Chapter 65
Chapter
Sixty-Five
HAVEN
The moment the words left my lips, agony ripped through me.
Fire erupted beneath my skin, racing through my veins as it turned my blood to ash. I gasped, but instead of air, lightning filled my lungs. Ice crystallized at my fingertips, spreading up my arms in delicate, deadly patterns that should have been cold. Instead, they burned.
The floor beneath my feet rumbled, and cracks spider-webbed outward from where I stood. I felt the cold earth reaching toward me, grasping and needy.
A cosmic wind surrounded me, whipping my hair and dress into a frenzy. Stars—actual stars—materialized from thin air, spinning around me in tight, brilliant orbits. Their light seared my retinas, but I couldn’t look away.
Lightning erupted from the cracked floor. Not the weak flicker of a storm, but pure, concentrated power that could level cities. It rose in jagged spears of gold and white, weaving itself into a cage around me. The bars hummed with such intensity that the air itself seemed to shimmer.
I reached out, mesmerized by the lightning’s beauty, and my palm connected with one of the lightning bars.
Power slammed into me like a physical blow.
Every nerve in my body ignited. I was no longer Haven Ford—I was the storm itself.
I was the fire that consumed forests, the ice that split stone, the wind that tore at the world, and the green hope of springtime.
Magic didn’t flow through me; I was magic, raw and untamed and infinite.
My feet floated off the floor as my arms opened wide and my back arched.
From a distance, I heard men calling my name, but I didn’t have the strength to turn my head, much less answer them.
Magic poured into me, transforming me into someone entirely new.
I opened my mouth to scream—overwhelmed by the force of what I was becoming—when the queen’s voice cut through the maelstrom.
“People of Rymar, welcome your future queen. I give you Princess Haven.”
The magic vanished.
The lightning, the stars, the cosmic wind—gone as if they’d never existed. Except they had, and they still existed within me. Quiet now, but there. Ready to be mastered.
My legs buckled, and I would have hit the marble floor if powerful arms hadn’t caught me.
Zane clutched my arms. “Haven?”
I couldn’t speak. I was too wrung out to do more than nod as I stared into his terrified eyes.
Then came the first clap. More followed until the enormous room was awash with thunderous applause. For me—or whatever had happened to me.
The queen raised her arms in the air. “Tonight, we celebrate.”
Servers appeared and passed sparkling wine.
Musicians gathered and struck a dancing tune.
And I collapsed against Zane’s muscular chest. How could something so hard be so comforting? “I need a minute,” I whispered to him. “Away from all this.”
He scooped me into his arms and carried me into an alcove.
Five men followed us.
“Are you all right?” Teal’s face was taut with worry.
“I don’t know.” Strange magic still coursed through my veins. “What was that?”
Grayson took a step closer. “You tell us.”
Normally, I’d argue—Grayson’s tone was sneering, and he’d demanded, not asked—but I didn’t have the energy to bicker. “I connected to all the elements—I was all the elements.”
He snorted in derision, and I stiffened in Zane’s arms.
Zane looked up from studying my face. “Give us a minute.” When no one moved, he added, “Please. Can’t you see she’s overwhelmed?”
With only a few concerned grumbles, they left us.
“You’ve had quite a night. Two assassination attempts, a bonding ceremony, and whatever that was.”
I couldn’t help it; I yawned. “When you put it that way, I’m exhausted.”
He chuckled softly, gently lowering my feet to the floor. “Too exhausted to dance with me?”
Soft music swirled around our alcove.
Zane pulled me close, swaying to the music. “I had a vision of this moment.”
“Did you?”
He nodded, with a knowing smile on his lips. “I did.”
“What happens next?”
“I offer you a vow.”
“Oh?”
He stroked my cheek. “We’ll have our challenges, but I promise you this: I’ll make you happy. Every. Single. Day. It’s too early to tell you, but you should know that I love you.”
My heart stuttered.
Zane laughed. “Your face. It’s all right, Haven. Take all the time you need. You don’t have to say it back. Not until you’re ready. I’m not going anywhere.”
I lifted onto my tiptoes and kissed him. Slowly.
A musician hit a sour note, and the discordant sound broke the spell between us. A second missed note sent a shiver of dread coursing through me. My magic coiled around me, readying itself for danger. “Zane, do you sense anything? Your visions …”
A tremor shook the floor beneath our feet, rattling the braziers. The flames flickered higher, dancing wildly in the suddenly charged air.
I gripped Zane’s arm and pulled him into the grand hall. “Something’s very wrong. Something’s coming.”
A servant rushed past us, hurrying to the queen’s side and whispering urgently in her ear.
Her face went pale, and she rose from her throne, opening her mouth to speak.
Before she could utter a word, her favorite stained-glass window exploded in a burst of cutting shards.
People screamed, running in panic toward the doors. A woman near me shrieked as glass sliced across her cheek, blood streaming down her face. Nobles trampled each other in their desperation to escape.
A dragon snaked its head through the shattered window. Midnight scales absorbed the fire’s light. Huge yellow eyes fixed on me—ancient and intelligent.
My blood ran cold.
“Get back, Haven.” Zane pushed me behind him.
The dragon breathed fire at a group of fleeing nobles, and terrified screams turned to shrieks of agony as flames caught silk and velvet.
Braziers toppled as people crashed into them, and burning oil spread across the marble floor in rivers of flame. The banners caught fire, and flames climbed toward the ceiling.
I summoned Pierce’s water magic—not a bit surprised when it responded stronger than ever before—and tried to quench a wall of flames trapping a cluster of terrified women.
The flames sputtered, and the trapped women raced toward the nearest doors.
Chaos ruled. People screamed, ran, and sobbed over the fallen. And a few valiant men—six of them—took on the fire-breathing beast.
They worked together, and I paused to watch them, unaccustomed pride blooming in my chest. Mine. They were mine. They had their faults, but they were also strong and fearless and … mine.
That pause cost me.
The window next to me exploded. A second dragon forced its head inside and bit down on my arm. Its fangs pierced my skin. Instantly, wrongness flooded my veins. My magic recoiled, retreating deep inside me, hiding from whatever coursed through me.
“Haven!” I heard Zane’s anguished roar and running footsteps, but my vision was already graying at the edges. My limbs went numb, then heavy, then useless.
The dragon had its prize—me—and its wings beat against the night air. I felt us rising, the warmth of the castle fires growing distant below. I tried to summon my magic, tried to fight, tried to keep my eyes open, but the poison was winning. My consciousness flickered.
The last thing I saw before darkness claimed me was six figures growing smaller and smaller in the burning throne room—the men I’d just bound myself to, the men I might never truly know.
Then nothing.
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