Page 51 of A Crown of Fates

I keep moving. My claws dig into my palms, the momentary pain grounding me.

“Estee,”I murmur, the bond in my chest flickering faintly, like a distant star in an endless sky. It’s there—fragile but real. I press forward, following its pull.

I can’t see anything distinct around me as if I’m blind to everything except for the ominous forces and my desire to find my mate. There is nothing significant to tell me if I’m above ground, under the earth, or what kind of terrain I’m dealing with. Just a bleakness filled with dark seams that create something I’m unable to identify.

The harder I try to make sense of where I am, the blacker the air becomes until the shadows begin to shift, and suddenly, I’m not in the void anymore.

I’m back in Selaris. The throne room stands before me, grand and imposing. But it’s not as I left it. The once-pristine stone floors are cracked, the banners torn, the air thick with the metallic scent of blood. My mother stands at the center, her figure distorted, her eyes hollow.

“Why did you let this happen?” Her voice is rasping, broken and accusatory. “You were supposed to protect us. Instead, you destroyed us.”

“I…” My voice falters, my mind racing. I know this isn’t real. Elyn’s warning is still fresh, but the guilt of my mother’s words burrows deep, cutting parts of me that I’ve tried to bury.

“You let me die,” she continues, stepping closer. Her form twists, her face contorting into something monstrous. “You let them kill me. And for what? A crown you don’t deserve? A mate who’ll never forgive you?”

“Stop,” I growl, but my voice trembles. My wolf scratches from within, urging me to move, to fight, but my feet feel rooted to the spot.

“You can’t save her,” she hisses. “You can’t even save yourself.”

Something inside me snaps. This isn’t real.

With a roar, I lunge forward, my claws slashing through the illusion. My mother’s twisted form bursts into dust, the throne room dissolving into darkness.

I stagger, my breaths ragged, but there’s no time to recover.

“Estee.” Her name falls weakly from my lips as I step toward her. She’s lying in a bed, her back to me. I can’t see her face yet, but I know without a doubt that this is the other half of my soul.

With heavy feet, I push through the shadows. I’m only focused on Estee, on picking her up in my arms and getting the hell out of here.

Whispers crawl over me, each one cutting, but none of them stronger than the protective need to retrieve my mate.

“You did this to her.”

“If you’d never forced her to come to Selaris, she’d be safe.”

“She’s better off without you.”

“You’ll never be worthy of her.”

I shake my head, trying to physically push the murmurs from my mind, but when my fingers curl around Estee’s shoulder and I pull her toward me, I know they’re right.

Her dead eyes look up at me with little emotion and her hands settle over her protruding stomach. “He gave me something you’ll never be able to.”

“No.” The word leaves me, deep and broken. “No, Estee. Don’t do this.”

Her stare turns black as she smiles up at me. “I didn’t. You did this, Theodore. You killed us. Just as you’ve done to everyone else you’ve ever cared about.”

The howl that builds within me tears from my throat, turning into a roar of agony. Grief, cutting and cold, slices through me. Each death I’ve ever been responsible for creates a new mark on my soul, reminding me of all that I’ve done, even when I was only trying to protect them.

I drop to my knees, my head in my hands. “This can’t be happening.”

“It already has, Theodore. She’s forever mine now. You’ve failed.”

My eyes close, and the world around me slows like quicksand, drawing out my demise. I have nothing left to fight for. Without Estee, I’d rather die. The shadows can have?—

Something changes. The more I cut myself off from the darkness, crawling back into my own mind, the worse the guilt becomes, but there’s something more, waiting and ready.

A flicker of hope. The connection is faint, but the more I search for it, the easier it becomes to grasp.

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