Freed from Gravity (Bound and Freed #2)

Chapter 52

Fifty-Two

ALLETTE

The king is dead.

As I stand here, searching for my next breath, I watch my prince slowly rise to his feet, his brother’s blood on his hands as he turns toward me.

He did it .

Senan killed the monster responsible for our destruction, for the bleakness infecting our land.

Despite having won, this isn’t the face of a man celebrating victory. Devastation paints his features as his eyes meet mine and a broken sob wrenches from his trembling form.

I want to tell him that everything will be all right, but we’ve been drowning in too many lies.

The king might be gone, but his influence is everywhere. There’s no telling if the guards who continue to fight the Tuath in the throne room will heed Senan’s orders or rebel against him.

Aeron presses a reassuring hand to Senan’s shuddering shoulder. “There will be time for mourning, brother, but this is not it. The battle has been won but the war still rages. You must put an end to the fighting once and for all.”

Senan’s glittering eyes find mine, searching for a lifeline.

“I’m with you,” I tell him. “No matter what happens, I will be by your side.”

A breath trembles out of him as he faces the throne room and takes that first step toward his destiny, Aeron at his back, his wings wide and his sword painted crimson.

The marble beneath our feet rumbles, as if the castle itself is protesting the change in power.

Senan reaches for me, lacing our fingers together, our aching hearts beating as one as we walk toward the throne room. A handful of Tuath have fallen and more than a few guards lay lifeless amidst the rubble, blank eyes staring toward a hole in the gilded ceiling, the sky beyond a cerulean hue. Fire licks up the tapestries and wind rushes through the open balconies, coaxing them higher.

Senan’s hand falls from mine, his dark brows slamming down over narrowed eyes. “Enough!” he bellows.

Heads swing toward him, and the whole room falls still, swords freezing mid-swing, jaws hanging open, and eyes bulging as they fall to something behind us.

Blood smears along the marble where Aeron drags in the king’s body. “The king is dead,” he announces. “This fight is over.”

No one seems to know what to do. Even the Tuath are trading confused looks. Braith lingers in the doorway, her dark eyes hard as stone as she stares down the men attacking her people.

Not her people.

Ours.

Tuath or Scathian—it matters not what we are, but who we are. From this day forward, we shall be a people united.

Senan’s voice rings with authority, deep and true. “The fight is over. Drop your weapons and tend to the wounded. Bring those who have fallen to Polaris temple so their bodies can be prepared for burial.”

Swords lower and heads bow—even the groans of those who have been cut down seem to quiet as the king’s men follow Senan’s orders.

My prince turns, his eyes rounding as a cough climbs his throat. Blood spurts from between his lips, and he collapses onto his knees, his body ravaged by the poisoned dust.

I fall beside him, my knees slamming against the marble. “What do you need?”

He drags an arm across his lips, smearing more blood over his skin. “Tell me you still have the antidote.”

As if I’d let those vials fall into the wrong hands. “It’s safe and sound in Braith’s parents’ burrow.”

With blood and smoke thick in the air around us, his forehead falls to mine.

What if it’s not enough to save him?

No .

It will be enough. Soon, my prince will be healed, and all of this will be nothing more than a haunting nightmare.

A growl rises from my right, and I twist in time to see Eason’s blood-splattered face charging forward, his sword aimed at me. I freeze, my body refusing to move even though I know what’s about to happen. All I can do is gasp, waiting for the blade to pierce my heart.

Then someone leaps in front of me. Braith . The sword cuts straight through her uniform, the blood-soaked tip protruding from her back.

The sound of her screams forces my body into motion.

I throw what remains of my magic at Eason, stealing the air from his lungs.

Braith crumples and metal clatters. Aeron’s sword falls to the ground, abandoned so that he can catch her before she hits the marble.

A feral roar rips from Iver’s throat; his hands shoot out, cracking the stone beneath Eason’s boots, sending him tumbling backward.

If he doesn’t stop, the whole tower will collapse.

I scramble over rubble, diving for a dagger discarded between bits of wood and stone. Senan shouts but all I can hear is the sound of my own heart as I lunge for the man who stole me, swiping the blade in my fist across his throat.

Eason’s eyes widen in surprise, and he dies with my name on his lips.

I hate him with every fiber of my being, loathe him with my entire heart, and yet my eyes burn as tears bleed from my lashes, tumbling down my cheeks to fall on Eason’s still form.

I’ve been raked raw, torn open and thrown on hot coals.

He stole me, but he also saved me. Tried to love me at my most broken.

So much pain and death and loss…for what? For a throne that’s been reduced to rubble? For a kingdom more broken than not? For power that can be stolen with one well-placed slice of a blade?

It’s not worth it. None of these things matter at all.

“Allette.” A hand falls to my shoulder.

Senan watches me, his eyes red-rimmed. The dagger still clenched in my fist tumbles to the ground, and I throw myself into his arms, letting my tears bathe his warm, smooth skin. “I’m s-sorry. I don’t know why I’m crying.” Eason tried to kill me twice now, so this shouldn’t hurt so much.

My prince smooths a hand down my hair, his words a quiet whisper against my temple. “You cared for him, same as me.”

Movement from the ground behind Senan catches my eye. “Braith…” Here I am, crying over an awful man who deserved his fate while my friend is fighting for her life. I run toward her, a fresh wave of worry washing over me.

Someone removed Eason’s sword from her stomach and tore open her dress, but instead of a gash, there is only a mottled red scar and Aeron’s hands glowing on her hips. He holds her in his lap, his eyes closed in concentration as he heals my friend.

Senan takes my elbow in his steady hand. “She’ll be fine.”

Braith might be healed, but as I take in the destruction in front of me, I can’t help but wonder if there’s any hope for the rest of us.