Page 153 of Visions & Shadows

Brenna yanks free from Finian and falls down beside Alchera, too horror-struck to make a sound.

“NoNoNo!” Alchera cries. She grabs hold of her brother and holds his head to her chest. She chokes on sobs, and with my eyes locked on her, I force my way into her broken mind and start to take the pain from her.

Her head whips in my direction. “Don’t you dare!” Her eyes are dark with grief and anger, and the next moment, I’m shoved out of her mind.

As Brenna and Alchera weep over Roark’s body, it sinks in that we just lost our next king.

Fuck. All the men of House Regales have been wiped out.

I suck in a shocked breath as my eyes flick over the chaos in the living room.

My eyes fall on Adeth’s body.

We’ve feared her for the longest time, and she’s finally gone.

I see the shocked expressions on the chosen ones' faces as they huddle together, and I realize we’ll have to sacrifice everything to keep them safe.

This is only the beginning because we still have to deal with Ares. There’s Void as well, and it’s impossible to kill him.

I look at Roark again, then think to ask, “Where’s River? Why wasn’t he with Roark?”

When my father shakes my head, my heart squeezes painfully. As I lower my head, he says, “Adeth killed River right before Ares brought us here.”

My head snaps up. “What?” My eyes flick to Ares, who’s standing to the side, and as I throw my arm out and slam his body against the nearest wall, I shout at my father, “Why the hell did you come here? Bringing the enemy right to the chosen ones!”

Dad climbs to his feet, his eyes darting between Ares and me.

“Adeth forced Ares to bring us here.” Dad holds his arms up in a gesture meant to pacify me, but it doesn’t do shit to calm the rage burning in my chest.

“You should’ve killed them on Vaalbara,” I growl as I increase my power on Ares, making the plaster on the wall crack around his body.

“Raighne!” Dad shouts. “Wait. You don’t want to kill him.”

With Alchera weeping at my feet, I bite the words out through clenched teeth, “I will liquefy his insides. He doesn’t deserve to live.”

“Ares is your cousin. Let him go, Raighne,” Dad says, moving cautiously closer to me. “He’s your family. Our family.”

Alchera climbs to her feet, and slowly shaking her head as if she’s caught in a daze, she glances between Ares and my father. When she turns around and locks eyes with me, I swear I can see shadows creeping into her green irises.

“Kill him,” she demands, her tone hoarse from the trauma she’s battling.

With my eyes on the woman I love, I begin to close my fingers into a fist, and it has Ares letting out a pain-filled groan.

Dad grabs hold of my arm. “Stop, Raighne!” He steps closer to me as he tries to explain, “Ares was under Adeth’s control. Just like Alchera was. He had no choice. He’s as much a victim as she is.”

I stare at my father in disbelief. “You saw what he did to Alchera. You were there when we found her. How can you forgive him?”

Dad moves between Ares and me, and I can’t believe he’s protecting him.

“Let them kill me,” Ares groans, his tone filled with exhaustion. “They’ll be doing me a favor.”

Everyone looks at Ares, where he’s leaning against the wall, bits of plaster lying by his feet.

“There’s been enough death,” my father snaps. “We need all the help we can get right now.” He sucks in a breath before exhaling slowly. “We need to return Roark and Adeth to Vaalbara. Let’s all remain level-headed while we deal with the loss we’ve suffered.”

My father keeps an eye on me while he orders, “Come, Ares. Shimmer us back to Vaalbara.”

When Ares moves, Alchera darts to my side, and I quickly grab hold of her hand.

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