Chapter 65
The southern road to Thalvireth was unnervingly quiet, save for the chilled drizzle soaking us through. Maelsar and I scanned each treetop, searching for white feathers or the glint of a sword. Months ago, we’d driven this same road, Sylaira in the back of the wagon, our mate bond a deadly secret.
Now, we rode side by side with every intention of wielding it like the weapon it was.
The stone walls waited, pristine and free from the scars of war.
For now.
If we didn’t succeed here, they’d crumble beneath the Demons’ boots.
I dragged in a breath, tuning into my Command to sense anyone nearby. With it rose the blood magic. I gritted my teeth and tried to shove it away. But it would not be silenced. At least without a cut marring my skin, it remained locked in my chest.
But it was hungry and volatile. And if I so much as garnered a scratch during the fight ahead, Goddess only knew what would happen.
“I feel ten minds at the gate,” Maelsar whispered, brow furrowed in concentration. “Not sure what is happening on the east side. Still too far.”
Our numbers aligned, at least. I steered my mount off the road before the sentries spotted us. The fog in the forest enveloped us, hiding us from view.
“What about now?” I asked.
He shook his head. “I don’t feel anyone atop the wall. Those who are nearby…their thoughts are too low-level for me to do anything other than disorient them.”
“Start with that.” We pulled the horses to a stop a short distance from where the trees encroached on the wall. The brush here was thick enough to cover them—and enough for them to eat while tethered. They deserved it after all we’d put them through.
“Wait a moment,” Sylaira warned, blinking rapidly.
“Did you See something?”
“Someone is coming…” She trailed off, gaze going hazy.
Lyriasthe wove shimmering light around us. Maelsar and I each gripped the arm of a Demon, ready to snatch them to us and carry them over the barrier the moment it was clear.
A sentinel walked past atop the stones, his scrutiny passing right through us, just as Sylaira’s power had cautioned. A mix of hope and dread fluttered inside me. Because this was far too easy when my sister was anticipating our arrival.
We eased forward, tense and scanning. Yet no other patrol came. No shouts rang out inside the walls. Perhaps most had retreated inside to escape the storm.
“Still holding them?” I muttered to Maelsar.
He nodded, wings sprouting from his back. I called on mine, and Lyriasthe’s magic extended over us as we spread out.
“On three,” I whispered.
Sylaira and Lyriasthe readied themselves, feathers fluttering with anxiety.
“One. Two.” I wrapped my arms around the High Priestess.
“Three.”
Maelsar grabbed Maariya and launched into the air. I flapped my wings and soared toward the wall, scouring both directions to ensure no one had glimpsed us.
We landed in the rose garden without incident. Lyriasthe released a shaky breath, her Illusion still holding. Still, I spun a slow circle. I didn’t trust how well this was going.
“Can you sense your father now?” I asked Maelsar.
“Aye, he’s still at the east entrance.”
Thank the Goddess for his distraction.
“Hurry. They’re going to leave the south gate,” Sylaira urged, lashes brushing against her cheeks in rapid succession.
I steered the High Priestess toward the royal feather at a jog.
Maelsar glanced repeatedly over his shoulder. “Lyr, need you to make the doors look like they’re still closed as we go on.”
“On it.” Her lips thinned as she focused. “Good to open them.”
Sylaira jerked on the handle, holding it wide for the rest of us to pass inside. The still air was a welcome relief, but we didn’t have time to stop and savor it. We had to reach my rooms before we were spotted.
I cocked my head, listening for the telltale patter of footsteps. But the hall was silent. We eased forward, my heart hammering against my ribs.
Maariya jerked in Maelsar’s hold, wrenching him sideways and into the wall. Kiira bucked into me, sending pain shooting up my wrist as she twisted free. Her sudden movement knocked me off balance, and I crashed into Lyriasthe. We all went down in a tangle of limbs.
The Illusion fell away.
The Demons sprinted back the way we’d come, their shoes wet and slipping against the polished stone floor.
Goddess damn it! I chased after them, but they’d managed to eat the distance before I’d gathered myself. And they were seconds away from bursting out of the palace and alerting the royal sentinels to our presence.
I opened my well of magic, calling on my Command. Praying that it wouldn’t echo through the feather.
“HALT.”
The two females skidded to a stop with their hands reaching for the door. Their feet slipped out from under them, and they landed against the ground with a reverberating thud.
“Why does everyone run from me?” I wondered aloud in the common tongue. Because they were supposed to fear me. And hearing my disdain would only further that. Right now I needed them fucking terrified.
A sob slipped out of Maariya. I gripped both their arms and hauled them back toward the hall that held my rooms.
Where Maelsar already had a sword drawn and was fighting off the sentinels. Fury flashed through me. If I hadn’t had to Command the two, we would have made it unscathed.
Sylaira and Lyriasthe used their power to create a wall around my second-in-command, protecting his rear and flank.
“Hurry!” Sylaira shot down our bond.
I put on a burst of speed, dragging the Demons with me.
“It’s the Issaraeth!” one of them shouted.
“You and Lyriasthe take the females. I need to help Maelsar. ” I shoved them in her direction. Luminous threads spilled from her and wrapped around the High Priestess and her friend. Lyriasthe let her wall drop long enough for me to burst through and fight shoulder to shoulder with Maelsar.
“Kill as many as you can. I’ll Command the rest to clear a path to the royal feather.” Because we didn’t have time now to regroup in my suite.
Maelsar nodded, leaping forward with a battle cry. Swords clashed, sending sparks scattering. Magic and weapons speared toward me from another group. I sliced the side of a sentinel, sending him crashing into another warrior. A female rushed forward, and I flung her back with a blast of power.
Swing. Parry. Stab.
I fell into the rhythm of combat, Maelsar and I working in tandem. Yet days with little nourishment and sleep took their toll, and quickly. Our progress through the throng slowed to a crawl. Still more sentinels raced forward, clogging the path in front of us.
Red ringed the edges of my vision. Heartbeats thundered in my ears. No cuts dotted my flesh, but with how I was flagging, it wouldn’t be long.
“It’s now or never,” I shouted at my friend.
“Then let’s go,” he growled.
“Be prepared to race down the hall,” I told Sylaira as I dove into the depths of my well.
I opened my mouth, sucking all the air around us into my lungs.
“HALT.”
I directed the magic at everyone wearing silver armor. Soldiers ceased fighting, their arms dropping to their sides. Maelsar shoved one out of our way, and he remained glued to a tapestry as we raced forward. Footsteps thundered behind us as Sylaira and Lyriasthe raced to catch up.
We skidded around a corner, preparing to take on the sentries outside of the royal sitting room–
Only to come face-to-face with Iaoth.
And I flinched. The words no longer carved into me twinged with a specter of pain.
White leaped out and captured the six of us. A scream tore from the Demons’ throats, barely muffled behind their gags.
“Vaeron,” the Korona hissed, gliding forward.
Anger etched her expression, lips pinched like she’d sucked on something sour.
“My traitorous brother. We send you to the front to fight after all your begging, and then you simply walk away? Stadiel should have killed you after the trial by light. Even thousands of miles away, you continued to embarrass me. You threaten my position here!”
As she sneered at me, I wished for nothing more than a cut—one drop of my blood, one opening to yank on the veins in her neck and end her fucking life.
“You’ll forgive me when I tell you who I’ve brought with me,” I snapped.
“Of course, you dragged their filth into my home. You are sinning by bringing Demons to such a holy place. You’ve always been a monster. Fitting you brought more home with you like the flea-bitten dog you are,” she shot back.
If she didn’t have me bound in her power, I would have snatched her throat and squeezed. Her shrill voice scraped against my ears, and I never wanted to hear her speak again.
Soon.
“The Goddess will see to a fitting punishment for that. You’ll be unloved by Her too. Or maybe you always were.”
The words cut so fucking deep. But I was no longer her obedient hound. The duty my father had carved into my soul still rang—only for my mate and this realm now. Never again for her.
Her eyes narrowed on me. My pulse kicked up as her gaze flicked between my mismatched irises. “You are using magic you should not be able to. Your appearance has changed. And yet you ask me to listen to anything you have to say?”
“We have ridden for days on end from the front. If you want to win this war, you will hear me out. And we will not be harmed,” I insisted.
“Ishim told us of your desertion.”
“Ishim is dead.”
All color drained from Iaoth’s face. “What?”
“If you let us inside, I will explain everything,” I repeated.
Iaoth’s magic tightened. The females gasped for air. I whipped my head to the side, finding Sylaira’s face tinting purple. Our bond roared at me to do something, thrashing like a wild beast in my chest.
The High Priestess’s throat worked over nothing.
“The Goddess has not spoken of any of this to my precious darlings. You are lying to me!”
My fingers tightened, but I forced a scoff even when every fiber of my being screamed at me to fight for my mate.
Because the Korona couldn’t know she’d rattled me or how desperate I was to get air in Sylaira’s lungs again.
“She favors my mate. Now release us. Because I have brought you victory and you are about to waste it.”
Finally, her attention landed on the High Priestess. Her misty brows shot up her forehead. “Is that…” she trailed off like she couldn’t believe who was in her clutches.
So none of the Seers had predicted this; I savored that small victory.
“High Priestess Kiira of House Vrak. I think the Kral and the Halálhívó would do many things to get her back, don’t you?”