39. Raelyna #3
All I could do was pray that Orela had made it out in time—that Finn and Iver got her to safety before the Quarter came crashing down tomorrow.
The guards brought me out and eventually deposited me in an empty room on the first floor of the High Temple, their affinities wrapping tightly around me as they ensured I was unable to move before they left me there, in the dark, and stormed away.
“Butterfly.” The single name broke the silence of the night, and I froze as I recognized the voice. I sent up a prayer that Iver and Finn had gotten Orela far from the temple grounds by now . . . far from the male who was currently standing before me.
Everything in me screamed to run in the opposite direction as quickly as I could, my muscles tensing, preparing to fly—should I manage to break free—as Lucanus walked out from the shadows, his wings displayed in a powerful arc of onyx feathers.
Behind him, four guards stepped out of the darkness on either side of him, lining the exit to the room I’d been left in as panic coursed through me.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
This was worse than I thought.
“Luc.” The nickname rolled off my tongue in disgust, but I refused to address him as anything more.
“I would say I’m surprised to find you sneaking into the temple past curfew, but I’m not.”
I frowned at his words, wondering what he was alluding to.
“Sorry?” I said, my fingers itching to grab the singular blade at my side, except, even I knew that would be futile against the nine angels standing before me, hands on their firearms.
“Tell me,” he questioned. “Did you truly think you would be able to break your sister out of the temple? Did you truly think I wouldn’t have anticipated such a move from you, especially after your disappointing act of treason—aligning yourself with the Aurelian Guild?”
My heart sank. All hope was draining away faster than I could stop it as I stared at the male who had a habit of destroying anything I dreamed of.
“I will say,” the male had the audacity to continue. “I’d hoped you’d come to a change of heart after our last talk—perhaps seen the error of your ways. Though, by the looks of it, I would venture that’s not the case, is it?”
“What do you want, Luc?” I glared at him, his chocolate brown eyes fastened on me as his jaw ticked, a constant tell of his displeasure in my tone. “Don’t you have enough to worry about with the army that’s been circling our borders for the past six days?”
He huffed a dark laugh. “I’m not worried about them, Raelyna. They may get off on flying around The Wall, but they will never be able to pass through The Wall. It’s too fortified, too secure, to have a breach.”
“You truly can’t place that much confidence in cement and metal?” I challenged as I stared at the king of Solis. “It’s just a wall.”
“A wall that is protected by enough aetherial affinities that it won’t fall.”
I scoffed at his words, even as the male continued.
“Besides, even if they managed to get through The Wall . . . they are no match for me. Not anymore. The power I now wield . . . I am above all. A god myself—capable of destroying those around me with a single touch.” His grin was dark and cruel as he looked at me.
I just shook my head as I stared at the male. “What happened to you?”
“I’d say I’ve grown into my full potential,” he retorted.
“Now that I’ve fulfilled what has long since been prophesied, I have harvested the aetherial affinities available to me as the one of unmatched ruling and control and shall now ascend as a god with ultimate superiority over all in my dominion. ”
My mouth dropped open, words failing to fall from my lips as I stared at Luc in horror. My gaze briefly darted over toward the guards lining him on either side—taking note that none of them seemed the least bit surprised by the string of idiotic words falling from his lips.
Eventually, I simply shook my head in disbelief as Lucanus smiled at me as though he thought he was victorious in this scenario.
“You can’t be serious . . .” I said eventually. “You can’t truly believe yourself to be a god. You are no such thing.”
“Such a pity, is it not?” He grinned toward me, ignoring my outburst. “You came here to rescue your sister, but she was already transported to my personal temple, along with all the other seers, earlier tonight.”
I bit the inside of my lip hard enough to draw blood, the taste of iron coating my tongue as I forced back a grin of satisfaction.
Orela had made it out . . . and Luc seemed to have no idea she had.
“I had planned to use her—to use all of those who worship at the temples—as a way to destroy the incessant spies surrounding my wall. But perhaps a family reunion might be entertaining.”
He snapped his fingers, and two guards stepped forward, marching toward me as one undid a pair of affinity-binding cuffs from his pocket and stopped beside me, latching the cuffs securely on my wrists.
I felt the moment my affinities dulled, the golden glow within me dimming as the cuffs hindered my affinities from surfacing.
“This will be fun.” Luc’s voice rang in the night air as he turned on his heel, and I could do nothing but follow.