me, I heard Archer’s murderous howl.
19
Archer
This is how it was done. I knew it. I felt it. But worst of all, I fell for it.
Krall had threatened to put me in Dragonsteel. But the moment I saw Phaedra crumple to the ground, there was no need for it. To save her, I would do anything they asked of me.
Anything.
“It’s what you were born for,” Krall said. “What we made you for.”
I didn’t recognize the room. It was cavernous, with a winding staircase leading to the stars. The checkerboard floor was hard beneath my cheek. Krall had his foot pressed against my back. I could have thrown him off. He was no physical match for me. But from here, I could see Phaedra’s face. Watch her eyes for the slightest fluttering of her lids. She had teardrops forming in each corner. Her body though, remained still. Frozen in ice. Her fire gone out.
“What the hell did you do to her?” I asked. Finally fed up with Krall’s proximity. I launched myself off the ground and pushed him backward. He staggered, but recovered quickly, his eyes lit with power.
“You’ll take over the western United States,” he said. “The mistake we made was not thinking big enough with Able Valent. He was an experiment. You’re the product we’ve been looking for.”
“I’m not my father,” I said, echoing Phaedra’s words.
“No, you’re better.”
Then Krall let light shoot from his fingertips, blinding me. I couldn’t see. Could barely breathe. Then, the world opened up. It wasn’t a spell at all. Krall had opened up a window. He showed me the past.
I saw my father in this very same room with an elaborate crystal chandelier hanging high above but no ceiling to be seen. Its cable disappeared into a purple sky filled with stars far too big, far too close.
They had him in Dragonsteel, suspended between wolf and man. He was so familiar. His scent was my scent. Krall was there, but Able’s focus drifted elsewhere. I followed it.
“My God,” I whispered. She was pretty. Long, red hair and delicate features. Tongues of flame lapped at her ankles. It reflected gold in her eyes. She was bound with some kind of light. Fae magic, for sure. Though her own magic felt pure, it was nothing compared to what I’d felt from Phaedra.
“She’s a witch,” I gasped. “You son of a bitch. She was a fire witch.”
“Seems it’s more than just your destiny,” Krall’s disembodied voice reached me.
Able didn’t speak, and yet I felt him call to the bound woman.
“Last chance,” Krall said to Able.
“Don’t,” the woman gasped. “Able. Don’t do it.”
Then, the light binding her expanded. It went into her eyes and nose. When she shrieked, the light came out of her mouth. My God. They were turning her own magic against her.
“Stop!” Able screamed. “I’ll do it. Whatever you want. Let her go!”
It was then I noticed how young he was. Barely past puberty. Sixteen? Seventeen? His wolf would have been wild, raw, hard to control.
Krall rose up. Able went to his knees. Slowly, achingly, he turned fully into his wolf. Black as tar, with yellow eyes that burned with hatred. Krall used it. As the woman screamed her terror, Able’s eyes changed.
“No!” I yelled, though this was only a mirage. It wasn’t real. It might not have even been true. But I knew in my heart it was.
Able’s eyes went black first, then as Krall’s laughter rose, they turned the deepest red. The eyes of a Tyrannous Alpha. An abomination to our kind.
Gasping for air, I clutched my stomach as the vision dissipated.
“He didn’t act fast enough to save his mate,” Krall said. “Your father thought he could have it all. But you know better. That was the mistake I made all those years ago. I should have let Able Valent experience what I’m capable of. But you know, don’t you?”
I did.
“Good,” Krall said, though I hadn’t spoken out loud. “You know, your father said the process didn’t even hurt. He said if he’d realized how easy it was, he would have simply allowed it sooner. Think of all the drama that would have been avoided.”
“You killed her anyway,” I said. “That fire witch. His mate. Even after he agreed to do your bidding and become the thing we abhor. You didn’t stop. You murdered her.”
“I wouldn’t call it murder,” Krall said. “The girl, her name was Anne. She wasn’t particularly powerful.”
“She was barely more than a child!” I shouted. “So was he.”
“But this one,”