Page 119 of The Mirror in the Mountain

My fingers dug into the scar on my palm, the familiar feel of it grounding. It was the mark his obsession with me had caused so long ago after finding myself in a trap I had yet to escape.

Steeling my spine, I stared Aviel down, trying not to let him see the effect he had on me. “If you think you’re going to take anything else from me, you are sorely mistaken. This ismybirthright.” It was the first time I had used that term, the first time I had truly claimed it as mine—my mother’s certainty ringing in my words. “Even if it wasn’t, you don’t deserve to live in this realm after all you’ve done to it, let alone rule it.”

My grip tightened on Nightshade as I let my power flow down the sharp edges of my blade, my darkness imbuing every inch of it.

Aviel chuckled cruelly, those pale blue eyes flashing with malice. “That story I told you about my parents was true, you know. When I told you about my mother leaving my father after realizing the true depth of his ambition for this realm. She tried to take me away from him to stop what was already in motion.”

“What happened to her?” I was blatantly stalling as I assessed what to do next. But there wasn’t a crown waiting for me, nor some magical instructions written into the stone. No sign of how to beat Aviel to our shared goal without defeating him first.

He shrugged. “I killed her, but not before she killed him. If she had loved us like I loved her, she would have wanted to find a way to bend the realm to our will right along with us.”

I couldn’t keep the horrified disgust from my face at his complete lack of remorse. Aviel’s perfect lips twitched as he took another step closer. “We’re not so different, you and I. Orphans, outsiders to this realm. Both granted the power to rule it.”

As if he wasn’t the very reason I had been orphaned. Fury pooled from my palms in dark torrents, twisting around me like an asp waiting to strike.

“It was too late for her. Butyou…you’ll learn to bend to my will. Will learn to love me. Youwillbe my queen.” His smile was endlessly cold, those pale eyes flat. “And I will crush everything and everyone in this realm until they all learn to bow to me too.”

The shudder that ran down my body had nothing to do with the coolness of the cave.

“But first…” His face twisted in a frown, annoyance filling his tone. “I’ve been to this lake many times. I don’t understand how this could be the test. The Choosing. Unless…” Those pale eyes fixed on me. “Unless I needyou.”

This was the Source?Something dropped in my stomach at the realization that we only needed to go beneath Morehaven all along. Though perhaps the journey was part of the destination, the drive and determination to reach Adronix a trial in itself.

Aviel stepped toward me, hands still glistening with that blue light. I took an instinctual step back. He drew his sword, smirking at me as his stolen magic streaked down it almost mockingly. I bent my knees, settling into my stance.

He lunged forward almost faster than I could track.

My blade met his from a long, ingrained instinct, connecting with a resounding clang. Embers of magic flew around us from the force of our collision and lingered in the air. Our swords crossed, and my knees began to buckle as Aviel used his height and weight against me, shoving downward just as I swiftly jumped back. He countered my next strike with a low parry, the tip of his blade drawing a line of blood across my upper thigh. With a swift upward slash, I tried to catch him off guard, but he was already there, blocking me. Thwarting each advance with uncanny speed and evident ability.

I jerked my head back as the arc of his sword sliced a red line across my chest, cutting straight through my leathers. The gleam of lust in Aviel’s eyes twisted my stomach as the wound bled into the line of my cleavage now visible through the tear.

With a cry, I threw myself at him. The force of his counterattack was staggering, so powerful I nearly lost my footing as I skidded backwards on the slick rock.Thiswas the warrior who had torn apart the faerie realm. I could barely keep pace with his relentless onslaught despite my training, his centuries of skill all too obvious as I fought to merely hold my ground.

“I have lifetimes on you, darling,” Aviel sneered, reading my mind as our swords met in a clang that I felt down my entire body. “Decades solely spent training my body into a weapon to cleave this realm apart. Years where I pictured this very moment—when I finally receive everything I so richly deserve.”

He smiled as his next thrust forced me back another step, a gasp of pain slipping from my lips.

He’s toying with me,I realized. Wearing me down for his own ends.

I wasn’t going to beat him like this.

Aviel stepped back; his gaze predatory. “Give into me now, and I’ll consider letting youranimalive. If only to give you an incentive to behave.”

Cold rage flooded through me. Darkness coiled under my skin, begging to be fully unleashed. If he took my magic, it would be nearly impossible to stop him. But I didn’t see another way but to try.

Thrusting out my hand, I gave in. My magic shot forward in a blast of pure night—like ink shooting from a well. But Aviel was faster, his blue-tinged light forming a shield in front of him. My magic split to the sides, cracking a stalactite in half.

Before I could try again, he lunged at me. Our swords locked, sparks flying as he bore down, my knees nearly buckling beneath me. I attempted to spin away, but he seized my wrist with his free hand, yanking me back against him.

His grip seared into my skin as my darkness fought against his hold. I gasped as his light wrenched my fingers back one by one, struggling to no avail as my sword fell from my grasp. Aviel kicked it away, the dark glow disappearing from the blade as it clattered uselessly against the rocks behind us.

Shackles of light locked around my wrists as I fought and failed. The pain was nothing compared to having him this close to me. I knew what was at stake if he was able to take my magic from me again, stripping me of my last defense.

Aviel leaned forward, so close his breath brushed my lips. Then he grabbed me by my throat. Kicking out blindly, I only hit empty space as he lifted me off the ground. I struggled for purchase, drawing blood as my nails bit into the flesh of his forearms. His hand only tightened, cutting off my air.

Then all I felt was pain as he pulled my power into himself.

I was being ripped apart from the inside out. My body seized at the onslaught as Aviel tore away at my magic, taking what didn’t belong to him. I couldn’t move, couldn’t fight. Couldn’t even close my eyes as darkness filled them. My vision cut out like the world was coming apart at the seams, my cries echoing throughout the cavern, tearing from my throat as I found myself unable to out-scream the pain.

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