up with and spent my life assuming were my sisters? I hadn’t seen that coming and it fucking hurt to watch play out before me.

“Pathetic, really,” I whispered as a gentle clap of laughter escaped. Aurora’s eyes widened in terror as she slowly backed away from me. “I honestly wish you had swallowed—or hell, taken me up your ass, mother. It would have been preferable to being your daughter. Now, let’s have a proper discussion, ladies.” I folded my arms over my chest, scowling at them all pointedly.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Everyone scooted as far awayfrom me as they could get, and Aurora started pulling massive amounts of magic from the traitorous assholes I used to consider sisters. When she lifted her hands and sent it directly toward me, I simply parted my fingers, leaving the three center ones together.

The magic paused in front of me and then slowly entered through my fingertips. Aurora’s horrified stare rounded, and her jaw dropped as she realized that not only had I paused her spell, but I’d also siphoned all her magic without touching her.

The simple fact was that I could suck them all dry without them realizing it had been me.

Knox might be a conduit, but I was the battery that contained the power he needed. During my stay in the library, I’d discovered a lot about witches and what happened when they cross-breed, and that was my favorite new party trick. The first time Esme let me test it, she’d resorted to calling me a freaky name for an hour, but I’d been too exhilarated to care. Esme hadn’t been able to take mine, and the magic I held had sent warnings for her to cease. We’d pushed it, and that had gotten hairy, so we called it a day before my power ended up harming her to protect me.

“You produced me merely to drain my magic.” I stepped toward her as she backed away. My sister’s magic exploded toward me, but I just siphoned that up too before I shoved them backward through the barrier. “I’d have my father’s name.”

“You think he wants you?” she hissed before she started laughing. “I assure you he intends to use you the same as we do, stupid girl. You’re nothing to anyone other than a bomb to be detonated or the scent you create to lure another monster between your thighs. Everyone you know has used you for something, haven’t they?” She shook her head. Malice trickled from her mauve-colored lips, which had pulled back, sneering as her facade shattered and her true feelings became exposed.

“That’s not true,” I replied coldly, but wasn’t it?

“Knox wants you for the power you house. Your scent that Knox can’t seem to get enough of, Aria? Well, I chose your father for more than his inner monsters. He held the perfect combination inside him, and my blood enhanced them ten folds. The magic running through you amplifies that scent and allure to claim you. I wanted what you so I could end Hecate for good. Freya’s daughters? You brought in alphas, and they immensely enjoyed fucking them. You also protected them since your presence warded off predators. Your friends, if you can even really call them such, use you as a shield they can hide behind. You are useful to them, but without your magic, scent, and strength? You’re nothing.”

“And?” I asked, feeling each truth against my heart as if she was ripping it apart.

Her voice lowered and cruel smiled curved over her mouth. “You’re not wanted here. Not anymore. I’ve bargained with the leaders of the Nine Realms, and they’ve agreed to our terms. We have peace and an agreement between leaders. I have excluded you from joining because you are unstable, but worse than that, your power is unpredictable. But also, nobody spoke up for you or in your defense—not even yourhusband. It must sting knowing he’s abandoned you and sought comfort in the arms of another, doesn’t it?”

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