Page 101 of The Court of Truth

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NORA

Clementine starts cackling, revealing her true identity while still standing as a replica of my sister. The group of soldiers grows around her as she looks Raiden dead in the eyes.

“You wouldn’t hurt me, would you? Not the love of your life,” she insists, making my blood run cold. Whatever game she’s playing here, I don’t like it. I don’t like it at all.

If she’s not my sister, then where the hell is Addi?

Dammit.

I should have stayed home. I should have stayed at the castle with my father.

“You’re not the love of my life,” Raiden states, his hands clenched at his sides as the soldiers snarl and holler around us.

We’re on the brink of a battle.

Unprotected. Unsafe. Guardless.

“Are you sure? Maybe this is the real me and you just haven’t had the pleasure of really getting to know who I am,” she purrs, and Raiden doesn’t like it.

He charges at her, and the second he takes a step, the entire army takes off too.

I squeal, panic-stricken as everyone spurs into action, while all I can do is drop to the grass in a heap of petrified limbs, curling into a ball as the ground thunders beneath me.

With my head ducked and my arms banded tight around my legs, I sob. I sob so hard it hurts. I’m waiting for death to take me. It’s coming, and it’s all my fault for coming here.

A grunt rings beside me, the voice familiar, and I freeze, unsure what to do. But curiosity gets the better of me, and I peek my face to the side to see Brody pinned to the ground beside me.

His hands are at his throat, fighting at something, but there’s nothing actually there.

Frowning, I look up to see a man who looks like an older version of him hovering a few steps away.

“You were supposed to follow in my footsteps, Brody,” the man snaps, and my gut tells me it’s his father.

“And you were supposed to be a decent human being,” he croaks back, his face turning redder and redder as his father sneers.

“This kingdom isn’t worthy of the mages. With the power we can command, we should be on top. Clementine will offer us that.”

Despite his struggle, Brody laughs. It’s raspy and choppy, but it’s a laugh all the same.

“If you think she’s going to offer you anything, you’re delusional.”

“It’s a shame you won’t be able to live to see just how wrong you are.” His voice is void of emotion, resigned to the fact that he’s going to kill his son.

There’s something about it, the uncaring emptiness of his voice, that forces me to my feet.

He can’t kill him.

He won’t kill him.

I won’t allow it.

My heart pounds in my chest as I cut the distance between us. He doesn’t even see me coming. He’s so focused on his son that the rest of the battle doesn’t register to him. I throw myself at him, tumbling us both to the ground, and I land with a thud, knocking the wind out of myself as I gasp for breath.

I look up at the cloudy sky, watching it grow more and more gray as every second passes, and I’m certain I’m never going to breathe again. The noises around me grow louder, the pounding of flesh on flesh, the chants of magic, the final breaths. All of it.

“I’m sorry you won’t live long enough to realize the disappointment you always were,” Brody states, his voice chilling as I tilt my head in his direction.

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