Total pages in book: 247
Estimated words: 235897 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1179(@200wpm)___ 944(@250wpm)___ 786(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 235897 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1179(@200wpm)___ 944(@250wpm)___ 786(@300wpm)
“Since when do you believe in drug-induced hallucinations spit out by oracles?” Brennan throws up his hands, revealing the rune-shaped scar on his palm. “Or the ranting of our grandmother?”
Tell me, did you choose this path yourself? That’s what the priestess asked me.
“—and one of those paths…” Mira runs him right over, shaking her head. “They refused to take her. And I’ve been requesting temple records for months, but of course none of them would list a child, let alone a Sorrengail.”
My mind races, putting together pieces of a picture that I have no desire to see but am somehow a part of.
Brennan glances my way and blanches. “Mira—”
“The priestess spoke all cryptically but basically said if Violet chose her future poorly, she could still earn their mentorship, but she’d turn—” Mira continues.
“Mira!” Brennan gestures toward me.
Her startled gaze whips in my direction, and she flinches. “Violet,” she whispers, shaking her head. “I didn’t mean for you to… I’m sorry.”
“Turn what?” I demand. There’s only one turn that comes to mind.
She looks at Xaden. “Do you want to give us a second?”
“Stay.” I lean into him as my thoughts spin.
“No,” he answers Mira.
“Turn venin?” I guess.
Mira presses her lips into a tight line.
“You wouldn’t find any records at our temples,” I say slowly, heaviness settling in my chest.
“Because they never tried to dedicate you,” Brennan assures me, glaring at our sister.
“They did.” I nod sluggishly. “It just wasn’t here. They must have taken me to Unnbriel. It explains why you think my hair grew in like this, and the wild things that priestess said to me before she sliced my arm open.”
“No.” Brennan puts his hands on his hips. “Dad thought you were perfect, and he said that parents used to dedicate their infants to a particular deity’s service when they thought the touch of a god would help that child—” He quickly shuts his mouth.
My stomach hollows. “They tried to fix me by giving me to Dunne?”
“No chance. Mom was never temple-minded,” Brennan argues. “And you’ve never needed fixing.”
I’m not sure I’ll ever forgive him for what he’s done to her.
Oh gods. They’d never seen dragons until our squad arrived.
“Mom didn’t take me.” My eyes sting at the unexpected betrayal. “Dad did.” A horrified laugh bubbles up through my throat. “It’s why he told you that little piece of history, Brennan. In case you needed to put it together. It’s why he sent me there with those books.” I look to Mira. “I don’t think any of us actually knew our parents.” I blink. “Is that why you’ve been so distant lately? Why you constantly look at me like I’m going to grow a set of horns? Because you think I’m going to turn at any second?”
“No. Yes. Maybe. I don’t know.” She moves toward me, but Brennan blocks her path.
“What did she say?” Brennan asks Mira. “What were the priestess’s exact words?”
Mira twists the bracelet, then looks me straight in the eye. “She said the heart that beat for you—or within you—would do the wrong thing for the right reason, reach for unspeakable power, and turn dark.”
My lips part.
“Within her or for her?” Brennan asks.
“Isn’t it the same thing?” Mira challenges. “Violet’s at risk of turning, and with power like hers—”
“Stop,” Xaden says, and my head snaps in his direction. “It’s not Violet. It’s me.”
“No!” I shout down the bond, fear grasping me so tight my head lightens.
“My heart beats for her,” he tells Mira without so much as flinching. “I reached for unspeakable power. I turned. I’m the dark wielder she warned your father about, not Violet. Stop treating her like she’s a liability. I’m already the problem.”
Oh fuck.
Mira’s eyes sharpen on him, then me. “He’s not serious.”
“He is,” I confess, my voice barely a whisper. “He’s the reason we survived Basgiath.”
“Since December?” Her eyes bulge as she unsheathes the alloy-hilted dagger at her thigh.
“No!” I move in front of Xaden. “He’s stable.”
“He’s venin!” Mira lifts her blade.
“I don’t take kindly to blades being lifted toward Violet.” Xaden sweeps me to his side.
“Like I’m the dangerous one?” She flips the dagger in readiness to throw, and power rushes into me. “Brennan, are you—”
“Don’t,” my brother says softly.
Mira pauses and turns at the tone of his voice, understanding creeping over her face. “You knew?” Mira’s gaze jumps from Brennan, to Xaden, to me, hurt and shock mixing in a lethal combination. “He’ll kill you,” she says to me finally. “It’s what they do.”
“He won’t.” I pour every ounce of my certainty, my trust into the words.
“I won’t,” Xaden vows. “And yes, I’m stable, but all we can do is slow the progression.”
Mira’s breathing stills, and her eyes harden on mine. “You kept this from me.”
“You kept things from me, too.” My fingernails bite into my palms. “Things about myself that I deserved to know.”