Page 59 of Cold Hearted
“Mother?” This didn’t feel like a dream. It felt like something more, like magic.
My mother was holding a purple crystal, clutched tightly in her hands. Her hair hung in limp strands around her face as she peered at me with horror.
“Why haven’t you returned? The wheat and rice fields are gone. The west end of town has been washed away. The fresh water is now poison. Our kingdom won’t last much longer. Dawn, where are you?”
Panic surged up inside of me at her assessment of my homeland, and pure shame washed over me. A lump formed in my throat as I fought the tears that tried to come.
“Mother, I can’t do it. I… I love him.”
Her face fell, mouth going slack. “You let him speak.”
I frowned, my brows knotting together. “Mother, the Ethereum lords aren’t what you think. They aren’t evil—”
“I know what they are,” she snapped. “It doesn’t matter. You have to do what needs to be done, whether he’s your mate or not.”
I stumbled backward, nearly slipping off the roof.
I never said he was my mate.
“You knew.” It felt like the entire world was swaying then and I might be blown away if I didn’t hold on to something.
I crouched, grasping the roof tiles as more black rain pelted my skin.
My mother walked over to me, nearly slipping as she fell on her knees before me.“It is the curse of our champions, to hunt the one that fate has meant for us. But there is no other way. That’s why you never let them speak.” She reached for me, to cup my face, but all I could do was scream.
She reeled back, shocked by my outburst.
“You almost let me kill him!” I screamed at her, a sudden burst of anger rushing through me.
Now it was her turn to look angry. Her shock was replaced by a menacing snarl. She grabbed the sides of my face and forced me to look at the land I’d left behind.
“No,” I breathed.
Rooftops were caved in; the black waters had washed away entire houses. Dead horses lay bloated in the soaking fields. My people walked in a long line with whatever they could carry toward the east and our neighboring Fall Court even in the darkness, even in the black rain. They marched.
“You do it for them. One person’s happiness is not worth more than thousands,” she said.
I turned and forced her to look at me. “Even if it’s my happiness, Mother?”
She dropped my face as if I’d stung her. Her bottom lip shook, and for this small moment I saw a glimpse of the woman who raised me.
“I love him. More than anything,” I confessed.
She swallowed hard, nodding slowly as if coming to terms with something. “I will take our people to Fall, then. Princess Aribella will have to do it.”
“What?” I frowned.
“We’re running out of time, Dawn! If you will not save us, then Fall will.” She stood and turned away from me.
“No, Mother, Zander is going to help me figure it out. We’re going to—”
She peered over her shoulder at me, and I watched her lip tremble. “Be happy, Dawn. I love you,” she said, and then threw the crystal into the dark waters below.
It was as if a cord snapped. I was sucked out of the dream, gasping for air.
“What’s wrong?” Zander swam into view, and I realized that I was hyperventilating. No matter how many draws of breath I took, I couldn’t fill my lungs. My desperate attempts to try to get oxygen turned into frantic tears leaking down the sides of my face.
Zander looked down at me wildly. “My love, what’s happened?” He pulled me into his chest and crushed me against him. It was in the safety of his arms that I fully broke. A sob formed in my throat, and I tried to swallow it down.
