Page 84 of Songs of Retribution

Shaan whimpered in my mind.

But how sad for my father. He’d chosen to not have the love and adoration of a son who would have freely given it. This war, the deaths, they were on him and his decisions. He’d even crafted exactly what he feared—the other courts standing against him.

Father stormed the few steps between us and kneeled, pressing a knee into my gut so I gagged and spit out more blood from a gash on the inside of my cheek. He smashed another fist into my jaw, and I saw double.

"Look at you," he said, his face close to mine. "Look at what a weak, useless, failure you still are."

I lifted my face, though it took everything in me to do so with my entire being throbbing like death was prepared to snatch me from my miserable body. "You're wrong," I rasped. "You've always been wrong."

He sneered and raised a fist into the air. It would be a killing blow. I could already imagine it cracking into me with such force it would slam everything to a stop and rip my soul from my body. He’d never loved me and never would. All the scraps of hope that he might have if I proved myself worthy were lost in that moment.

I shifted the dart in my palm and used my wind magic to propel my hand forward so fast it blurred. The dart embedded into the flesh of Father’s neck. He gagged and grabbed my hand. I unleashed ice, not my most powerful element but a useful one. It crusted around the dart, sealing it under a layer as hard as rock.

Father screamed and scrambled back. This man I’d spent my entire life hoping to earn respect from trembled and retched as the Amentium unleashed hell on his body.

I rose with shaking limbs and a whimper to go to him. I’d never longed to hurt him, and I didn’t desire to kill him even though he didn’t deserve mercy. Yet he was still my father. "Yield," I said, my throat hoarse. "Hand the powers to Lira, and I'll remove the dart."

He scraped at the ice, ripping skin off his neck, and blood trailed down the ice in crimson rivulets, filling the creases of his knuckles as he crumpled.

"Yield, God damn you," I yelled.

He glared at me even as color drained from his face. "I never yield."

"You're going to die.” I kneeled beside him, and the sight of my resolute, unbendable father sprawled out in the mud, dying from something I’d done was like an explosion waiting to detonate within my chest. “I am willing to let you live."

Shaan had jumped off the kelpie and walked slowly towards us, but I couldn't rip my eyes from my father. His spirit was fading. I could feel the trace of his magic weaken, and he dropped his head to the ground.

He raised a hand and yanked a handful of my shirt into his fist, pulling me towards him with more strength than I believed him capable of considering his condition. My magic crackled out, ready to bury him in ice or catch him aflame if necessary, but he didn't lash out at me. He pulled me closer to him. A drop of blood from my face dripped onto his cheek, but he didn’t even flinch.

"Lira was right,” he choked.

"Lira?" I asked.

"She said I didn't know you. She was right." His grip loosened incrementally like his muscles weakened too much to hold on. "Take care of the Seelie, Lennox." His voice rose again. "Swear it to me, boy. Protect our court."

"I swear," I gasped, blood still pouring down my face as one of my eyes had started to swell and narrow my vision.

His hand dropped. His chest expanded with breath, once, twice, then ceased to rise again. He went still. The man I'd spent my life fearing and longing for, hating and wanting to love, killing myself to impress, was dead.

My magic quelled in a massive snap, like someone grabbed the reins and jerked me off my feet. It was so immediate and shocking, the pain in my body ceased. I dropped into the mud beside my father. His dead eyes stared into mine. Perhaps this was how we both died, here on this battlefield, surrounded by the choices we’d made.

The sounds of war changed to terror and weakness.

Shaan dropped beside me and grabbed my hand, but even his touch wasn't enough to pull me back.

Lira,I tapped into magic.

Lennox? Are you okay? Oh my god, you're hurt, aren't you?Frantic energy trilled through her voice like a bird realizing someone plundered her nest.

You're holding the Seelie magic too tight. You're going to… kill us… all.

Oh!She squeaked and magic slipped back into my limbs in a flood. She hadn't unleashed all the powers, but enough for life.

I clumsily sat up and my body screamed, but with Shaan's support I leaned over my father, melted the ice on his neck, and pulled the Amentium dart out.

I stared at him.

My eyes burned, but my body had gone numb. I tried to piece out my mind, but nothing came—just a howling roar, like a wolf whose pack was murdered. Who realized he was the one who'd killed them in a fit of madness. A tear broke free and trailed down my cheek.

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