Fanfiction of Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
Alternate Ending by Cassie Swindon
XADEN
We hadn’t even kissed, and I fell for her. I love Violet.
I never told her. Not until she was delirious with poison.
I couldn’t give her those three little words without being completely honest with her– about everything.
The rustle of sheets makes my gaze whip to her face, and I take my first full breath since she fell from Tairn’s back. Her eyes are open.
“Hey, hey. I’m here.” My throat scratches from not being used in days.
I stumble across the room to the bed. She’s awake and alive and … she’s … smiling?
“You’ve been asleep for days, I say, sitting by her side.
“Feels like a year,” she croaks, looking down at her new scar.
“You’re fuckin miraculous, Violence. You saved so many people.”
She groans while repositioning to sit upright in bed. I want to take her pain away, to erase the last week from existence.
“I thought I was going to lose you.”
“You aren’t going to lose me.” She gives me a puzzled look, smiling like I’ve said something peculiar. Then she leans in and kisses me.
This is going much better than I had expected. Maybe we’ll be okay.
When she sits back her eyes flare, and she shakes her head. Something immediately shifts. She glances away, and her eyes glaze in that way that tells me she’s checking in with her dragons. It takes longer than usual for their exchange. I wait for too long, wondering what she’s going to say.
“Violet?” I keep my shields up, trying to respect her privacy. I need to know what she’s thinking.
Her eyes widen as she stares out the window. “And Liam? Is he…?”
I take the freshly finished carving of Andara that Liam had been working on.
“The others laid him to rest yesterday. I haven’t left you.”
“Well, you do have a vested interest in my survival,” she quips with a sarcastic edge.
I can’t keep from wincing, loathing the distrust in her eyes.
Slowly, she scoots out of bed and walks over to the window as if looking for something. Her gaze scans Aretia and I’m surprised she hasn’t already started asking a thousand questions about this place since it’s not supposed to exist.
“I won’t tell anyone this secret,” Violet says while shaking her head. “But I also won’t be letting you in on any of mine anymore.”
I see her emotion there, the love, but it’s masked behind defenses I deserve.
I take cautionary steps towards her, letting her know she’ll always be safe with me. I’ll give up everything for her. I love her, of course I love her so fucking much. I palm the glass on both sides of her head, loosely caging her in, but we both know she could walk away if she wanted. But she doesn’t move.
“Violet, I–”
Someone knocks on the door.
“I’ll spend every single day of my life earning back your trust.”
Gods I ache to kiss her, to remind her exactly what we’re like together, but I won’t.
Her eyes darken, and again, I’m unable to read her. It’s time I told her everything, from the very beginning. Knowing Violet, she’ll stay by my side and help us fight.
There’s another insistent knock at the door.
She blinks, with a strange expression, as if she’s aware who awaits on the other side. But, there’s no chance she could know.
When the door creaks open, I move to the side and sigh. I expect her to lunge into her brother’s arms, to scream the name “Brennan,” or to lash out to me about hiding another secret from her.
Instead, she smiles again, but there’s an unusual harshness to it. Then her eyes turn to an all-consuming black. They lose all humanity, mirroring the wicked expression of a wyvern. Faster than her lightning, she grabs a dagger hanging from my belt and rams the blade straight into my gut.
I gasp, clutch my stomach. My back smacks against the wall.
“Wuh?” I start, my breath coming heavy.
What the fuck is going on? Sgaeyl roars in my ear.
I glance to Brennan, our mender, our biggest secret and he glares back with black eyes fixed on me.
“Welcome to the Darkness, Sister,” Brennan says and wraps his sister in a hug.
Hey guys, hope you liked it. I have all sorts of ideas for a twist that Iron Flame probably won’t go in. Follow me here @cassie_swindon_author
Cassie Swindon is the author of The Gold Chains Trilogy, The Linked Trilogy and has a gender reversal series upcoming called The Fairy Tale Flip, starting with The Little Mermaid, called “The Wicked Blue.”