I pulled at my bonds. “Where are you taking me?”
“Back to my burnt-out husk of a city.” He turned his gaze forward, his chest heaving as he clearly struggled to breathe. “There’s something I must do.”
“Transfer Bellicent’s soul into my body.” When he cut me a sharp glance, I nodded. “I know all about that.”
“I suppose you think I’m a monster for using the god’s powers to hold on to the only person who ever made me feel worthy of my title.”
I fought the urge to press my fingers to my throbbing temple as we carried on through the mist. “No, I understand it. You loved her. Of course you would do whatever it took to bring her back to you. But you need to stop, Oberon. That necklace doesn’t hold half of the god’s power anymore. It holds all of it. And if you use it again, with all the power in there…I worry what might happen to this world.”
Deep down, I knew there must be a part of Oberon that truly did care. All these years had passed, and he’d never released the god, despite how tempting it must have been. He could have sent humans to destroy the stone in Itchen at any time. He could have smashed open the necklace. The god would have rewarded him for that, and yet, he’d kept her trapped in the gemstone necklace.
Maybe if I could make him see…
“And your very existence doesn’t also threaten this world?” he asked in a hiss that prickled the hair on the back of my neck.
I swallowed. “What do you mean?”
Oberon shook his head and let out a hollow laugh. “Don’t act coy, Tessa Baran. I watched you fall and fight that creature. You wouldn’t have survived if you were just a mortal.”
I tried to keep my expression blank, but I could feel his eyes roving across my face. Oberon knew. The question was, for how long?
“I’ve been training,” I said tightly.
His lips curled into a hollow version of his typical smile. “I know what you are and what your father was. Did you truly believe I wouldn’t find out why he escaped all those years ago? You and your sister are descendants of Andromeda, the God of Death. Why do you think I chose you to become my bride?”
My body betrayed me. I gasped and turned toward him with parted lips. “Because you wanted to punish me for stealing from you.”
He waved his hand dismissively. “I was always going to choose you. It had been my plan for years. The punishment was merely an excuse.”
“And Nellie?” I couldn’t help but ask.
“I never would have killed her, knowing what kind of power she might have within her. She was your backup, though not my first choice.”
“Why?”
“You know why.”
I tensed. “How do you know so much about us?”
He gave me a long-suffering stare. “I am King Oberon, and I’ve had the power of a god on my side for four hundred years.”
My mind churned from the implication of his words. This couldn’t possibly be real. I was dreaming—that was the only logical explanation for what I was hearing now. Or I’d gone into some kind of delirium due to the exhaustion, pain, and blood loss. Because if Oberon knew—if he’d chosen me because of my bloodline, then there was only one explanation for his actions based on everything I’d seen in that vision.
“You wanted me to be the final vessel.”
It all made sense.
“The half-god said she didn’t have the power to transfer Bellicent’s soul into a fae body, but she could do it with yours.” He spoke his words in a flat voice. “You have mortal blood, and you haveherblood too. You were the perfect candidate. Mortal enough for her to complete the transfer without access to all her power, but strong enough that your mind would survive longer than the others. The hope was, it would survive forever. I didn’t tell Bellicent at first. It was meant to be a surprise when she awoke in her new permanent body. But then you escaped.”
And now he was going to take me to Bellicent and finish this once and for all.
I fisted my hands. “What have you done to Kalen?”
“I didn’t do anything to him.”
“And now I know you’re lying.” I gripped the rope that twisted around my hands. “He would never let you just take me. He’ddietrying to stop you. What did you do to him?”
“You know, you are a very tense and angry person.”