Her brother lashed back, striking her down.
Her. His own sister.
How dare he?
Sensing she’d lost him for good, Leandra waged a war against her brother. But with each blow she dealt, he hit back faster and harder until the day she found herself on her knees before him, defeated.
Leandra waited for the killing strike. When the blow didn’t come, she looked up into her brother’s eyes.
What she found there revolted her.
Mercy? Was this some kind of joke?
He wasn’t going to kill her. He was going to let her go.
Who had done this to him? Who had tamed her brother’s untamable soul?
Sneering, Leandra took the chance he gave her, swearing to find the culprit. Determined to make this right.
She did not go back to the sea. Instead, she waited and watched. She tracked the god of shadows through the darkness, stalked him all the way to a tiny house at the edge of the water. It was there that she found the source of her brother’s weakness: a mortal girl.
A human had turned him against his sister and away from his purpose?
As she stared down at the weak and fragile creature rowing her boat out to sea, the god of tides called the wind and waves around her. She would deal with this mortal. She would remind her brother of his true nature. And when she finished, all would be right again. He would remember himself and rejoin her.
Together, they would be terror and chaos once more.
Forty-One
When the door to Dagan’s cottage burst open and the wind howled in, Safire looked up, expecting Asha.
It was Roa who stood in the frame. Rain drenched her lavender dress and her dark eyes were wide with something like fear.
“They took him.”
The dragon queen stumbled into the room. Safire rose to catch her, gripping Roa’s ice-cold arms as the words rushed out of her. “I told her I would bring a war to her door... but she took him anyway.” She didn’t need to say his name. It was clear on her face that she was speaking about Dax. “She imprisoned him.”
Safire’s stomach dropped. “On what grounds?”
The door creaked on its hinges, hanging open and letting the rain in. Safire was about to leave Roa in front of the fire and shut it when two more figures entered.
“Roa?”
Torwin and Asha stepped into the cottage, just as wet as the queen. Rain rolled down their faces. As Torwin shut the door, Asha joined Roa and Safire on the carpet, her brow furrowing. “What’s happened?”
Roa explained that as soon as Dax gave Safire’s refusal to the empress, she accused him of being in league with dangerous fugitives and took him and their guards into custody.
Roa, however, was left untouched.
“I told her this would incite a war between our two nations. I reminded her that we not only had a formidable army but dragons at our disposal.” She looked from Asha to Safire. “She was unyielding.”
“But she didn’t takeyouinto custody,” said Asha, her thoughts churning in her eyes as she stared down at the Skyweaver’s knife, now lying across her palms.
Roa shook her head. “I believe she wanted me to find you.”
“You mean she wants us to come for him,” said Safire. She had refused to hand Eris over, and now Dax was being punished for it. “This is my fault.”
“No.” Roa reached for her wrist, squeezing tight. “It’s mine.” She let go, looking down to her lap. “We so badly need those seeds. I let Dax convince himself—I let him convince both of us—that Eris deceived you. I’m so sorry, Safire.” Roa shook her head, holding Safire’s gaze once more. “You should know that he defended you in the end. It’s why she’s punishing him.”
