Page 140 of A Fate so Cruel

Rion dared to look up and found a warrior standing over him, bloody knife in hand, her magic already crawling from between the cracks in the wall.

She lowered herself into a stance, no longer in pain. Had she told the healer to play along as well? They’d been alone together enough. Is that why the innkeeper had smiled at him? Why others appeared so relaxed? Because they knew, too?

Rion gasped for air. Not due to the physical pain radiating through his back, but because his heart had shattered into a million pieces. He’d trusted this female. Trusted her with truths and dreams. He’d opened himself in a way he’d never done before.

And she’d—

She’d—

“Why?” The broken word was barely more than a whisper. He thought he saw a flash of regret in her amber eyes. Could have sworn he glimpsed a line of silver before she blinked it away and clenched her jaw.

But maybe that was all part of the manipulation, too. Just more ways to throw him off.

His heart beat faster as every image of them fractured in his mind. He’d imagined a life with her. Had allowed his mind tosee possibilities he’d never considered. To live as a normal male. To raise a family.

But he’d been cursed by the gods.

Cursed and damned to a life of pain.

The betrayal of his father had hurt.

The betrayal of Caol had hurt.

But this. This was a pain far deeper than any chasm. Bigger than any universe. Rion felt something in himself crack before splintering, falling away piece by piece. The shards moved through his body, sharp and angled, slicing through everything as they went.

“Why?” he whispered again.

“You said it yourself.” Her voice wasn’t the same. It was darker. Crueler. “I can be quite manipulative when I need to be.”

“No.” He couldn’t accept that it had all been fake. That she’d felt nothing.

Selina cocked her head. “Did you really think someone could love you? A monster?”

He had. And he loved her, even now, as she stood above him with a weapon in her hand. He’d fallen so hard there was no getting up. Fallen for all the times she’d extended her hand and not been afraid.

And none of it had been real.

Rion gasped from the pain making its way through his heart. Like a black snake poisoning him from the inside out.

Maybe her injury had been part of the ruse, too. Maybe she’d planned it right alongside Foley and they’d laughed together at his expense.

Alec. His brother’s face flashed before his eyes. Alec had known. That’s why he hadn’t told Saoirse about the mission. Because too many details and questions would have revealed his true intentions.

To rid the world of the abomination.

Rion pushed up to his feet and stumbled backward. Blood trickled down his skin, coating the waist of his pants. He just stared at the female before him. Stared at the ruthless look in her eyes.

Selina bared her teeth. “You are an affront to nature and if your father had any sort of backbone, he would have ended you himself.”

“You don’t mean that.” He’d been an innocent child. She couldn’t really be willing—

Rion fell back to his knees. It was too much. All of it. The pain. Reality. The truth.

Monster. The word rang through him, whispered by countless voices in his head. People from his past, his present, his future.

Monster.

Monster.

---