Chapter 221

Elara's POV

In his muttering I heard it: his father's voice, cruel and sharp. No use. A worthless tool has no right to exist. The words he must have carried all his life.

I stared up at him, at the face contorted by despair, and fury kindled in me—not at him, but at those who had made him this way.

"Zarek Vane," I said firmly, fighting his spiraling madness with my own vow. "I won't leave you. Do