Lucien
I cannot get to her.
For each move I make, a half-breed appears, blocking my path. For each one of them I kill, that blade is pulled out of Valka and pushed in again.
There are moments in one's life when you come to understand that there are certain things all the power, all the wealth, all the centuries of blood and victory cannot buy.
Moments that humble you, not by weakness, but by the vast impossibilities the universe flings in your face. When you finally understand how small you are. How little control you truly wield. How the strength you have built amounts to nothing when the world decides to take what you love.
I have lived that moment before.
When I felt Ilya die. When Jessa's laughter was permanently ripped away. When my sisters were slaughtered. When I looked at Evadne and realized the light had gone from them.
I could not save them.
Now, as I watch Valka gasp beneath the blade, I feel that same truth crack through me again.
