AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“It’s always been debated whether water fell under Summer or Winter, and for a while, I even considered if we were a shared resource or one of our own. But this is the second unscheduled storm since Viola joined us in Ytopie. The only Winter Seasonale anyone has seen in centuries. And when she comes to us, she brings wild rainstorms, frosted trees, and creeping shadows.”
I glower, eyes narrowed at my friend. “That doesn’t explain the Bliksem going rouge.”
She shrugs, a chunk of her deep blue hair falling from her shoulder to her back. “It does if she’s with Mace.” She waits for a beat. “Plume told me what happened.”
Plume. I never took her for a traitor.
I cannot trust anyone anymore. Not Plume, not Loris, and now Nimh is bringing up that Viola chose Mace over me? No one is looking out for me. The world is working against me, and it’s taken my friends with it.
“The last unscheduled storm was the night she kissed Mace, if I’m correct.” I grit my teeth but nod. “And where is Viola now, Zeph?”
“She is currently fucking Mace in his office,” I spit. Nimh flinches, and I can see the question of how I know in her eyes. I won’t dignify the look with a response.
“Then that settles it. Viola’s magic is unstable from what Loris has said, and she doesn’t need intention to cast it. It appears she has combined her magic with Mace’s. Something happens when they’re together that brings their magic together without them knowing.”
I hold up my hand, bile rising in me. “I can’t think about them combining anything anymore, Nimh.”
I turn my back to her, pacing back and forth so quickly I may wear a divot in the ground. “I found her, you know? I got to her first. I was the first thing she saw when she got to Ytopie. I thought that meant something. I thought she would feel that connection I felt watching her throughout the Race. I have not been able to get her out of my head. She pulls me in, wrapping me around her finger, and then she goes and does this? She sleeps with my brother? She knows what she’s doing to me. She’s doing this to hurt me.”
I feel myself descending into madness. No woman has ever caused me to lose control like this before. Flames lick at my palms, threatening to explode again.
“I could have anyone in this city, Nimh! I’ve got women throwing themselves at me whenever I step out my door. I’ve got power, I’m handsome, I’ve got money. Anyone here would be lucky to have me. And what does she do? She scorns me. She ignores me. She fucks the one person in this city with more power than me. The one person she knew would hurt me the most.”
Ever the picture of serenity, Nimh tilts her head to the side, looking at me with curiosity. “Why does this upset you so much, Zeph?”
“Because she was supposed to be mine!” I roar.
Nimh flinches back from me. “Zeph. She is her own person. You cannot possess her.”
“Watch me.”
Chapter 49
Mace
Imadeamistakegrowing too close to Viola Mistflow.
But oh, what a glorious mistake that was.
Watching her dress herself, the flush still on her chest from her release at my hand, is like getting to see a masterpiece as it is created. She looks over her shoulder at me, still naked and leaning on my desk. “You’re staring, Mace.”
Of course, I’m staring, I want to say. Instead, I just meet her gaze, as unflinching as I was that day on the stage, staring at her in the middle of a crowd. I scanned the crowd for her as it gathered, aching for just a glimpse of the woman I had spent years hunting down.
When I first noticed her there, something came alive in me.
I thought at the time it was my knowledge that she could be the vessel that drew me in. That her magic called to mine, and I had no choice but to answer. Now, as I finally dress my body from claiming her here on my desk, I know what it was.
Call it fate, destiny, or divine intervention, but I was always meant to be here, in this moment, with her. The way she looks at me says she feels the same. I watch as she dresses, slow and languidly, like we have no place to be but each other’s arms.
I step to her and pull her close to my chest, interrupting her dressing. “Hey!” she protests, but her face is lit with a smile. I gaze down at her, and the warmth of her face mirrors my own.
“I need to know you were okay with that,” I say quietly. She slaps me on the shoulder, and I fake a wince. “Okay, point taken.”
Viola pulls from me and slides her leather shorts on, the same clothing she wore during the Race. I recognize it for what it is – a battle outfit. “Viola,” I begin.
She faces me again, frustration coloring her features. “I’m fine, Mace. I begged you. You didn’t force me into anything.” I hide a chuckle under my breath.
“It’s not that. I just want to tell you again before we leave that you do not need to be the vessel. We can hide you. I will get you out of here, and no one will ever know where to find you.”
