76. Seventy-Six
Seventy-Six
Zach
Something inside me broke.
I dodged Dom’s advance and stumbled back, clutching my chest. He hadn’t landed a hit, but something burst. I’d wondered for a split second if my heart had exploded.
“What is it?” Dom stopped, his breath heaving. He was looking at something behind me, but I stayed bent over. Not understanding. It was the opposite of being out of breath. Instead, I felt like I was filled with it. Like I’d gained some time of strength. Like my body was mine again.
“What did you do to me?”
“It wasn’t me.”
I couldn’t stop staring at my hand and moving it around in the candlelight. I almost forgot where I was. All that pain. All that weight sitting in my chest was gone. For years, I’d been bonded to Her, and now—
I looked to the altar where the queen stood overlooking the battle and retreating toward the pulpit. The need to protect Her had vanished. All my feelings for Her had disappeared in an instant. She caught my eyeline, and for the first time, I saw Her panic.
I was finally free of that bitch.
I waited for Her voice in my head, but there was only sweet silence.
She was so fucking dead.
“I . . . don’t want to fight you anymore,” I said.
“Good. Because we need to help Kilian.”
“Help Kilian, and then you’ll help me kill that bitch?”
Dom smirked. “Yeah.”