Page 9 of Foretold

“So your son is okay after his fall, then?” I ask, watching hisreaction closely.

Black eyes widen slightly, the only tell that I’ve taken him by surprise. He didn’t know. It looks like Vera has been a sneaky, scheming bitch, but I’m still glad she told me the truth, even if she did it to hurt me.

And hurt me, it did.

Rave steps forward, reaching out to me. “Yes, he’s fine. Astrid, I can explain.”

“Let me tell you why I left, Prince. Vera came to me asking me for help with her injured child. I went to help…” I trail off, letting him suffer. He swallows, this throat bobbing. “And the child looked just like you. I tried to heal him, I did, but it didn’t work. And then your ex started crying and screaming, saying that I killed your heir, which I’m assuming wasn’t true either.”

It starts to rain, thunder and lightning hitting the dark sky, almost as if reflecting my mood.

“Astrid—”

“Vale is a void, Princess,” Soren says, speaking up. “He can’t be healed… that’s why it didn’t work.”

Rave’s son is a void?

Motherfucker.

No magic works on people who are voids. They are basically a place where magic goes to die.

She set me up.

She knew I couldn’t help him, and then what? She got him to pretend he was dead? Was the kid in on it too? Or was he genuinely that injured?

She took advantage of her child and used him to play her games—I’ve never hated anyone more.

I know Rave can feel my emotions through the bond, and he momentarily closes his eyes.

It fucking hurts.

He’s betrayed me, and it’s worse than physical pain.

The temperature in the air suddenly drops.

“What a great mother you picked for your heir,” I comment, trying to keep my tone even. I’m proud when my voice comes out strong and doesn’t crack. “She used your child in her manipulation to hurt me and think I…fucking didn’t save him!” My eyes then go to Soren, who flinches at what he sees in my expression. “And you all knew,” I say in a quieter tone. I then look at Elios, who keeps his eyes down, unable to look me in the eye.

“I didn’t know she did that,” Rave grits out, shadows now rising from the ground, swirling around his legs like a protective barrier. He’s on edge, and I know it. Soren and Elios shift nervously around him. He could erupt at any moment, and I know he could destroy all of us if he wanted to. He’s more than capable.

“I’m sorry, Astrid. I should have told you the truth. I just—”

“The time for explanations is over,” I state, cutting him off. Others might fear the Prince of Shadows, but I do not. I’m just as powerful as he is. And I know he would never physically hurt me. “I’m not coming back with you. Leave now. If I want to see you, I’ll visit. Go back to your family, Rave. Because it’s not me.”

Panic flashes in his eyes, which bleed from black to blue. A sign his control is slipping. “You’re my mate. We will get through this. There’s no running from this, Princess.”

“Yes, I am a princess,” I murmur, looking him dead in the eye. “But I’m no longer yours.”

Lightning strikes once more, and my father tells Bane to control himself. I turn to him and notice the magic sizzling from his hands and the anger in his now amber eyes, and it hits me—the weather isn’t reflecting my mood, it’s reflecting his. Bane has weather magic.

I step back so I’m lined up with August and Bane, my brothers and father at my back. August reaches out and touches my arm,offering comfort.

“Get your fucking hand off her!” Rave snarls, lifting his palms as sparks of his shadows fire through the air, gripping hold of August and picking him up by the throat.

His eyes never leave mine as he silently orders his darkness to choke the life out of my best friend.

“I’ve protected her since she was a child. You’ve known her for ten fucking seconds,” August chokes out, still pushing him.

“Rave, stop!” I yell.

---