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“These,” I said, reaching for him. The scars were faded now. It was Anson’s face he wore. I touched his cheek. “These wounds were made with fae magic.”
“Yes,” he said. “They did this to me. Turned me into this. Experimented on me. They made me sell them my soul to save my mother’s life.”
“To what end?” I asked.
“To see if they could,” he said, spitting out his answer.
“What about your mother?”
“They took her anyway. They lied to me and took her anyway. It was for nothing. My soul. My sacrifice. It was for nothing. She…God. She ended up being stronger than all of us in the end. She didn’t allow them to use her. She…she took one of the guard’s blades. She slit her own wrists rather than allow herself to be traded to another Alpha against her will.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, horrified.
“Her sacrifice made it possible for me to escape. I made my way further south. The mansion where I took you. It was abandoned. I hid there. Eventually, I tried to build a life there. But the darkness in me, it got stronger and stronger.”
“You found others,” I said. “George and Jerome.”
“Yes,” he said. “But the Ring came after me. They found me. Tortured me all over again. So, I ran.”
“You ran all the way to Wild Lake,” I said. “That’s when we found you.”
“Yes,” he said.
Broken. Wounded beyond recognition. I wanted to believe it was as simple as all of that. That the things that came later weren’t his fault.
“Why didn’t you tell me who you were?” I said. “Your name?”
“Because he was gone,” he said. “The fae, they killed Anson. I had no memory of him after they poisoned my soul and cursed me. I remembered my mother’s love, but not her name. Not my name. It was as if the fae found a way to take the worst, darkest parts of myself and turn me into only that. I wanted to die. But then…you called me X. And it’s all I wanted to be. Your X. I was darkness. A beast. Until you…”
“Stop,” I said. “I’m sorry you suffered. I’m sorry you lost everyone you cared about. It’s awful what happened to you. What happened to your parents and your family. But you lied to me.”
“I didn’t know who I was!” he shouted. “There was no Anson. They killed him the day my mother died. They made me into…into their conduit.”
“What do you mean?”
“They filled me with fae magic against my will. Stole my soul, Tempest. The strongest thing I had left.”
His eyes flashed. There was a greater truth inside of them. Something he wanted me to see.
And then. Slowly, horrifyingly, I did.
“My God,” I whispered. “Me. You used me to get it back. You traded your soul so you bound yourself to mine.”
He didn’t answer. He just stared at me. Cold. Hard.
“You used me to try to get your own soul back from them. You bound yourself to me. You…dragged me down with you.”
He didn’t deny it. His eyes spoke the truth. “You violated me,” I said. “Turned me dark just so you could crawl out of your own hell. Is that it? Is that what we were?”
“Yes,” he said, gripping my upper arms. “God help me. Yes. When you found me. When I touched you. I knew. You were mine. I didn’t have to make you mine, Tempest. You already were born for it. Mine. My fated mate. The thing that could save me.”
I slapped him. Hard.
“It wasn’t my choice!” I yelled. “You took something from me I didn’t freely give. I might have helped you anyway. Do you know that?”
I rose up. I wanted to get away from him. I wanted to kill him.
“I don’t believe you,” I said. “I don’t believe you didn’t know exactly what you were doing. Anson…is he even real? Or was that just more fae magic you stole so that you could get close to me again?”
