Page 153 of A Fate so Cruel

The wind shifted, carrying the dust away long enough that he could make out their faces.

Rion counted them one by one. “I will give you one chance to walk away.”

They tightened their hold on their weapons and charged.

Rion’s magic exploded. He didn’t hold back. He’d done that long enough. He was free to just be. To exist.

He’d thought freedom meant retreating to a secluded place in the country. He’d been wrong. Freedom was being able to walk wherever he pleased. To experience life the way everyone else did. Freedom had never tasted so good.

He wouldn’t walk the land fearing he was too much anymore. Too much for people. Too much for the gods themselves. They’d either accept him or fall at his feet. He’d carve out his own purpose even if he had to do it in blood.

Rion moved with their magic as if in a dance. An elegant symphony of blades and snapping bones. He pivoted on his feet, unleashing everything.

Music. It was music to his ears. Maybe he’d finally lost his mind. Something within him had certainly changed, snapped, shifted. Whatever it was, he liked it and the euphoria that followed.

Rion threw every blade on his person, sinking them deep into tender flesh. He never missed his mark.

By the time he was breathing hard, a smile covered his face.

The once perfect yard was bathed in blood and limbs and gasping Fae. He was coated in it too, the blood and gore.

The remaining warriors backed away, glancing at one another. Rion stepped forward and they all scrambled back. A strange silence settled over the area as he waited.

“That’s it?” he challenged. “You’re done?”

One male broke from the group and charged. Rion grabbed the male’s foot, severed the limb, then shot a spear of earth straight through the male’s chest.

The others stared in wide-eyed horror.

Rion tasted blood at the corner of his mouth. He didn’t remember the hit. Didn’t remember the reason for the slight cuts along his body either.

Another step forward and Rion growled between his teeth. “Run.” They gaped. Some stepped back. “Run,” Rion repeated. “And if you ever rise against the crown again, know that I’ll find you.”

Two turned and sprinted away, their arms flailing in an almost comedic manner. After a moment’s hesitation, the rest followed.

Rion turned back to the crumbling palace and crushed more sections, just to ensure it would never rise again. Then heturned to the city itself. To the residents gathering their families and loading anything they could carry onto horses and wagons.

It was next.

Rion slammed the door open to the nearest building. A female screamed and tears ran down her face as she curled further into the corner of the darkened room. A small bundle in her arms cried out and his heart froze.

Kill them, a voice whispered in the back of his mind.They’d do the same to you. Rion backed away, as if pulled from a drunken haze. The female shook with uncontrollable terror, clinging to that bundle as if she could protect it with her body.

He’d planned to tear the entire city to the ground. Each and every building. But if he did that . . . Rion glanced down at the child. An innocent being who had done nothing of consequence in the world. He thought about the life it would have. How it might not survive if the mother couldn’t provide adequate shelter. Or find food.

His resolve weakened.

“I’m sparing this place for you,” he said, then stormed away. Rion tore the gates apart as he left the city and started northward, back to his original assignment.

This would be his life now. Nothing more than one mission at a time.

The Cursed Fae and a Fatal Mistake

Chapter One

Saoirse slammed her mug of ale down on the table and called for another.

“She’s got you beat. Give up before you fall over.”

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