Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 121339 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 607(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121339 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 607(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
She nodded. She’d figured some of that out. And now she knew the reason he hadn’t said anything. He hadn’t given her the plan. He couldn’t. It had to be her, but she had to do it on her own. Very tricky of the gods.
It was his turn to nod, having heard her thoughts. “We couldn’t hire someone, or outright ask someone, to kill him on our behalf. We had to wait for someone to do it on their own.” He sighed. “Well, we waited. And waited. But the unrest here, especially in the beginning when the magic was starting to twist, never yielded any results. Sure, there were rumors, but nothing happened. The king never missed a court gathering. Never missed a day sitting on his throne. Never looked wounded or hurt. Clearly, that was the magic, but we didn’t know that. I began to lose hope.”
He brought his hand up to trace his thumb along her chin.
“Then I found the crystal chalice, someone with incredible training and the right amount of viciousness—hard to find among humans, especially non-magical ones. I should know, I’ve looked. Your trainer’s upbringing must’ve helped—and his fae blood. His own viciousness, honed by his past. He then passed all that on to you, a human he knew could handle it. He knew you were special without knowing about the chalice. Or much about fae. But I wasn’t sure you could do it. Without telling you what was needed, I had no idea how I’d get you in front of the king. Or if you’d accomplish the goal when I did. If you could.”
“You didn’t even know I could null magic or siphon it.”
“No. The odds were that you would die, and it would add years to my search while a new crystal chalice was formed. I was prepared to wait. To learn from your failings and help train another to be better prepared.”
“You were taking me to slaughter.”
“Yes.” His eyes held deep remorse. “In the beginning, when in the human lands, I didn’t care. Not totally. You’d be sacrificed for the greater good. I was attracted to you—attraction doesn’t even describe it—but I thought it was because of the chalice magic. Even before you had it, I assumed it must be that. It made it easier.”
“Made what easier? Dragging me to my doom?”
He didn’t even hesitate. “Yes.”
She sat back, her heart aching, but didn’t let him know that.
His eyes were so deep, so full of regret. “In the beginning, I didn’t care if I lost you.” He said it without flinching. “I had a job to do. One human wouldn’t stand in my way of doing it. I was attracted, as I said. I thought of you all the time, dreamt of you, couldn’t wait to see you again—that kiss nearly undid me—but despite that, I knew what must be done. Had to be, for my Fallen, for my family, and for this realm. I would sacrifice you…and myself. I had no hesitation.”
Heat pricked the backs of her eyes. Her heart ached to hear all of this, even though at that time, she’d known it. She’d known his intentions, his ruthlessness, and she hadn’t balked at his cruelty. Now…it broke her in a way that the king never could’ve.
“But somewhere along the way…” His voice reduced to a whisper. “No, not somewhere. I know exactly when. The moment you decided to trust me in crossing the fringe, things changed. Everything changed. I started to slip in my motivations.” He licked his lips. “To fall. We had attraction in the beginning, but it wasn’t the gods. It was what any two strangers might have. It was mutual interest. It was a feeling. It was surface level.”
It was what Lexi and Kieran had had, despite their situation and his actions. Despite the danger. Daisy remembered looking on in confused wariness that Lexi would be so stupid as to be interested in a guy like him. As far as she was concerned, Lexi had been out of her mind. Completely illogical.
She got it now.
“The moment we stepped over the threshold as a team,” Tarian continued, “what was surface level grew roots. Depth. Deeper and deeper as we battled together. As we made choices to help the other—I didn’t save you from those poisoned thorns because you were the chalice. At that moment, I wasn’t thinking at all. I just knew I couldn’t bear to lose you. I couldn’t continue to exist if I had to witness seeing the vicious light dim in those beautiful eyes.” He swallowed. “I did it to protect you. The more I’ve gotten to know you, listened to your thoughts, reveled in your fire, the more I’ve fallen. Until the other morning, when you learned about my trials in this court and vowed to burn it all to the ground on my behalf… That was the instant I knew.”