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My mother’s journal still lies on the floor in the middle of the room. I pick it up and flip through the pages. Her words feel different now. Meaningless, and yet more meaningful than anything else I can hold onto.
I set it down on the desk and press my palm to the cover.
And then I feel it.
A vision.
Racing towards me.
I’m floating, suspended in darkness. Flashes of light pierce the blackness. Images flood my mind.
Finn. Wings spread wide, blocking out the sun. His eyes glow red. A wicked smile twists his face. Shadows swirl around him, my shadows, writhing like living smoke.
They belong to him now. He owns them, and they taunt me with their absence.
The Shadowkind gather below. Hundreds, maybe thousands. Their faces a mix of fear and awe. Finn raises his arms. The shadows respond, converging into a swirling vortex.
It spins faster, growing larger. A yawning chasm of darkness. Finn’s voice booms, echoing, weaving into the corners of my mind. “Step into your destiny!”
A Shadowkind approaches. Hesitant at first, then with purpose. He reaches the edge of the vortex. Pauses. Looks back at Finn. Finn nods. The Shadowkind jumps.
The shadows engulf him. His scream cuts off abruptly.
Moments pass. The vortex churns.
My heart races. I want to look away and leave this place and never return, but it’s as if I am standing outside myself watching and I cannot make myself move.
All I can do is watch, transfixed by the shadows.
As I stare at them, my heart matching the rhythm of the cyclone inside them, something emerges. Not the Shadowkind who entered. Something... else.
Taller. Broader. Wings like solid blocks of night. Eyes glowing crimson.
No longer fae. A demon.
A demon like Finn.
The creature roars. Others step back, but their eyes shine with hunger. They know now what they can become, and they are desperate to step into their fate.
Another Shadowkind approaches. Then another. And another.
They leap into the vortex. Screams cut short.
Demons emerge. An army growing by the minute.
Finn laughs. The sound chills me to my core. The scene shifts. A city. Luminael. My city.
Sunborne fae fill the streets.
The sky darkens. Wings blot out the sun. Finn’s demon army descends.
Chaos. Screaming. Blood on cobblestones. Sunborne fall by the dozens, their light extinguished.
Suranna stares up at me with dead, unblinking eyes. There is a tear on her cheek. Her light is gone.
Finn strides through the carnage. Untouched. Triumphant. He reaches the castle. Kicks down the doors.
Inside, a throne room. Two thrones. One for Alana and one for me. We sit and stare at him as he strides towards us. From the ceiling, remnants of his jester’s ribbons sway and flutter. He grabs hold of them, twists his arms effortlessly into them, and almost dances on the air as he swings towards us.
