Page 6 of The Coveted
“Now I’m trapped here and outnumbered. I was so close to—”killing Lucius. Before Daelon tackled me and snatched the dagger I’d manifested out of thin air. But I couldn’t say that, not to anyone. I knew it wasn’t safe to tell a single soul, no matter how pure. I knew Lucius’s over-inflated ego would never allow me to live if I did, even if Daelon was convinced I couldn’t have actually killed him.
I took a deep breath, my mind too scattered still. “This power led me to believe I was finally going to fulfill a grand purpose. It was telling me a story piece by piece, and I thought that eventually it would all come together. Now I just feel foolish. I know nothing about this realm or my magick, which has been made abundantly clear to me.” By Lucius.By Daelon.
“Hmm,” Amos said, opening his eyes. “Why trust me now?”
I faltered. Maybe this was a huge mistake too. An illusion or a trick. An image of those cosmic waves overwhelmed my mind’s eye, whispering still, despite my reluctance to listen. They crested, and I heard my mothers’ voices loud and clear, telling me to trust my intuition as they usually did.
I shook my head. “Because you were there, in the place my power comes from. In all places, all at once. You felt it. Either you’re completely sociopathic and can feel all of that—whatever it is—and still be evil, or you’re like me, somehow,” I blurted. “Why? Why were you there?”
“You pulled me there. Your mothers pulled me there. The energy itself pulled me there. I can feel it, but I cannot use it. Not like you can.”
His words resonated, even as I still fought against their truth.You lied to me,I sent out to my power, and I felt it protest. “You knew my mothers?”
Amos nodded. “You are not alone, Áine. You have friends here, but he can never know that. We had to do what we needed to survive, just as you will.All of us.”
He looked at me pointedly, and I knew exactly who he was referencing. I just didn’t want to accept it. If Daelon was just doing what he needed to survive, then he could’ve told me. We could have done it together. Instead, he destroyed me knowingly and without a moment’s pause.
“What happened to this place? To this realm? Why is its energy marred by so much pain and tragedy?”
Amos raised a finger to his lips. “The Kingdom of Aradia is all there is, all that has been, and all that will be for all of eternity. King Lucius is ordained by the high, unknown realms, and as such has been bestowed with the greatest power this world has ever seen.”
I raised a brow, but soon realized this was Amos’s way of warning me that the history of this strange, medieval labyrinth was not only dangerous to discuss, but also clearly key to my understanding of my entire confusing existence. Like any evil dictator, Lucius had some kind of dominion over the true history of his reign. I was determined to uncover it all.
Because there was one thing I knew for certain: Lucius’s power had not been bestowed upon him. He stole it. It was unnatural—the complete antithesis to my own—and he was very defensive of that fact. He nearly struck Daelon down for even hinting the universe was imbalanced, like it countered a carefully constructed alternate history he used to explain his power and his rule.
So, then what was the real history? I knew it was the same as the story I’d been receiving in bits and pieces, the one that was to reveal my role in righting Lucius’s wrongs and restoring some kind of balance. I needed to connect it all together.
My stomach sank and churned. How could I do any of that with so little faith in myself? In my supposed fate? Lucius was right. I knew absolutely nothing. I was trapped here, a prisoner, with absolutely no one who was willing or even able to help, save maybe Amos. Something so innately sinister had happened to this realm. It was not the place of wonder and magick my mothers described to me in my bedtime stories. It was like a bad dream I couldn’t escape.
“You better go. I sense that the King is getting curious about your whereabouts, and I’m not sure he’d like the two of us speaking. He doesn’t tend to do well with things he doesn’t understand.”
I nodded, rising from my floor cushion. “It was nice to meet you—in person,” I managed, and my heart began to clench once more.
“See me again soon. There are still things we can discuss that will help you. Things that the King will never see as a threat.” He winked at me. “And that is his weakness.”
I mulled over his words. “Okay. Thank you.” I still had so much more to ask. Like about that mysterious altar we were both called to.
He waved his hand. “Oh, and do think about what I said about your friend. You’re letting your emotions get in the way of seeing the truth. Which is understandable. We all like feeling we are in control.” He smiled at me.
I clenched my jaw, reaching for the door.
“Goodbye, Áine.”
After three days of despair in this dark castle, I knew I was already crawling back to myself. A door creaked open ever so slightly in my heart, like a compromise with the Universe to at least hear it out—give it a second chance.
I couldn’t let a sociopathic, power-drunk king have the last say in who I was or what I was capable of. I couldn’t let myself crumble just because I made the mistake of falling in love with a domineering liar.
There was work to be done.
Chapter2
Panic set in as I realized I had no idea where I was or how to get back to the safety of my chambers. I sure as hell didn’t want Lucius or any of his henchmen to find me wandering around like a lost puppy. Where was Taryn when I actually needed babysitting?
“Lost?”
And just like that, I’d already failed. My power encircled me like a wall of flames at the sound of Daelon’s voice. He stepped around the corner, and we met face to face. I took a step back as he stepped forward.
A flicker of sadness flashed through his dark eyes. Only a week ago a look like that would be sending me into his chest, desperate to ease his pain. Desperate for him to let me in.
