Page 127 of Ashes to Ashes

This is what I really am beneath the protective lies.

“The real tests begin now,” the Morrigan continues, though whether she’s addressing me or the assembled courts remains unclear.

As I follow her toward the door, Whispen’s voice whispers in my ear with something that might be pride mixed with terror.

“Now you begin to really wake, root-born. Now you begin tosee.”

Behind us, three courts watch with hunger and calculation and fear. Ahead lies whatever trial awaits someone who’s just discovered that everything she thought she knew about herself was a carefully constructed protection that nearly became her death.

But for the first time since this nightmare began, I’m not walking into the unknown alone.

The Morrigan’s presence beside me feels like armor against whatever’s coming next.

Even if I’m not entirely sure whose side she’s really on.

Even if I’m no longer sure who I really am.

Even if the woman I thought I was just died on a chamber floor, and I’m something else entirely now.

25

ORION

Locked out.I’m fucking locked out.

The corridor presses against my ribs like a cage, each footfall reverberating through stone that trembles under my fury. My hands slam against the door again—wood groaning, hinges protesting—but the magical barriers hold.

She just waltzed in there with her head held high and locked us out.

Equal parts magnificent and infuriating.

How am I supposed to be a guardian if I can’t guard? How am I supposed to protect her when she throws herself into danger like it’s a Tuesday afternoon stroll?

“Please, for the love of the old gods, stop your pacing.” Finnian’s voice cuts through my spiral. He’s propped against the wall, pinching the bridge of his nose like I’m giving him a migraine. “You’re wearing grooves in stone that’s stood for millennia.”

The oath mark splits open like a fresh burn, guardian magic clawing up my ribs in waves of useless fury.

Instead, I’m trapped out here like a dog left in the rain.

“Easy for you to say,” I growl, wheeling around. “Your blood doesn’t burn like wildfire every second she’s in danger?—”

A scream pierces through the magical barriers.

Herscream.

Fire scalds behind my ribs. The world narrows to that sound—raw, agonized, wrong. I tear at the door, nails splitting against wood, something between a growl and prayer tearing from my throat.

“Orion.” Finnian’s hands grab my shoulders.

“She’s burning alive in there.” I choke on the words. “And I’m standing here like stone. Useless.”

The oath mark sears beneath my skin—hotter than I’ve ever felt it. Like it wants to burn through the door if I can’t.

“No matter what you try,” he says quietly, though his careful composure wavers around the edges, “those doors won’t open for you. Perhaps we might have considered—though I suppose it wouldn’t have mattered, would it? When she sets her mind to something...”

And gods help me, I think I might shatter instead.

My forehead slams against the wood, breath heaving out in ragged pants. The oath mark feels like it’s eating through my flesh. “Never felt this hollow. Like someone carved out my chest and left me breathing around the wound.”

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