Series: Lords of Rathe Series by Meagan Brandy
Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 98580 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 493(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 329(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98580 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 493(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 329(@300wpm)
“She is destined to restore balance.”
Odin eyes me, slowly sitting forward in his seat. “Acheros … what are you saying?” he whispers, as if the words alone could strike us where we stand.
“You know exactly what I’m saying.”
He's silent a long moment before swiping his hands down his face. “Are you sure?”
“As sure as I am they’re coming for me. I’m weakening. My shadow self has nearly taken over. It won’t be long until it does for good and I can’t be with her when that happens. They will kill me, and they will take her, Odin.”
Sadness fills my oldest friend’s eyes and he nods. “The council has already begun to whisper about it. They search for you now. If they found out I was here and didn’t take you in myself, I’d be slayed for treason.”
Silence. “That’s why you can’t come back, just promise me Villaina will not face the same fate as I. She deserves to live, Odin. She must live. The future of Rathe depends on it.”
Odin stands, offering me his hand, both of us knowing this is the last we shall see each other. I slip my fist into his and he lowers his chin. “You have my word.”
I snatch my hand back from him, wincing.
I stare at the man before me, an ally with no recognition, the most trustworthy kind in existence.
“You are the one that tried to keep me away. The voice in my head that day, the warning in the letter.”
He nods. “Both the King and I, yes.”
My throat grows thick. “The King helped save me. Why?”
He gives me a knowing look and I nod.
For his son.
He knew. He knew I was fated to one day become Queen of Rathe, that I was Knight’s mate.
Odin shakes his head. “No, Villaina,” he says softly. “It wasn’t just about Knight unlocking his Ethos. It was about you, the girl he was given, and it was about the Kingdom. See, King Arturo had no choice but to allow the Ministry to form after the death of the Argent royal monarch. His sons had yet to be born, so he had to protect the throne, to save and secure it for the next generation of Stygians and that was the only way. For many centuries, he was the only living Deveraux, and his bride...”
My brows pull. Of course.
Of course.
“Cosima wasn’t his mate. That’s why she didn’t ascend.”
He nods. “She could never be given the gift of darkness. The fires of hell would never rage war in her name. She was imbalanced, rejected her mate for the seat on the crown.”
A chill runs through me and somehow, I know the answer to the question before I ask it. “Who was her mate?”
He's quiet a moment before he says, “Your father.”
Holy. Fucking. Shit.
Twenty-Eight
London
My dad.
My dad was fated to Cosima, and she rejected him. She is the reason he went feral and blood thirsty. He turned on his people because his mate turned on him for a title that did not belong to her.
The King’s words come back to me, and I close my eyes.
The gift of the dark gods shall not pass on to just any, yet you hold the key in your hands. Remember that, Little Crow, and just when emerald eyes fall upon you, feast until you feel its soul.
I blink. I've yet to see the emerald eyes, but the gift.
The gift was passed to me.
I look down, and the long scars on my arms glitter back at me, the darkness beneath twinkling as if to answer.
The King saved my life.
Wait. Little Crow?
My head snaps up, tears prickling the backs of my eyes. “My uncle...”
Odin gives a soft smile. “He is King Arturo’s bastard brother. He was banished from these lands many moons ago. When the King asked for my help, I went and found him on Exile Island.”
I look to Haide, but she’s busy snooping around the room. “I want to see him.”
Odin nods. “I’m sure once you are crowned, you can bring him home no problem.”
He's alive. My uncle, or well, the man I know and love as my uncle is alive. I thought for sure Knight killed him too—
I cut my thought off when a small crack forms in my chest, and I push it away. I will deal with my heartache soon, but today is not the day.
“Do you have any questions?” Odin asks, reaching into his pocket and taking out a long cigar. Do I? Didn’t I always want this? To have the chance to ask about my father and both my parents, without setting off war alarms for the mere mention of The Slasher.
I shake my head. “I don’t need to know anything more than what you’ve just shown me, Odin.”
“Your father wasn’t an evil man by choice. It is just what some become when their mate denies their fate.” Don’t I know it, I was well on my way. “I think it hit him so hard because his mate wasn’t just a girl on the street he never had to see, but the Queen he had to watch grow a family with another so publicly. When he met your mother, I thought he might be ok, he tried his best to love her, but she had no love to give anyone, and fed herself to the dragons after you were born.”