Page 124 of A Fate of Blood and Magic
He wasn’t ready. Was I selfish for hoping he never was?
“Elias,” Alastor said with a single brow arched.
I ran a tired hand over my face. “I wasn’t paying attention. I . . .”
“Should we do this another time?” Everly asked.
“No, no.” I sighed, doing my best to ignore Aidas’s watchful gaze.
I wondered how much, if any, he’d pieced together.
“I’m sorry.” For so much, I’m sorry. “What were you saying?”
When my leg bounced, Teddy gripped my knee. At some point, I must’ve let go of her hand. I reached for it and held it tightly in mine.
“We were discussing what to do with the prisoners,” Evander said slowly.
George snarled. “We should’ve just killed them instead of imprisoning them.”
“We’re so quick to kill.” I rubbed my chest, knowing killing was as much a part of my nature as flying was to dragons. “I . . .” I stood, staring at the front door and wishing I could run through it. Just run and run without stopping. “I can’t do this.”
Teddy rose with me. I was grateful she didn’t try to hug me or hold my hand. As it was, I felt as if my skin was stretching around bones too large to fit me. This tightness grew in my chest. Just grew and grew without end.
“Why don’t we go outside?” she asked softly.
“No,” George said. “You can’t run from this.”
Easing Teddy to the side, I bared my growing canines at him. Rage boiled in my veins. I wanted this fight. I wanted any fight that wasn’t the one storming in my head.
“When have I ever run from anything?”
“Your people are already questioning your loyalty,” hecontinued. “These people slaughtered our children, our injured, our Queen Mother, Elias. They murdered innocents.”
“What about you and me?” My voice thundered, bouncing off the walls of our cottage and slamming against my chest. “Have we not killed an innocent?”
George’s pallor grayed as his mouth turned into a deep frown. “I can’t undo my past mistake.” His voice was low, but I somehow heard him clearly through every ragged breath I pulled. “We can’t make up for it. We—you and I—killed an innocent male. That doesn’t mean we look away when someone else does it. These people?—”
“Shouldn’t I pay for it?” I cleaved the words from my bleeding chest. “Shouldn’t there be some justice for what I did?”
George rose slowly, and when he walked to me, he put both hands on my shoulders, and when he leaned his head down, I pressed my forehead to his. He patted the back of my neck before he looked back up. “Whatwedid. You gave the order, but I . . . I did it. If you say we die for this sin, then I’ll lay down my life, but first, we must make things right here. You can’t leave this kingdom for someone else to fix.”
“Maybe someone else should lead our kingdom,” I said. “Our people aren’t just questioning my loyalty but also my ability to lead. I don’t have magic anymore. I have maybe—what, sixty, seventy years left before I die.”
“What does that mean?” George’s question came out as a hiss.
“When Teddy lost her magic, her life span returned to that of a regular human, so I tied my life to hers.” I squared my shoulders. “When she dies, so do I.”
George pushed me, and caught unaware, I didn’t simply fall on the couch but knocked it over. I rolled off the back,grabbing the small dagger I kept on my ankle. I charged him, barely registering the way Teddy ushered everyone out of our living room.
George’s first punch connected to my stomach. I welcomed the pain. Except he didn’t punch me again but gripped the collar of my shirt to bring me closer to him.
“You tied your life to that of a human’s?” he hissed, his eyes like onyx orbs.
“I tied my life to that of my soul-bound mate’s,” I growled out.
With another snarl, he let go of my collar and shoved me away. Shaking his head, he pointed a finger at me.
Exhaustion hit me, pulling my shoulders down while any fight I had in me slipped away. I put my dagger away and walked into the kitchen, where everyone watched us with wary caution.
