Daed takes a step away from me and I try to hold him back. Although he loosens my fingers gently from his forearm, I can see his savagery reemerging as he stalks towards Modok. He stands over him, his black boots sinking into the pool of blood surrounding the Lord of Mor’Thravar, who slips in and out of consciousness.
“I can not decide,” Daed exhales. “Do I kill you now, or do I pull up a chair and watch the life slowly drain from you?”
Despite his wound and Daed’s threats, Modok laughs between bloody gasps. “If you are to defeat the Legion, you need me at your side. You know it. Your father knows it.”
Daed shakes his head. “All I need you to do, Modok, isdie.”
Smokes weaves between Daed’s curled fingers as his eyes narrow with deadly intent.
“Daedalus!” Kaelus booms from the doorway. “Enough.”
The king stands staring in disbelief as he takes in the scene around him, including Arax on his knees and the headless Mor’Thravar warrior at his feet.
“What have you done?” Kaelus growls. “You risk everything, Daedalus.”
“Daed did nothing,” I cry in his defense. “Modok and his men broke into my chambers and attacked me. I would be dead, or worse, if the prince had not saved me”
Kaelus barely pays me any attention, far too concerned with the dire political incident taking place.
“Get help now,” he snaps at Arax. “Get healers, and bring men in here to help. Only Blades. No one else.”
“Yes, Your Highness,” Arax coughs as he clambers to his feet and leaves the room to search out aid.
Not that Modok deserves it.
Kaelus pinches the bridge of his nose as he thinks. “You can not stay here tonight, Amara. We must put you somewhere else.”
With the floors slick with blood and now decorated with more decapitated heads than I would prefer, remaining in this room is not my preference either. I know there are dozens of rooms on this floor of the castle alone. Any of them will be adequate.
“She will stay with me,” Daed interrupts, and I immediately pick up my jaw after it falls open. Daed looks at me. “She is my wife. She should sleep in my… our bed.”
“Very well,” Kaelus spits bitterly. “Take her now, Daedalus, while I clean up your mess.”
Daed leaves me no time to come to terms with the decision. He sweeps me into his arms and carries me to the window, his wings bursting from his back as we take flight into the darkness.
Chapter 16
The rain pelts down on us, a torrent of icy needles that washes away the blood staining my skin, as Daed’s powerful wings slice through the storm. The sky is a mass of rolling clouds, illuminated by flashes of lightning, casting his face in sharp, angry relief. His jaw is clenched tight, eyes narrowed against the wind, and every muscle in his body is coiled with tension as he keeps me pressed against his chest. I clutch at his soaked tunic, a different kind of rage burning in my stomach.
Baev’kalath was supposed to be my sanctuary—my protection. But it’s proven more dangerous than anything I ever faced in The Grove. If the Mordorin can’t keep me safe within their own fortress, how could they possibly protect my people from the Legion of Saints across the sea?
We land hard on his balcony, his boots hitting the wet stone with a heavy thud. He steps inside without a word, sparing us from the worst of the downpour as he sets me down. The warmth of the plush rug is a stark contrast to the freezing air, but my toes are already tinged blue and my teeth chatter from the cold. I must look awful—my nightgown clings to my body like a secondskin, the soaked fabric tracing every curve, the warm tone of my olive skin peeking through the sheer white.
I catch the way his gaze sweeps over me, lingering a moment too long on the shape of me beneath the wet gown. His throat bobs as he swallows, and then his eyes jerk away.
“I’ll light a fire,” he mutters, his voice rough, as if forced out against his will. He strides to the massive fireplace where the gargoyles watch us with hideous, bulging eyes, and sets to work stacking the logs.
I watch him in the low light, his broad shoulders hunched, his dark hair plastered to his skull, the ends curling tighter in the dampness.
“What was that back there?” I ask, my voice trembling from more than just the cold. “What happened to you?”
He pauses, half-glancing over his shoulder at me. “What do you mean?”
“Where do you go when you get like that?” I push, taking a step closer.
He turns back to the hearth, jaw tightening. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“It’s not the first time I’ve seen your eyes turn black,” I insist, more firmly now. “I thought I imagined it, but I didn’t, did I? The same thing took you over last night.”
