Ruins of Chaos (Legacy of the Nine Realms #3) - Amelia Hutchins Page 0,231

been an easier choice. Kamara was powerful, but she wasn’t strong of will. Hecate had forbidden all of her daughters from reaching for the throne. I’m going to take a guess and say she’s always been the High Queen of Witches and chose a face to appear before the Nine Realms. She came here to rule, and so she has. We think we’re five steps ahead, but she’s twenty steps further than us.”

“You’re saying I am not going to war against one Hecate witch, I’m going to war against them all, and a goddess?” he asked carefully, eyes glaring at me to make certain I knew that I was on that list too.

“Pretty much, unless you can make myth and legend into fact,” I swallowed, holding his stare.

“Which one? Because there’s many surrounding your family, Aria,” he countered, studying my face.

“Do you know why Hecate forbid us from birthing male children?” I asked, feeling my stomach flip-flopping as he glared at me with loathing and a coldness that rebuilt every barrier we’d just broken through. His mortar was gone, but in its place was ice.

“No, but I’m sure some lie will spew from those pretty lips of yours.”

“Hecate was given a prediction, a fortune if you will,” I exhaled, dropping my volume to barely a whispered breath. Moving closer to the barrier, I stared through it. “When the son of the first people finds life through a Hecate witch’s womb, the world will turn to chaos, and the goddess will be in ruins. When the son rises and reaches for his rightful birthright, the battle will settle upon us, and the world shall rattle with might. For when the beast is unleashed, and the son discovers his truth, he will aim his fire at the goddess and send her back to her tomb.”

“Did they teach you that in preschool, Aria? Hecate witches don’t birth sons, so the entire fucking point of your little tale is unlikely.”

“It wasn’t always like that, Knox. We did birth sons at one time. It was Hecate that later cursed her line to birth only girls.”

“Assuming that’s true, do you think I’d want to place my son into that poisonous womb of yours and chance him being born to something like you?”

“You’re not of the firstborn people who dwelled here before Hecate unleashed hell upon the Nine Realms. I, on the other hand, am a Hecate witch, with a working womb. You don’t mind if I go find someone else to fill it, do you?” I snorted, watching the obsidian fill his gaze as Lennox fought for control.

“If I find out you were created to make me think you are my mate, I will end your life, Aria. I won’t fucking hesitate.”

“I know, but then unlike you, I also know what we felt tonight was real. No magic could make you feel what you felt with me. You sensed me in your soul as I sensed you in mine, Knox. That went deeper than any magic ever could, and you know it even if you’re afraid to look at it right now. You’re hurting, and my family did that to you. I am so sorry that this happened. I wish there was a spell I could cast that could undo what Hecate did, but there isn’t. I need something from you before I leave. I need to know the truth because that will determine who I am coming for first.”

“And what the fuck is that?” he snapped harshly, struggling against the library’s hold to get to me.

“Did you help Celia use magic on Amara? Did you make my sister into a monster? Did you willingly allow me to murder my sister, who Celia had spelled to do what Amara did to me at the Unwanted Beast Kingdom? Celia wanted me dead because you’d been with me more than once, and that wasn’t the deal that you guys made, apparently. It wasn’t the sweet words she told you to whisper to me as you seduced me. It wasn’t the simple comforts she told you to offer me. I became a threat to her place beside you when you took me to bed more than once. So she set up a plan, using Amara to gift me to Gerald to rape and murder me,” I whispered, taking in the confusion in his eyes. He shook his head, and relief washed through me. “I have my answer, but you have vipers within your nest, King Karnavious.”

I turned, moving toward