Nadir takes another step towards her, and this time, she visibly backs up. “How does one give up one’s role as Primary?”

Cloris blinks several times before she recovers. Nadir has completely thrown her off with his reaction. She expected him to balk at giving up his crown, but I also can’t help but wonder if he understands what he’s doing.

She clears her throat. “You will have to ask the Torch when the bonding is performed.”

Nadir looks back at me, seeking confirmation that I’m done with my questions.

I swallow a ball of tension in my throat. “And that’s everything?” I ask again. “The full extent of it?”

“That is everything,” Cloris says, holding out her hand. “Now, I will take the ark. And I will consider performing the ceremony for you once you find me the ark of Heart.”

I glare at her, and then I hold out the ark of Aphelion. The black stone glitters in the light, and I can feel its power even if it isn’t mine. She studies me, her calculating gaze sweeping me from head to toe. She will do everything to ruin me. I can see it written on her face. No matter what she says, she harbors centuries of anger towards my grandmother, and I will be the culmination of her revenge. This witch already tried to steal me, and when that didn’t work, she used every resource she could to get at me.

She reaches for the ark, and I allow her hand to close over it as a light of triumph sparks in her eyes. But I hang on to it, and she looks up at me, her face twisting into a frown.

With Nadir standing at my back, ready to offer his control, I unleash my magic, a lightning bolt slamming into her chest as the room explodes. Books fly from shelves as they collapse into splinters. Cloris screams and bends at the waist, clutching herself.

Fury curdles in my limbs as I filter more magic into her body while Nadir’s magic curls around mine, keeping it in check. Just barely. I want Cloris Payne to understand everything I’m capable of.

She groans and wails, rolling on the ground, just like when I attacked her as a child. This time, I feel no remorse or guilt about my actions. She is responsible for everything that happened to me and my siblings. To my parents. I ended up in the Trials because of her. Rion killed my parents because of her.

She could have let us live in peace, but she dragged us out into the world and played with our lives for her own benefit. We will find another way to complete the bond. I’ll be damned if I let this monster take another thing from me.