Page 29 of Unseen Lord

His explanation sounded reasonable, but something felt off in my gut. Still, I trusted him, so I stood back and let him walk forward.

He had the eyes of a fantastic as he gripped the piece of wood in his hand.

The touch sent a spark of something electric into his eyes and he smiled.

His raven, Pitch, appeared before him, and Devon spoke to his bird. "It's time. Are you ready?"

The raven landed on the crystal ball atop the staff and Devon closed his eyes.

At that moment, everything changed.

The crystal exploded in shards of lightning, striking every surface around us. I screamed and dropped to the ground to make a smaller target as I considered how to save Devon, but when I looked, I realized he didn't need saving.

I could see by his face, this was exactly what he wanted to happen.

His eyes glowed white, and flashes of electricity burned in his pupils and under his skin, like he'd been plugged in to a storm.

His bird turned from black to white, and discharged lightning as it flew around the small space.

"What are you doing?" I screamed.

"I'm claiming what's rightfully mine! Now the Council will bow to me. Nirandel will bow to me. The Nine Worlds will bow to me!"

Oh shit. This was definitely not how I imagined this going.

With those words, my eyes opened. Like the blind gaining vision, I suddenly saw all that I had ignored before. All the warning signs.

The questions about the Black Lotus and Uncle Sly. The long tours into secret tunnels. The rapt attention at anything related to the mysteries of the place I'd grown up.

He wasn't courting me, he was using me to scout for him. And I was too blind to see it.

Callie had been trying to warn me, without hurting my feelings, and I had treated her like dirt.

I was the worst friend. And the stupidest girl to ever walk any of the worlds.

I had been duped by a pretty face and sweet words.

But I could kick myself later. Right now, I had bigger problems to deal with.

Like the fact that my boyfriend was going supernova on me. What the fu—?

The earth around us and above us shook and chunks of dirt and rock began to break away as zaps of lightning tore at the walls and ceiling. A ceiling which was actually the floor of the dungeons.

This was bad.

Really bad.

"What are you doing?" I screamed again, somehow hoping his answer would change. "What is that thing really?"

His eyes shone with such intensity I couldn't look straight at him. The silver thunderbolts crawled under his skin, growing brighter, or maybe his skin was thinning. It was hard to tell.

"This is what I was destined to become," he said, his voice no longer that of the boy I thought I was falling in love with. It was filled with something else now. A darker power that stripped out anything human.

"You were already powerful," I said. "You already had so much. Why do this?"

Fear gripped me. I knew I had to stop him before he left this place. I knew I had to end this now. Here. Or too many others would be at risk. I didn't understand the power he held or what he could do, but I knew it wouldn't end well if he was let loose on the worlds.

I stepped closer to him, clenching my fists, wishing I had my twin daggers with me. But I didn't think I needed my weapons. Not here. Not with him.