Page 110 of Beneath the Flames
At whatever look was on my face, Carrow smiled.I glanced at Maren.Anger burned through my blood that I couldn’t reach her with my magic, that I had no idea what she was feeling now.I wished my magic was strong enough to attack Carrow, to make him release her.
“Time is wasting,” Carrow taunted.“Tell her.”
“Youhappened,” I ground out.
He clicked his tongue.“Don’t try to pass blame, Rhydian.”
“Pass blame?”I said, disbelieving.Faint golden light filled my palms in response to the fury roaring through me.“How is it passing blame whenyouwere the one who tortured them and left them for dead by Eroth’s portal?”
Carrow’s face went blank, looking bored.“I didn’t take their lives.”
“You may as well have.”
Though shame had me wanting to press my lips tightly together and keep the words that I’d hidden for so long inside, I looked Maren in the eye.If she was ever going to love me, she needed to know the truth.
“Fifty humans,” I began.“Since the curse was laid centuries ago, I have brought fifty humans here, in hopes that one of them would be the cursebreaker.One by one, Carrow convinced each one of them to leave Eroth and go with him.”I let out a bitter breath.“Only once he had them in his grasp, he wasted no time.”
I shifted my glare to Carrow.“He tortured each one to the brink of death and then left them by the portal in Eroth.By the time I found them, it was too late to save them.The only thing I could do was end their suffering.”
“Say the words, Rhydian.She needs to hear them.”
“It was a mercy compared to what you did to them!”I roared.
Carrow was unaffected by my anger.“Say the words.”
My chest heaved.“I killed them.”
I met Maren’s gaze, expecting to see a plethora of things: hatred, betrayal, fear.But instead, I was surprised to find that there was…understanding.
“Now, doesn’t that feel better?”Carrow straightened.“She might as well know everything.Tell her what will happen when the curse is broken,” he said, and my bones turned to ice.
When I hesitated, he wrapped his fingers around Maren’s throat once again.She gasped, clawing at his hands, but it was no use.A human was no match for a Dark Fae.
I had never planned to tell her this part.She never would have agreed to break the curse if I had.This was always meant to be a secret.
“Tell her, Rhydian.”His quiet command was somehow more terrifying than when he had yelled the words.A pained gasp sounded from her as he squeezed even harder.
Desperate for Carrow to release her, I swallowed hard and summoned the words that would seal my fate, ensuring Maren would never love me.
On a shaky breath, I spoke.
“You will die.”
Carrow’s violet magic released in an instant, and I crashed to the hard floor, precious air finally flooding my lungs.My knees ached at the impact, throat throbbing, and my chest painfully expanded as I tried to breathe, tried to calm my frantic heart.
When my vision finally cleared enough to focus, Carrow was looming over me, his attention on Rhydian, who was a few feet away.His hands were fisted at his sides, his gaze fixed on me.It was a strange look that I’d never seen on him before.
Then Rhydian’s words registered, twisting my stomach into knots.
I would die?But Rhydian had told me that I’d be free to leave Avalea if the curse was broken.
“You lied to me?”I asked, struggling to keep the trembling from my voice and pushing to my feet.My legs shook beneath me as I took several large steps away from Carrow, even thoughthe space would do little against his magic if he decided to attack again.“I thought you said you’d send mehome.”My voice broke on the word.
I had to be misunderstanding things.Carrow must have been twisting things to make it seem like Rhydian was the villain.
I took a step toward Rhydian, those gold-ringed eyes pulling me in.
“Rhydian?”My voice was soft, gentle, hoping it would disarm him enough to let me in for once, to be honest with me.
