Page 122 of The Mirror in the Mountain

No.

A shockwave of magic burst from my broken dagger, bits of darkness mixing with the blue. I stumbled back, taking the blade with me as I stared at the oval hole where my salvation once lived, Aviel’s blood dripping down into its ruined, melted pommel.

I didn’t have time to regroup. Aviel sprang forward, and I twisted away too late. Shock and blood loss made my movements sloppy. His fist drove directly into the wound on mystomach, the edges of my vision blurring as pain threatened to pull me under.

My back hit the rock. Then Aviel pinned me to the ground in an echo of my worst nightmares.

I couldn’t help my strangled cry as a slither of his magic came to take the last of my power a second time. My lungs protested; the taste of blood filled my mouth.

Numb acceptance consumed me as I looked down on myself as if from far away. Like I was watching someone else struggle, her options dwindling into one—and one alone.

Because I knew what I had to do before Aviel could succeed. What I had known all along since that moment in the dark woods by that faerie mound.

There had never been a chance that I would survive this. Even with the magic of the realm on my side, Aviel had stolen too much of the same power for me to wield it successfully against him. And if he reached the crown first…

We would lose.

For a heartbeat, I saw that future I had once dreamed of—my future with Bash, and the life we would have lived together. All those things I so desperately wanted to experience with him. Exploring the realm, rebuilding it with our friends by our side. Getting to know the kingdom I had been born into. Catching up on those stolen years with my brother and my best friend, our trio finally reunited. One day growing our families in a world of peace and laughter.

Simple, lovely dreams. All the things I would never get to do now.

I love you, I thought, fervently hoping Bash could feel an echo of the force of it across our muted bond. That the depth of my love for him could cross time and space, realms and universes to reach him one last time.

I should’ve said goodbye.

With what felt like the last of my strength, I shoved my hand hard into the center of Aviel’s chest. Not expecting it, he reared back, falling off me. Clumsily, I rolled to my side, crawling away. My head swam dizzily, my body screaming in protest as I forced myself to my knees, then my feet, standing between him and the crown by the water’s edge. I refused to die kneeling before him.

When I looked at him, a gleam of something entirely too pleased flashed across his face. Confirmation he had been toying with me yet again.

He wouldn’t be smiling for long.

The worst part might be that ever since the moment I learned of this damnable choice in that faerie glen, something deep inside me had accepted my fate. Knew it in my bones from the moment of the sprite’s proclamation. But my stupid, stubborn heart had refused to admit defeat. Refused to give in.

Until now.

There was no other way. And I would rather die than let him win.

The truth of what I was about to do settled under my skin, the weight of it unbearable. My pointer finger fell against my scarred palm, the hilt of my ruined dagger clenched tightly in the other. I didn’t look down as I quickly scrawled my final message; the three words that meant everything. It was all the goodbye I could offer him.

There were tears in my eyes. I hastily blinked them away.

Aviel laughed softly. “What, exactly, do you think you can do against me now?”

In answer, I brought my dagger against my throat. It cut into the pale, thin line where he had forever marked me, a trickle of blood tracing a warm path between my collarbones. My eyes narrowed as I stared him down, living on the razer’s edge between two fates.

Aviel froze, his eyes flaring wide. For a deranged second, I wondered if his horror was only due to our bloodlink—or if his obsession had crossed the line into what he thought was love.

“How did you…You can’t?—”

“You made a mistake when you linked our lives,” I hissed, my resolve unwavering even as my fear multiplied. “When you took my blood.” My hand was shaking so hard, my dagger dug in deeper, the slice stinging against my skin as my blood slowly dripped its way downward. Adding to the white scar banded around my neck as if I had never escaped that collar, its presence taunting me with what would happen if I didn’t go through with this. “And now, I’m going to end us both.”

Aviel’s hands fell to his side, fear twisting his face. “Evangeline.”

My mouth twisted into a savage grin as I took in the panic in his voice. “You thought you’d use me. Instead, all you’ve ensured is our mutually assured destruction.”

Steeling myself, I took a deep breath?—

A woman’s laugh echoed through the chamber. Aviel spun around just as an explosive blast of flame encircled him. Despite my shock, I took advantage of the opening, stepping back into the lake. Blue stones swirled around me, the magic of the realm answering my call. I was merely a conduit for the Source as it funneled into the inferno enclosing the False King, cerulean mixing with the amber of Alette’s mounting fire.

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