Chapter 32 · The King in His Heart

The blade's already in his chest.

I can feel it through my palm. The white light hums under my skin, hungry, and Dorian's blood is hot where it's dripping down my wrist. His eyes are silver. Then black. Then silver again, like something's fighting for the surface.

"Do it." That's the Regent's voice, smooth and amused. Dorian's mouth moves but it's not him. "Push deeper, little hunter. Finish what your grandmother started."

My hand shakes. The blade shifts half an inch and Dorian makes a sound, low and choked. His knees buckle but he doesn't fall. He's gripping my shoulders, holding himself up, and I don't know if it's him or the thing inside him.

"I can't." My voice cracks. "I can't do this."

"You already did." The Regent grins with Dorian's face. Blood's running from the corner of his mouth now. "You put the blade in. You felt it sing. Don't pretend you didn't want this."

I did. I did want it. For half a second when the light exploded out of me and I saw three hundred years of my family's screaming deaths, I wanted to carve his heart out and watch him burn.

But that was before.