Page 58 of Fated

The door creaked behind me, and when I whipped around, there was Lilly crumpled on the floor, lifeless. A strangled scream tore from my throat, unable to avert my eyes from her horrific, motionless body.No, no, no!

A heavy thud echoed from across the room, and I spun to find Keo’s mangled corpse. Another thud—Fin. His body lay twisted on the floor, his gaze vacant, all the life gone from him.

Standing behind him, cold and unmoved, were frigid, dark eyes staring straight into me. I screamed, turning to run but large hands gripped my shoulders, stopping me in my tracks.

“Areya!” his voice called out.

“No, no, no!” I thrashed wildly, fighting against the hands, clawing and wailing. He had killed them—he’d killed every last one of them!

“Areya, please!” The voice sounded desperate now, and my eyes shot open in the horror of the moment, giving way to reality.

Ash ‘s eyes stared down at me, his hands on my shoulders, a pained expression on his face.

I pushed him away, scrambling back into the bed, screaming out, “Get away from me!” My voice cracked, as hot, salty tears rolled down my face.

“Areya, I’m not going to hurt you.”

His words were calm, steady, but my body still trembled uncontrollably.

“You killed all of them,” I choked out, my voice breaking as I backed further into the bed.

Ash flinched at my words, pain flashing across his face. “It was a dream, Areya. Only a dream. You’re safe now. I swear you’re safe.”

His words echoed in my mind, but it took a moment for them to sink in. My eyes squeezed shut, repeating the words over and over in my mind.I’m safe. It was only a dream.

When I opened my eyes, the room came back into focus and the memory of the day crashed down on me—the fight with Ash, and all the tears shared with Madam Pearl and Lilly.

“You’re back,” I whispered, staring at him. His expression was unlike anything I’d ever seen on his face before. Sorrowful, utterly broken, defeated.

“You were right, Areya.” He let out a deep shaky breath. “I am a coward and I’ve been running, too terrified to face the truth, ever since those visions. I tried to bury it, to outrun it.”

His voice was fractured, coming in bursts, each syllable soaked in pain.

“The way you looked at me today—as though I wasn’t a monster—I … I don’t know how to handle that.” His voice eventually broke under the strain of his emotions, and for the first time, I saw the cracks in his cold façade, witnessing his fear, his guilt, his humanity.

He bowed his head and the sight of him, so raw andvulnerable, made my heart ache in a way I wasn’t prepared for. Slowly, cautiously, my body inched closer to him.

“Watching you today, your smile, the way you found joy in this place, even after everything I’ve done to you, everything I’ve put you through … I don’t understand.”

“But I don’t see you as a monster,” I whispered, the words slipping out before they could be stopped. And to my surprise, they felt true.

“What Agidius did to you, what he turned you into—Ash, that wasn’t your fault. When I saw your visions, I didn’t see a monster. I saw someone full of love, someone who cared deeply.”

His head shook, still staring down as if he couldn’t bear to meet my gaze.

Hesitantly, I reached for his hand, my fingers trembling slightly upon touching his. “You risked your life to save me, Ash. A monster wouldn’t do that.”

He looked up at me, and when his tear-filled eyes met mine, the pain I saw there hit me so hard it felt as if all the breath had been knocked out of me.

He shook his head again. “You don’t know all the terrible things I have done, Areya. I’ve committed true evil. I swear, if you even knew a fraction of what I’ve done …”

“I don’t care.” I said, cutting him off. “Nothing you’ve done under Agidius’ curse changes what I know about you. I won’t turn my back on you. We’re in this together, remember?”

Reaching for his other hand, I clasped both of them tightly as he dropped his head yet again, the warm tears falling freely now, splashing on my fingers.

Was this really the same person I’d sworn to kill just two days ago? The same man who had ripped my life out from under me, the cold, ruthless killer, now broken and weeping before me?

In that moment, the truth hit me with staggering clarity.

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