Page 31 of Veiled Fate
“I had short hair when I was a child,” I said, unsure why I was telling him that. “Lanna always had hers long. I wanted to be different, which is why I insisted on keeping it cut. But when she died …”
“Ah,” Kiel muttered softly in understanding. “You grew it out to honor her.”
I nodded, unwilling to trust my voice.
“And now, you can’t stop thinking that if you cut it off …”
“It’ll be like getting rid of the last thing I have of her,” I finished. “I know it’s stupid, it’s just hair, and I shouldn’t have a problem with it, but—”
“Stop,” Kiel growled, letting go of my hair to drape his hand over my shoulder.
I shuddered at his touch. Not because it was unwanted, but because, despite all the lies and the things he’d done and told me, I still wanted it. I wanted him. My body did, at least. It craved his closeness, his touch, and I couldn’t shake that yearning no matter how hard I tried.
Even after all the things he’d done to manipulate my life, I still came crawling back for more. There was a term for that, I was sure. It probably wasn’t a nice one, either.
“Anything can be sentimental, Jada. It doesn’t have to be normal. You grew out your hair to hold on to a part of Lanna. It’s only natural to be uncomfortable parting with it. You aren’t weird or unusual for that. Nobody would even think to call you that.”
“Thanks,” I said. “I appreciate that.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Now, please get your hand off my shoulder. I thought I told you we’re done with that.”
“Right,” he said tightly, lifting his hand and grabbing my hair. “Ready?”
“Yes.”
Snip.
The braid fell away, bouncing on the rock and falling into the stream to be washed away.
I watched the strands spread across the water as they were carried downstream. Just like Lanna had been. Perhaps it was fitting, in a way.
“Why?” I whispered.
“Pardon?”
“You owe me that much, Kiel,” I said, turning at the waist to look at him. “Tell me why you did it. Why did you push my parents together to try to get a child? What was the need to combine those bloodlines so badly that you resorted to such despicable methods? Could you not have just destroyed the stone yourself? It’s not like I actually helped that much, let’s be truthful. Or Andi, she could have done it.”
“No, she couldn’t,” he said. “It had to be you. Someone with the bloodline of those who forged the stones. That connection is vital.”
“Bullshit,” I spat back.
“It’s been tried before,” he said levelly, his eyes never flinching away. “It didn’t work, and a lot of people ended up dying for nothing.”
The edges of his eyes tightened. A remembered pain. Had he tried to break one of the Fate Stones before? Or was that just a general look of survivor’s guilt?
“How come I never heard of that happening?”
He snorted. “Do you really think that’s the sort of news the Alphas would let get out?”
That was a fair point, and I conceded it to him.
“We hoped that by combining the bloodlines of two of the Alphas, perhaps the heir would be able to destroymultiplestones,” he said. “And we were right.”
“You didn’tknowit would work?” I yelped, standing up. “You took us all into the palace on nothing more than a theory?”
“But it did work,” he pointed out. “And now, we know you can destroy any of the stones. All we have to do is get you close enough.”
