His eyes dart back down to the book, never once gauging my proximity to Gage as he flips through the thick mass of pages one-by-one.
Mom sighs out as she explains. "You're Freya's chosen—the one who she bestowed her gifts upon—the embodiment of all enchanted beings."
That's laughable. All beings? I'm just a damn witch.
"No," I say while swatting at her ludicrous theory as though it has materialized in the air. "I can't do anything but witchcraft. That disproves all of this."
Gage speaks softly from behind me while rubbing my back affectionately.
"That's the only magic you control right now, and I'm not saying you'll be able to do everything every fey does, but you will encompass a great deal of their abilities in different ways. The closer you get to your immortality, the more you'll find this to be true. I've already seen it."
This is preposterous. None of this can be true. I'm just a plain and simple witch. Nothing more.
"Ah, here it is," Drackus says while sitting down incredibly close to my mother. "The daughter meant to harness the great will be one full of light and dark. Her powers will war within her, struggling to know which side to fight for.
"In the darkness, there will be only one there to truly guide her. In the light, there will be those who wish to betray her." He pauses and looks up to meet my eyes. "That's one part of the prophecy we don't understand. I'm not sure if it has something to do with what's going on in the light monarchy right now or not."
He looks back down to the book and continues on. "Light will surround her power, her magic, and her life, until she falls for her dark lover. He will be one who has descended from the greatest of his kind; one with unprecedented power that almost rivals hers. And his strength will only fuel hers.
"He'll represent power thought to have never existed, and she will gravitate to him until at last their eyes meet. The sparks will ignite a flame that will never fizzle, and their love could be the—"
He stops, looking at Mom, and then to me.
"Could be the what?" I prompt, literally sitting on the edge of my seat. Well, Gage's knee.
"This prophecy has missing passages. This book was torn apart long ago before we found it. Certain pieces are missing because someone wanted them gone. I assume Estella did it to keep anyone from finding out about you, but she must have been interrupted. I'll read what little bit we have though."
He looks down, flipping the partial page.
"The balance will shift, opening the door to the side of darkness she never knew she possessed. Together, their powers will grow, surpassing all fathomable predictions. But the war within her will only rage on stronger with each day until—"
"Until what?" I urge, feeling like I'm watching the most suspenseful movie ever filmed.
"Again, a missing passage. The rest of the page has been ripped out. The next thing it says isn't exactly warm and fuzzy, but don't fret," he murmurs softly, making me all the more tense. "Then she'll destroy us all."
Don't fucking fret? You have got to be kidding me.
My heart sinks to my toes, dizziness tries to settle in, and my chest aches when my terror tries to suffocate me. When I look back at Gage, I suddenly see something different. He's betrayed me once already, and now he's done it again. He's a fool for wanting me to hear this.
Since I've met him, I've used my darker half more than ever before, and it is getting worse each time. Now I know why.
"How do you know it's Gage?" I ask in barely a breath, staring into Gage's blue eyes while asking my parents to answer.
"He's the strongest dark user ever known since the days of Dragona and Damon. Dark users are opposites of light users. Roughly translated, that's who the prophecy announces the lover will be—your opposite."
My expression changes as it all settles down on me like a heavy awakening—a painful one.
"Alyssa, don't look at me like that. You can't have half of a prophecy. You and I were meant to be together, and it wasn't so that you could destroy everything," Gage murmurs defensively.
I dive off his lap, but he stands to grab me before I can fully
retreat.
"You knew this before you came to see me—you knew," I choke out as the tears threaten to emerge again.
"Alyssa, I didn't come because of that. I came because you needed help. It's what I fucking do. I knew Thad wasn't capable of keeping you safe, and you were blaming my people. I came for all the reasons I said I came—not because of this. I never thought I'd fall for you, but I did. You fell for me, too. You just won't face it. You've been fighting me since the first day we met."
I wipe away the traitorous tears that have fallen despite my protests. I rip free from him, quickly feeling my anger burning all the stronger. He knew he would taint my light, possibly extinguish it all together. He willingly risked my soul.