Page 21 of Renegade Kingdom
I didn’t know what to say. Didn’t know what to feel.
Arik was my brother. Nymeria was my... mother? Creator?Something. And I’d been made, literally made, to destroy him.
My whole existence was a weapon aimed at someone’s heart.
“The Fifth Court,” I said, latching onto something concrete. Something I could act on. “That’s where Nymeria is. That’s where we need to go.”
Fizzle nodded. “Yes. She’s waiting for you. She’s been waiting for a very long time.”
“Why not send me there sooner? When the Spring Court fell?”
“Because you weren’t ready. You weren’t strong enough. You didn’t have all the pieces for the prophecy or access to the entirety of your magic.”
“Do I have it all now?” I asked, even though I was starting to realise that I already knew the answer.
“No. But you’re close.” Fizzle looked almost sad as he said it. “The lock is starting to open.”
Chapter Six
Ryder
“How much longer?” Alyssa asked grimly. She seemed so accepting of her situation, but I knew she’d be screaming in frustration in her head.
“Soon,” Fizzle said cryptically. Then, as if remembering how close he was to losing it all, he clarified, “I have no way of telling. But you’re getting stronger.”
Alyssa just nodded once. There was only so much she could take and I could tell she was quickly reaching her limit. Maybe the Fifth Court would be able to give us the answers we needed, or at least some form of certainty.
I could feel my wolf pacing at the edges of my mind, agitated by the tension, by the anger radiating from my brothers. Ripples of fur were cascading across Dean’s forearms. His wolf pushed toward the surface, demanding to be let out. Maddox’s lion was there too, a low rumble I could almost hear. And Tank...
A crack of splintering wood made me flinch.
I looked over to see talons ripping through Tank’s fingers, buried deep in the back of the chair he’d been gripping. Thewood groaned and crumbled under the pressure of his bear’s strength.
Tank didn’t seem to notice. His eyes were fixed on Fizzle with an intensity that made my stomach clench.
We were all close to losing it. Too close. The new shifter sides of us were volatile at the best of times, and when it came to Alyssa, to threats to our mate, we hadn’t learned how to manage the flood of protective fury that came with it. We hadn’t had time to figure out where we ended and our beasts began.
Fizzle looked between us all, taking in the barely-contained violence, the magic crackling in the air, the way we’d unconsciously arranged ourselves around Alyssa like a wall of muscle and teeth and fury.
And for a moment, strangely, he actually seemed... happy?
Then Alyssa stepped forward, and all trace of softness vanished from her expression.
“Is that everything? Think very carefully before you speak, Fizzle. This is your last chance. Youronlychance. And if you’ve told me everything, I can’t guarantee that I’m not going to kill you anyway. Your lies and manipulations end here and now. Do you understand me?”
Her voice was ice and fire, power thrumming beneath every word. I’d never heard her sound like that before. Like a queen pronouncing sentence. Like something ancient and terrible wearing the face of the woman I loved.
Fizzle looked between us all again, and when his gaze finally settled on Alyssa, his eyes were glimmering with unshed tears.
“I’m so proud of you,” he said softly.
Whatever I’d expected him to say, it wasn’t that.
“I watched over you for years,” Fizzle continued, his voice thick with emotion. “Guided you where I could. And the Queen you have become has been an honour to behold.” He dipped his head in something like a bow. “But you’re right. As much as Iwant to protect you, to nudge you in the right direction, it’s time for you to make your own decisions. For me to trust you enough to make the right choices.”
“Then start trusting,” Alyssa snapped. “Finish whatever it is that you have left to say.”
Fizzle nodded, seeming to accept his fate.
