Page 2 of Crown of Wrath

I stare at the man that I’d once thought I would spend the rest of my Immortal life with. He’s dirty with bloodshot eyes. His thick black hair, which had always been so silky smooth and gorgeous, is a tangled mess, and he refuses to look at me even as I stare at him.

Cole Cyrus is on the verge of breaking.

I can’t let my sharpest blade break when our battles have barely begun. I pour myself a cup of water from a wooden pitcher and slide the pitcher to him, signaling that he should drink as well. I sip the cool water and finally sit down.

Just like the days and evenings that we traveled the road to Draenyth together, we sit in silence, staring at nothing. Just existing.

“You’ve gotten good,” he says softly. “Can you believe that three harpies almost killed you a half a year ago?”

I could kill three harpies with barely more than a thought now. I’d been untrained then. I hadn’t understood my magic, and I certainly hadn’t understood my bloodlines—bloodlines that had been hidden from me. If I’d known just how strong I was with rage in my heart or how deadly my shadows would be when I was disgusted, no harpy would have dreamed of coming near me.

“You’ve gotten slow,” I respond. I meant it to be banter, but Cole slumps in his seat. He knows he’s wearing thin, and his skills, including his speed, are some of the islands that he’s clung to since I pushed him away.

I don’t hate Cole. I just… Every time I feel like I want to feel anything for him, memories of what he cost me prevent me from going there.

I fell in love with him. I fell for all his tricks, including the ones to win my heart. Then… then the Nothing took Hazel from me.He told me everyone close to him got hurt. He didn’t lie about that. Everyone close to him becomes his weakness, and that’s what I became.

If Cole had never shown up in my life, Hazel would still be alive.

The reasons he did all that he did are clear to me, and they’re why I don’t hate him. He was a tool, and you can’t hate the sword that was used to murder your cousin. You also shouldn’t be expected to be kind to it. To love it. To marry it…

He’s still covered in my cousin’s blood.

I take a deep breath, and silence overtakes us again. Not the terrifying silence of the Nothing. Just the typical quiet that is filled with birds’ chirping and little skittering animals in the grass outside the tent.

And the stomping of Darian and Lee as they land and come to the tent.

“You’re never going to believe what we just heard,” Lee says before she’s even inside the tent. “Gethin put Jasper Wren in charge of guard duty on Casimir. How could he be stupid enough to put someone who owes a debt to you in charge of your father’s security?”

She’s not smiling as she enters the tent. Neither is Darian. They never smile anymore, but then again, neither do I.

“It’s a trap,” Cole says softly. “We don’t have the luxury of believing in Gethin’s stupidity.”

I nod to Cole. Gethin Rahn is a lot of things, but he isn’t stupid, and if he hasn’t executed or imprisoned everyone with a debt to the Shade, I’d be surprised.

“It’s obviously a trap,” Darian says right behind Lee. “But I know Jasper. We may not be able to convince him to let us in to get your father out, but I’m positive that we can get enough information out of Jasper to break him out. We have our in, Cole, and we just have to figure out how to use it.”

Cole glances at me and is silent. It’s not his call anymore. Cole made every decision for months. He took away my agency, but not anymore. I’m the Queen. Not him.

And I’ve begun to understand the weight of those decisions now.

The world is falling apart, and while I went to war with the Nothing after it killed Hazel, the anger that was so red hot that day has fizzled away. In its place is… weight. It’s the burden of knowing that thousands of people have died and have been enslaved because of me. At the same time, we can’t win a war against Draenyth. We can’t take the fight to Gethin and survive.

It’s us four against an entire House that has been preparing for this. Four of us against a House that will be coated in steel from head to toe.

They destroyed the entire House of Earth. They enslaved or executed the House of Flame. And… my shadows aren’t as strong as they should be. Cole is exhausted.

I turn to Lee and say, “How much progress have we made against the Nothing?”

She and Darian have spent the day mapping where the Nothing is compared to where it was when we started this war. “It’s ten percent smaller than three months ago. It's retreating, moving farther north, and it seems to follow the highways rather than avoiding them as it once did. It’s left Blackgrove, if that matters at all.”

The word “Blackgrove” makes me shudder a little. Every human I know is dead except Aunt Prudence and Uncle Trevor, who are safe and sound in Stormhaven. The Nothing swept through Blackgrove the day that I was crowned. A handful of bodies were found, all of which looked like they’d been skinned alive.

I understand how Cole felt before everything changed. The scars that my soul bears. They say that no one wins in war, andthat’s the truth. When this is all over, I won’t be happy we won. I’ll just be happy it’s over.

If I even know how to be happy at that point.

The Nothing is ten percent smaller. It’s a noticeable difference, but after three months of constant fighting, I don’t know if we’re going to win. We can’t keep this up.

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