Page 9 of Gift from the Source
“Just start going through everything. Grab anything you might think is important,” I say, reaching out and squeezing her arm in support.
We don’t waste another second. The tension in here is bad enough without adding in her ability to visibly see the evil lurking around.
Disappointment skyrockets throughout me when I sling the first drawer to his desk open, only for it to be empty. Then the next, next, and another five more after that.
All cleaned out.
“Shit. Oakly, anything?” I ask when I turn to see her rifling papers around in the cabinet.
“I don’t think so. Just some things about building plans and something called stocks. Nothing on the Mastery or Elementra,” she says, tossing the papers over her shoulder before pulling more out.
We open—practically tear apart—every surface of the office that could hold any information, but it doesn’t take us long to acknowledge if there was anything in here worth getting our hands on, it’s gone now.
Cleaned out by either the house staff or the Summum-Master.
Incredibly disappointing but not surprising. Any of us would’ve done something similar.
I fling the empty leather briefcase I was going through back into the small closet, then walk to the middle of the room. My sigh is heavy and I pace until light shining off a glassy surface catches my eye.
Pure, white hot rage and hatred burns through me before I close my eyes and take a deep breath.
“You two go ahead down and join the others. I’ll be there in a sec,” I say quietly, halting the girls’ plundering.
“You sure?” Oakly asks, concern lacing her question.
“Yeah, there’s nothing here for us. I just need a minute.”
The soft, reassuring grips they lay to my hand as they pass me by ground me long enough for them to get out of the office. But as soon as the click of the door echoes behind them, I shoot my shadows out until they swallow the portrait whole.
The cold frame feels like it weighs a thousand pounds as it materializes in my hands and I stare into the cold, dead eyes of Franklin.
He had a preference for poses.
It’s the exact same look he had in the portrait my mom destroyed. The only difference is the timelines in which they were taken.
I run my fingers across his silver hair, furrowed brows, and soulless stare, then I whisper.
“I know you can’t even hear me because you’re not in the beyond. A privilege I took from you, but regardless of that, I want to say it out loud, let the words seep into the walls. I’m keeping the promise you didn’t even know she made you. It’s the same promise I made you. I’m destroying everything you worked so hard for. I’m going to make it crumble to rubble, then sit back and watch it burn.”
Unlike my mom, I don’t give him a kiss to the forehead. Instead, just as I did his body, I incinerate his portrait and hold his lifeless eyes as they once again burn to ash by my hands.
“You tell me where you want to cast the first flame, little wanderer. I’ll fly you there and dance in the ashes with you,” Draken murmurs quietly in my ear as all four of my men emerge from the shadows and surround me.
“This is a good start, dragon.” I smile up at him sweetly as air circles my hands, blowing away the soot.
“This is the beginning of the end, princess,” Corentin says with a knowing look in his eye that matches the knowledge in my heart as he comes to stand in front of me.
“I know, your highness.”
A soft smile dusts his lips when he bends down and lays a kiss to my forehead. That small touch speaks a thousand promises, each declaring to be by my side, ready to lead or follow.
A steady hand wraps around the back of my neck, and the caress of my gentle giant’s gift snuggles into my mind.
“You’ll never face another battle alone, little warrior. In this realm or any other. We’ll stand amongst the rubble with you. Always.”
“Always.” I breathe, laying my hand across Tillman’s heart, letting its steady, even beat soak into my palm and spread throughout my body.
The chill of Caspian’s body presses into my back and his shadows crawl down my body, exploring every inch as they go. As they cover my feet, they spread toward my other men, blanketing us in his darkness.
