Tyr pushed away from the wall and took a few steps into the room. I didn't move. In fact, I felt my body lock up as I pushed back against the wall, wanting to stay as far from him as possible. "Then a grand idea appeared before me," Tyr said, throwing his arms out wide. When he smiled this time it was too tight with a maniacal gleam in his eyes. "Why control only humans? Fae are just as easy to control? What if I could control the world? Everything!"
I frowned. My brows drew down low and I shook my head back and forth. I didn't understand. "What?" I blurted.
Tyr lowered his arms. "It's simple," he explained. "All I have to do is let them kill each other. I won't even have to lift a finger or dirty my hands. I am the player and they are my pawns. All I need to do is push them into place and let them finish the work. Afterwards, I'll be able to rule over the remains with no opposition. And you—" He stopped and turned to me. "You came along at the most perfect opportunity."
A sick feeling of dread curled in my stomach and I swallowed reflexively.
"My brother has no idea the power he wields," he confessed. "And I made sure to keep it that way."
"The scars..." I whispered. "You did that." His tone was too smug, too proud for it not to be true.
He shrugged. "If he wasn't strong enough to beat me once, what made him think he could do it again?"
"He can beat you now, though, can't he?" I asked. That was why he'd tortured him as a child, I realized. Because he knew the kind of power Orion would grow into. I'd never seen it myself, but I'd felt it. And Orion was backed by Sorrell and Roan. They were each powerful on their own, but together … they were unstoppable. And that's why he'd needed me.
"All I needed to do, once I'd understood the kind of power you held over them, was incite them."
I felt so foolish. So stupid. But how could I have known? I lifted my arms and curled my fingers into my hair. No no no. This couldn't be happening. Was I the reason that they would be hurt? I knew that was true in the deepest parts of my soul.
"I lied before," Tyr admitted. Shocker, I thought as I released my hair and glanced up. Except it wasn't. It really wasn't. "You won't make it out of this alive. Your death will instigate the next part of this war. The final part. And from the ashes, I will rise."
I was disgusted. Horrified. And utterly at a loss. My lips parted but no words emerged. What could I say? What could I do? Nothing. I could do and say nothing that would stop the course that he'd set.
Tyr grinned again, recognizing the emotions on my face. "Be overjoyed, little Changeling." This time, when he said that name, I didn't flinch. "You'll be the reason I finally get my wish. You'll be the very pawn used to decide the next God among humans and Fae. Me. Fitting, don't you think? All those years ago, I was ordered to kill the entirety of you and your brood. Yet here you stand before me and finally, my task will be carried out."
"What?" I gaped at him. "What do you mean you were ordered to kill me?"
He arched a brow. "You still haven't figured it out?" He laughed, sounding more than amused. He sounded crazy. Deranged. Completely cut off from sanity. He stopped abruptly, turning and striding towards the door that led to freedom. He knocked once, twice, three times before turning back to me. "You are the last heir to the Brightling Court, Cressida," he said. "You are the Brightling Princess and it was my duty to slay you. You escaped once. You won't escape again. Instead, you'll be used to hand the world over to me. Who knows?" He chuckled again as the door was unlocked and pulled open. "Maybe you're technically a Brightling Queen now since your mother is long dead. At my hands, too."
"Wait!" I jerked forward as he stepped out and the door closed behind him. I slammed into the wood, feeling the hit shake me to my core. I wanted to know more. No, I needed to know more.
"Don't worry, Cressida." Tyr's voice drifted through the wood. "Like I said, you'll be leaving here soon and you'll be joining your true family in the afterlife."
I sank against the door, turning and pressing my back to it as my bones trembled. My knees hit the cold, dirty ground and I curled into myself as his words echoed in my mind over and over again. I closed my eyes and let darkness take me into oblivion.
Chapter Two
Roan
She was gone.
The thought beat at me like the heat of the sun, unrelenting in its force. Wave after wave of heated anger pulsed through me. We had fucked up. We’d missed it. And Tyr was a fucking traitor. Perhaps he didn’t know yet that we knew where he’d taken her, but just before the portal had closed, I’d glimpsed a hint of where they’d landed. The human Kingdom, and not just any place, but the Royal human palace.
When I get my hands on him, I’m going to burn him to ash, I swore silently.
The urge to track her down, to save her from whatever Tyr was planning, was almost uncontrollable. My bones and muscles vibrated with the desire—it swelled up even beyond the initial shock.
I looked to Sorrell and Orion. Silence echoed between us as we made our way back to the Court of Frost’s castle. A darkness had overtaken Orion. For all of his Midnight powers, he’d never truly appeared as though he was a part of their Court. He’d been too compassionate, too sane, too gentle. He was anything but that now. Even in his silence, I could sense the dark force within him. There was no denying it, no hiding it.
And surprisingly, Sorrell wasn't much better. No matter how much he preached against Cress, his anger was nearly as potent as mine. His very skin was whiter than ice, nearly blue as frost crept up over the side of his neck, inching forward. Every step he took left a path of ice in his wake. None of us could control it—the emotions swirling within our bodies demanding restitution.
“We need to get back,” I said, stopping in the corridor just outside of the Court of Frost’s throne room. “We have to go after her.”
Neither of them said a word, but their strides did slow and stop alongside mine. I closed my eyes and forced my anger back. I grabbed each of their arms and yanked them along with me. Shoving until they both slammed into the wall.
“Wake the fuck up!” I yelled. “We are in no position for this. We need to figure out what we’re going to do. We have to form a plan of attack.” Cress was depending on me, she was depending on us.
Sorrell blinked at me, a light seeming to reenter his eyes, though not fast enough for my liking. Orion remained expressionless.
“It’s time to fucking go,” I gritted out. When, once again, neither of them said a word, my Royal fire burned out of control, and for the first time since I was a child incapable of controlling my powers, I lost it. I roared as fire licked against my scalp, and turning, I slammed my fist into a nearby stone wall. So many turbulent emotions were pent up.
I didn’t think. I just reacted to all of it. I pivoted, grabbed onto Orion, and yanked him towards me, shoving my face into his.
"You think this is going to help Cress?” I demanded. “It’s not. We need to go out, find her, and get her back. And I swear to you, Orion—throne brother of mine or not—I will kill your blood brother if it’s the last thing I do. I will not settle for less. He took what is mine.”