Page 141 of A Fate so Cruel

Monster.

Everything happened in slow motion.

Selina moved, her body swift and unyielding as she crossed the short distance. Her movements weren’t sloppy or that of a novice. She’d only asked him to teach her as part of the act.

A war cry fell from her lips.

Rion raised his arm and earth shot out to intercept her knife. Selina’s magic speared for him then, the living vines and plants as deadly as any blade. She’d had so many other opportunities. But she hadn’t been sure of herself. No, maybe that wasn’t it at all. Maybe she’d wantedthis. Wanted him broken and on his knees.

He saw the wicked gleam in her eyes. Saw the way she craved what was before her. It wasn’t just about the missions or her reputation. It was about the final act. The breaking. The reveal.

The Selina he’d fallen in love with wasn’t real. The warrior angling her blade for his throat wasn’t the sweet female who loved shopping and food and expensive trinkets. That had been her mask. One she wore so well, Rion wondered if she believed it herself.

Rion’s magic blocked two more tendrils that shot for him, then smothered the small plants crawling through the earth. It all felt different. Her movements. Her magic.

He’d loved a façade.

A root broke from the surface at his feet. For half a heartbeat, Rion wondered what it might be like to succumb to her onslaught. To relent and leave this life while begging the gods for mercy in the next one. Perhaps they’d allow him to atone for the atrocities he’d committed to warrant his current punishment.

Or maybe he’d return just to relive this nightmare all over again.

One look at her face told Rion she wouldn’t regret his death. She’d celebrate it. Boast about it until the next big story came along and he was forgotten by the world.

Hot tears streaked down Rion’s face and he roared, letting anger and pain fill his body, his soul, his magic. The very mountain shuddered. The cavern walls split, cracking all the way to the ceiling before coming apart, floating in the air around him.

His ears rang and Rion let his rage take over. Screams echoed from within the tunnels. Screams and war cries as her comrades’ feet pounded against the earth, coming to assist their leader.

They didn’t adore her because she cared. They followed her because of her ruthlessness.

Rion’s magic grabbed Selina’s body, caging her in a strong vice. She struggled, screaming and roaring and snapping her teeth at him in defiance.

He squeezed and she cried out. Then her face shifted, turning back into the female he’d known for the last several weeks. “Rion,” she tried, her voice strained. “Please.” His stomach hollowed out, then he snapped her neck.

Something inside him snapped along with it.

Seán roared from the room entrance and vines split through the dirt at Rion’s feet. He shredded them without a single passing thought and in the next second, the male’s body splattered against the side wall, his head crushed by the Fae sized boulder Rion had thrown in his direction.

If they wanted to be together, they could do it here where their corpses would rot and their souls right along with them.

The sisters came at him next, all three moving as a unit. One went left, the other right, but the center one, the eldest, came at him head on.

In other circumstances, in another life, Rion might have enjoyed their fight. He would have likely dragged it out just to see what the three of them were capable of. But right now—his fists clenched. Right now, all Rion wanted was blood.

Their snarls called to his instincts, and Rion let the ceiling collapse, leaving only a small pocket for his body to safely stand in. He left it there a moment, listening to the grinding of their bones, their last breaths, before lifting it again.

Only the eldest still drew breath. She choked on her own blood, her chest caved in. The others had their limbs twisted at odd angles. Too fast. It was too fast and yet he wanted to kill them faster. Rid the land of their filth.

He didn’t bother putting her out of her misery.

The rest died one at a time. Some cursed him as they went, others passed silently, as warriors were trained to do, fighting until the bitter end.

Caol had tried to teach him to fight without emotion. The male claimed emotion was a distraction. But emotion wasexactly what fueled Rion now. It tore through his body in an angry current, carrying everything he’d tried to hold back.

Like a dam, he’d broken and was ready to flood the land with his rage. He didn’t care that it was dangerous or that it might be a crutch. He didn’t need to control himself. His enemies were falling just fine with his mind addled. Broken. Shattered beyond repair.

The mountain above him shuddered and the walls cracked. Heavy debris fell, rocking the earth as he limped from the cave. Rion held it all up, held it until he walked beyond the entrance, then turned to watch it all crash down.

Large boulders tumbled down the mountainside, but he shattered them before they got close. Trees toppled over, and Rion broke through the bark, scattering it into a million pieces.

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