Page 121 of Beauty

My uncle is older, his hair gone to silver. He looks nothinglike the man who would sit at my father’s side and talk at night. He’s wrinklednow, hate and guilt obviously taking their toll. But he’s still strong. Hehauls two guards with him.

“Take the hags into custody,” Torin announces, his voiceringing out.

The hags laugh. They stand their ground, staring down theguards. “I don’t think they want to do that, Your Majesty. They might discoverthey prefer their man parts on the outside of their bodies.”

The guards hesitate. I realize I have what I need. They areall here. All here in one place.

I’m ready. I send the message out to everyone, butespecially to my loves.

And then Maris enters the room. I can’t believe it. She wassupposed to run the minute she convinced Torin to find me. Maris should havefled the castle or joined the bondmates. It was her and Niall’s job to ensuretheir safety.

The hags begin their threats and Torin his screams forvengeance. He doesn’t even look my way. But Maris does. She moves in close. Shestill wears her thin, diamond-and-gold crown.

“Do it,” Maris whispers.

I shake my head. Despite all the chaos Maris caused, I can’tkill her. She repented in her way. “I can’t. You know I can’t. Maris, you knowwhat’s going to happen.”

Maris leans in, her voice low. “I’ve protected the otherswith a spell and Niall is with them. Fire won’t touch them. And I always knewthis was how I would end. I don’t want to live, Bronwyn. I want to go home, andmy home is no longer here. Do it or I will tell them what’s happening. You willlose your chance. You will lose everything.”

I’m weak again. So weak. I feel sick, my stomach rolling. Ican barely move my fingers. How will I do what I need to do? Misery swamps me.I’m so close, but I’m going to fail. I’m going to let them all down. My people.My brothers. My loves. Myself.

My vision starts to fade.

A cool wind buoys me and a familiar voice fills my head.“Then take my strength, daughter. It was always meant for you and Beck andCian. My children.”

My father floats in front of me, the hags and Torin ignoringhim as they continue their argument. My father keeps his eyes on me. “Tell themI did love them. My sons. They will make great kings, and you are already aqueen. You didn’t need a crown, Bron. You only needed your own strong heart.”

He moves forward, his essence merging with mine.

The whispers die, but I’m shot through with life. Fathergave me everything. He waited, gave up his after, all in order to give me onelast gift. One last chance at life. I’m suffused with energy. I brim with it.

I can do this.

“What just happened?” the skinny one asks, looking aroundthe room as though searching for a threat.

The hag takes a step back, my will a palpable thing. In thatmoment, I feel like a queen.

The hags cackle and Torin yells. The guards begin to taptheir swords looking for something to kill. I can hear my compatriots waitingfor the time and the time is now.

I do what I was born to do. I open my soul and connect usall. A hundred bondmates, our power soaring and reaching out. The hag who ateall those souls gasps, and I realize the hag’s mistake. The hag is mine, caughtin a net of her own making. Those souls that live inside her want to be free,and I give them a way, a path to the after.

The large hag shakes and her head falls back, all the soulsrushing out through her mouth and eyes and ears, killing her in an instant.

Torin turns and tries to flee, but Maris catches him. Shefalls to the floor, trapped in the power. Her mouth opens and a scream splitsthe air, but she holds on to Torin, dragging him down, keeping him close. Ifeel her will. This is for her. This is revenge for her love and the girl she’dbeen. Maris believes in vengeance, and she is at peace with death.

But I believe in love. Vengeance burns away in the face oflove. Love for my family and my husbands. Love for my people. Love for what isright in the world.

I am the vessel and the time is right.

I call on fire. It sizzles through my soul. I pull it fromShim, dragging his power into my hands, and with a great yell I send it out. Itraces from my skin. Heat, white and hot, flashes through me, a great wave ofchange. I send it to engulf the hags and Torin and Maris, send it out furtherto every soul on the hags’ leash. There is no way to free those they corruptedexcept to send them to the after.

Fire reigns, pouring from my every cell, a cascade ofpurifying blaze that wipes clean Torin’s evil.

I let it rage and rage, the heat crackling around me andthen, when I’m sure it’s enough, I let it go.

I slump down, my body held up only by the chains that bindme. My clothes are gone in the crisp of the flames, the fire burning so hotthat there’s nothing but stone and metal left in the room. Even the bones areashes.

Weariness settles over me, but I need to hear them. Feelthem.