THIRTY-EIGHT
CAZ
My eyes have to be deceiving me.
There’s no way Council Castle is on fire .
“Speed up the ship!” I shout over my shoulder. The ship lurches forward and doesn’t stop until we reach the snowy shore of Luxor.
I refused to sit around waiting for The Council to return Willow and Killian to me. I had Rowan and a small fleet board a ship to take me straight to Luxor as soon as we were in Blackwater.
As soon as we dock, I dash off, running up the steep staircase. My heart pumps twice as fast and my nose grows numb from the cold the faster I run.
“Willow!” I shout when I’m closer. “Fuck.” There are so many stairs. I hope she isn’t in there.
Willow? Willow? Please. Tell me you’re alive. Tell me you’re not in there.
When her voice doesn’t return to me, my anxiety spikes. I thought if I made it to Luxor, I’d be able to hear her. A burning heat swells in my chest, and without much thought, I whisper, “Take me to her.”
In seconds I’m floating above the slick stairs. My body drifts to the very top landing. I drop in a crouch near the entrance of Council Castle, smelling the smoke much more now. My palm is hot, and I lift it, noticing melted ice beneath.
I draw in a breath as I stand upright. “I can control it,” I whisper. I hear someone scream and whip my gaze up. “Take me to Willow.”
My vision blurs only briefly, and soon the flames that were a great distance away are swarming me. A beam from the roof creaks and tilts sideways, crashing to the ground next to me. The heat of the fire is sweltering, but I find an opening and take it. It leads me to a corridor where the flames haven’t spread, but the air is thick with dark smoke.
“Willow!” I call again.
I’m losing my mind. If she doesn’t answer me…if she’s hurt or worse, dead , I don’t know what I’ll do.
I can sense her though. It has to be her. She’s close. I feel her heart beating twice its rhythm. I hope I’m not mistaking it for my own chaotic heart.
I hurry through another corridor but am immediately met with an explosion of fire. I curse under my breath as I back away. I spot a door to my left and run over to kick it open, only to come face to face with a wide terrace overlooking the see.
From here, nothing can be seen. The mountains in the distance are a mere blur, fading into the dark sky. The snow is coming down harder, and I’m certain it’s brewing into a storm.
I pause when I feel a presence behind me. There’s an itch on my neck, eyes on the back of my head. When I whirl around, I catch a flash of silver.
My fists clench in an instant as Vassilis appears, standing between the doorframes.
“No one to stand in our way now, monarch ,” he sneers. His eyes are lit like silver rings, and his hands curl into fists too.
“I don’t have time for your shit, you ugly fuck,” I grumble.
He steps forward. “The Regals say you’re the chosen one. You’re the one who can defeat Selah. Everyone thinks you’re so special because you carry the blood and Seed of Yuri.” He takes another step. “I may not live to see tomorrow, but believe me when I tell you I’ll die a happy man knowing you are de?—”
A single gunshot echoes across the marble terrace.
Vassilis stands before me, his sneer fading, fists uncurling, and a hole in his head so large it gives me a clear view of the flames behind him.
He drops to his knees, and I lower my smoking gun, stepping around him and retrieving a blade from my belt. I press the edge of it to his throat. “The thing about you, Vassilis, is that you talk too fucking much.” I drag the blade across slowly, clenching my jaw as I watch silver blood spill down his chest. “And I told you if you ever threatened my mate again, I’d kill you.”
I haul him up and toss his body over the rail.
Good fucking riddance.
Something thuds behind me. I twist around to see the ceiling collapsing.
I rush back inside and hustle through the castle, shouting my fiancée’s name again.