Chapter 33 · The Crown Bites Back

The crown was two inches from my head when I realized I couldn't stop my own hands.

Silver crawled up my neck. Cold. Wrong. My father's voice hummed under my skin, and my arms kept lifting even though I was screaming at them to stop.

"Lyra." Morgana's voice cut through the haze. Sharp. Almost pleased. "Don't fight it. You were always meant for this."

I wasn't meant for shit.

I dug my heels into the stone. My fingers cramped around the crown's edge, knuckles white, but they wouldn't let go. The silver veins pulsed brighter. They'd reached my jaw now. I could feel them burrowing in, little frozen needles stitching my father's will into my bones.

Behind me, Kade coughed. Wet. Ragged.

He was free. The curse mark had gone dark. But he'd ripped his own scalp open getting the crown off, and I could smell the blood from here. Too much of it.

If I put this thing on, he'd fought for nothing.

"Lyra." My father's voice wasn't just in my head anymore. It was in my mouth. My tongue shaped his words, and I couldn't bite down hard enough to stop them. "You ran from your blood.