Supernatural Villain (Supernatural Captivity #3) - Avery Song Page 0,29

and for a brief moment, he'd succeeded. Just like he took Quil-Zu's love away, he'd robbed me of my men and wouldn't hesitate to get rid of me again.

I'd come too far to fall into his masterplan, but this was the moment to mourn. To shed tears that should have been shed years ago. I'd been privileged to not only return, but to be blessed with my dragon who was my past mother.

The truth had been revealed and I just needed to embrace the hardship the truth had brought to my consciousness.

A hand laid upon mine, and I looked up to see the woman of the past. Her hair began to shift to a burning red with purple highlights, her face similar to mine while her eyes were striking red. She wore a dark crown, one of black with red rubies, and her dragon wings were spread out to their full length. A black dress donned her flesh, and she knelt down before me with glassy eyes.

I knew without a doubt who she was, which made the sobs leave my lips even harder.

"Cassandra," she whispered and soon had her arms wrapped around me in comfort. I cried into her embrace, shedding tears of misery and hopelessness. I had to endure all of it, and this was only the beginning of the side effects of knowing the truth.

"Quil-Zu," I sobbed into her chest as she held me. "How...how is it fair? He took you...and your love away. He killed me before I could even take a breath. After whatever amount of years since then...he's back to redo the deed, and I've discovered this all too late. He killed my men. He took them away. Even if I rise to the throne of these lands that were once yours, how will I prosper? How will I bring them back?"

Quil-Zu didn't say anything in the beginning, working on comforting me as best she could as I sobbed and whimpered. All the emotions were just too much, and I felt mentally fractured by the strain of it all.

I knew without a doubt I'd be a completely different person when I came out of this. No more bullshit of wondering what I was capable of. My real question was if I could conquer this without my men.

If I have to accept I'll never see them again.

She let me cry until there were no more tears, and even when I finally calmed, she pulled me back, only to lift my chin and give me a loving smile.

"Do you believe I, Quil-Zu, previous queen of these lands, would be fine with the idea of your men being gone?"

"But...if I hope...I can't be a villain."

"Cassandra, it doesn't matter what you do. You may have to present yourself as a villain to the outside world, but that sinister blood doesn't run through your genetic makeup. You were never meant to walk upon the dark side. The light has always been your rightful place, but it's our enemy that wishes to taint you into thinking only darkness reigns and you must join it to reach where you wish to be."

She smiled as her eyes softened for a brief moment.

"These lands were blessed by the fae and dragon kingdoms. It was a land created with love and hope for a future far brighter and more forgiving than the cruel one we currently live in where supernaturals are plagued for crimes they never committed while others fall into the gamble between self-hate and dissatisfaction with the lack of safety for our kind."

"I want to believe," I whispered. "To...to find whatever way to bring them back and face Wilfried once and for all. I'm frightened of failure. Scared to lose again. There's so much that needs to be done. So much that has to be fixed to make all of this right. It's like a back-and-forth struggle between my resolve and what I'm destined to do, and more importantly, it's leaving me torn as to who I should be. What persona I should portray myself as."

Blinking back my tears, I further stared into her eyes.

"You kneel here and comfort me when you've discovered the truth. Uncovered the past and your newfound purpose, and yet you're here comforting me. Aren't you mad? Don’t you want to seek revenge of your own? Don’t you have the urge to burn the whole place down?"

"Yes," she admitted and moved her other hand to stroke my wet cheek. "My tranquility doesn't lie in the fact I was wronged