Page 125 of The Spark that Ignites
The world spun and the air thinned as her ribcage crushed her lungs and heart in a single clawed squeeze. The disbelief and hurt scalding Vesper’s stare was undeniable. Her disregard for his final wish had caused this. She had done this to herself.
“I—” Her voice collapsed. “I had to. I couldn’t ... you were—”
“You ruined everything.” His knuckles whitened as he gripped the table. “This wasn’t your choice to make. I asked you to do one fucking thing.” His jaw clenched as his eyes lit into flames. “This was ouronechance. I—I can’t fix this. You wasted this.”
“What are you talking about?” she stammered, her mouth dry. “Let me explain—”
“Youwastedthis on me!” His voice was cold, calm, and terrifying and if looks could kill, she would have dropped dead. It knocked her back a step.
“You’re wrong,” she croaked, her insignificant voice breaking. Tears pricked her eyes as his hatred stifled all the affection he once held for her. Oh gods, she couldn’t undo this. He looked the same as days before, but everything had changed. “It wasn’t a waste.”
Vesper gathered the sheet around his naked waist. All his marks remained; thecavaeandzvezdaunder his collarbones, the blackShadowheartcentering his chest, and the two pactums; a lion and a mark of the Hollow.
But their bargain was complete. Which meant, he no longer had to protect her. Vesper could hurt her. And gods, the anguish in his eyes told her that was exactly what he would do. Insidious terror slithered through her. Her own selfishness had brought this upon her.
“It should have been her, not me. Izzy deserved to live. To fall in love and get married and have babies and breathe life back into this place. This was her kingdom. Not mine. It was never supposed to be mine and I don’t want it.” He blinked rapidly; his gaze fixated on the stone floor. “I’ve wasted my whole life. Spent time like it's earned.” He shot Emmery a vile look. “And now, all the plans I made, all the hopes and dreams to restore my home ... they’re gone”—he snapped his fingers—“in an instant.Gone. And it’syourfault, Emmery! Why—whydid you do this to me?”
Emmery froze, clutching her trembling fingers into fists. “You can do all those things. Do them because you wanted them for her, Ves. This kingdom could be yours.Youcould restore it and watch it thrive. Maybe it was always supposed to be you, and this was supposed to happen. Maybe the gods had other plans.”
“Fuck you,” he spat.
She flinched like he had struck her.
Standing from the table he searched through the clothes she set aside, pulling a pair of trousers from the pile. “The gods had nothing to do with this.Youdid this to me.” After tugging on his pants and tossing the sheet aside, he fell to his knees and sorted through the remains of the items—clutching them like he could undo this. He whispered, his voice mirroring hers that day at the Skyborne Temple, “I never wanted this. I never wanted any of this.”
And then Vesper quietly sobbed, his shoulders shaking with his grief. The sound broke something inside her and she watched helplessly.
Emmery backed away, retreating from the room. They could discuss this later. When he could think through his sadness and anger again. When he cooled down. He just needed space.
His voice echoed cold and hollow through the room. “Where do you think you’re going?”
Vesper’s head snapped up, his face unrecognisably cold. He stalked across the room. Emmery turned to run but he reeled her back and she stumbled into his chest. His arms shackled her waist as he carried her, kicking and shrieking to the jail cell. For someone who had just risen from the dead, he was incredibly strong.
The punishing click echoed through the room as he locked it.
Fear crawled up her throat, her voice rising. “What are you doing?”
He flexed his hands as if they didn’t belong to him. He’d never touched her so roughly.
“Vesper?” she rasped, searching for some sign of recognition. His gaze met hers and she gasped, shrinking against the cell wall. His eyes were a strange, foreign black—his moonlight glow nowhere to be seen. And the lion scar reddened like a vexed pulse.
“What ... what are you doing?” Her heart pounded in her ears. “Vesper, unlock the cell!” What was going on? The walls slowly closed in, and she couldn’t breathe.
He shook his head so slowly she thought he didn’t hear her. “I can’t.”
“No,” she choked, gripping the bars. “This isn’t funny.Let me out.”
He stared through the window; the moon now peaked in the sky. It had to be close to midnight or later. “We’re out of time.”
“What are you talking about?” Panic rose in her chest like a fluttering bird trying to escape. “Let me out.Now!”
“I’m sorry, Emmery,” Vesper pleaded, his eyes black as night. “I know you’re going to run, and I need you to stay here until I can get you to him.”
Emmery blanched, her stomach dropping. “Tohim? What are you—”
“I thought this would be easier. After all this time, after what you did—I thought I could put it all aside and do it. But you made this so bloody hard.” Emmery reached for her magic but not even a spark answered her call. As if seeing her thoughts he said, “It won’t work. The seal on the cell suppresses magic.”
Her heart fluttered like a frantic bird. “You can’t. What are you doing? I don’t—”
