Page 194 of The Last Guardian

Dark one.

“I don’t make the rules, Alyana. The mark branded you, and you alone. You managed to activate the relic; you managed to wield the power of light.”

I snorted. “And my siblings? Are they too, then? Nur—” I couldn’t even say the thing. It was absurd.

Zaid shook his head. “Only you.”

“How is it possible?”

Zaid didn’t answer.

The words sank inside me. “You could have killed me every day since my escape… so what changed?”

Zaid’s eyes softened, shining with a hue I didn’t want to delve into. “Everything,” Zaid answered.

I stiffened, averted my gaze. “I would have chosen the right path,” I declared.

“It was too much risk to take.”

Yet, he had never killed me.

You’re worth every risk, Alyana.

His words still echoed in my head.

But I just couldn’t let it all go. The deception. The betrayal.

“I never even had a chance to try,” I whispered, more to myself than to him. “You are part of the Order.” The words were rotten on my tongue.

“Yes,” Zaid answered.

My heart stumbled. Zaid had voted for my death… And the others? Who were they?

“So, who else?” I bit my lip, fighting back the tears.

Something stirred in my heart, another truth I couldn’t bring myself to face…

The mark I had was not a tattoo. Not like Zaid’s.

Not like Arthur.

“Alyana…”

“Who else?” I snapped.

Yet, I didn’t ask about my brother. I couldn’t.

Zaid stayed silent. Whoever worked with him, he was trying to protect them. And it took away the sadness and the heartbreak. Only anger remained.

“I can’t believe I let myself get drawn into this… with you! I should have known… As soon as I knew who you were, I should have known.” I sighed. “What kind of twisted plan is this? Why did you do this to me? Did you want to control me and use my power while enjoying fucking me? And then kill me whenever you felt like it?”

Zaid moved, breaking the distance between us in a second. The warmth of his body vibrated through mine. I stepped back again.

His chest moved quickly. His hands clenched at his sides. I knew he wanted to reach out to me. But he didn’t.

“I did everything I could to stay away from you… to avoid getting dragged into this mess. I wanted to find a way to let you live, to—” Zaid paused, swallowing the words he was about to say. He closed his eyes as he said at last, “It doesn’t matter. Not anymore.”

“You should have told me the truth. The moment we left Kraktos, you should have told me.”