Page 231 of The Ascended
Xül would be back soon. I needed to hurry.
Gods, Thais. Focus.
But word by word, the letter began to take shape.
"primary concern... final trial..."
And there it was again—"Morvaren."
My heart pounded as I focused all my attention on the sentences surrounding that name.
I flipped frantically through the concordance, searching for matches. Some words remained stubbornly opaque, creating gaps in my translation, but enough meaning emerged to send ice through my veins.
"The Morvaren..."
"...unacceptable risk..." Another untranslated word or phrase. "unstable... threat..."
What?
I worked with renewed urgency, my exhaustion forgotten as fear drove me forward. More fragments emerged: "...final trial... male… opportunity... eliminated…”
Eliminated.The word stood out starkly among the others, its meaning unmistakable.
But then I translated the next line, and my blood froze in my veins.
"The male Morvaren is our primary concern. He must be eliminated in the final trial."
Not me.
Thatcher.
Must be eliminated.
The page slipped from my numb fingers and ghosted across the table below. Nausea crippled me, cold sweat breaking out across my skin.
And then there was only rage.
Chapter 55
Raining Stars
The letter burnedin my pocket as I stormed from the library, each step faster than the last until I was running through the castle halls.
My brother. Someone was going to kill him.
And Xül knew. He'd known all along.
There are things about me that you don't know,he’d said.Things that could make you change your mind.
This is what Heron had tried to warn me about. Why Thatcher’s line was cut off.
I burst through the castle doors onto the shore, the impact nearly tearing them from their hinges. The sky bled into a deeper red, bruising the horizon. The ocean churned and spat at the sand.
Gods, I'd been so stupid. So fucking stupid.
I'd let him touch me. Let him whisper against my skin. Let himin.
I clawed at my chest, at the place where Xül had carved himself into my heart. Every memory of last night—his hands, his mouth, the soft words against my neck.
