“Are you going to fight?” the Queen asked. “Or just play?”
I glared, skewered the apple on my sword. It sliced down the center, and hurled one half back at the Afeya. But the other, I threw into the dark, and heard the distinct sound of it hitting a wall. So there was an end to this playground.
But before I could find it, the beast hissed calling out to me. “Asherah.”
My body went cold. The chimera charged. My heart thundered as I held my ground, my body trembling with fear. I couldn’t jump on it from behind, and not from the front.
Which left one option.
So I waited, and waited, sweat beading at my brows as I prayed my plan would work.
The chimera was nearly in my face, before I dodged again, letting it pass me, my feet scrambling into a sprint. I ran toward the wall, blindly reaching until I found it. Taking a few steps back, I ran, jumping up and kicking my feet against it to gain momentum. I flew backwards, and twisted, my body colliding with the beast’s middle. I gripped its roughened fur and climbed onto its back as it roared, its hind legs kicking and bucking. The nahashim tail hissed, striking at me with a sudden and horrifying speed. I barely managed to kick it in the face and avoid its bite. But the chimera bucked again, jumping from its front legs to its back. I bounced, nearly flying up before I landed against its spine, my thighs clamping down.
With an ear-piercing roar, it threw me to the ground and I just barely managed to curl into a ball and roll to safety.
I was so dizzy, the room was spinning as I fought my way back to my feet. Fuck! How the hell did you fight this thing?
Every trick I knew, and every other beast I’d fought felt inadequate. All the fights I’d been in, all the monsters I’d faced and I’d been woefully unprepared for this.
Suddenly, the chimera called to me again, and my blood ran cold as it hissed a name at me.
Not Asherah. It didn’t call me by that name this time. Or Lyriana. It was something else—another name, in another language I didn’t recognize. A name I could barely hear over the laughter of the Afeya.
I blinked, my vision shifting. I wasn’t in Queen Ma’Nia’s playground anymore.
I was in a forest, surrounded by tall trees full of green leaves. The trunks and branches were a pure brown. Lighter than pine trees in color—but these weren’t the same. I didn’t recognize the species at all. Not from any scrolls I’d read, nor any paintings I’d seen, or memories.
A man screamed, pulling my attention toward him. My heart raced with more fear than I’d ever known before. I ran, tearing through the trees, faster and faster. I needed to reach him. To save him.
A chimera had pushed him up against the trunk,trapping his body with theirs while two heads growled in his face, and two sets of teeth snapped.
He paled, shaking with terror. He wasn’t a warrior. He was … a prince. The word popped into my memory. And some protective instinct woke up inside of me. I’d never seen this man before. I didn’t know his name, or even where we were. What continent, what year. But he was familiar to me. Soft brown curls sat atop his head. And on first glance, I couldn’t help but notice that he was extremely handsome. He had full, soft-looking lips, a strong squared jaw, thick dark eyebrows, and kind, gentle green eyes. No aura, and yet … my soul called out to his. It longed for him with a yearning that already had me aching. My heart thundered.Instantly his soul responded to mine, his voice in my head.
Ani janam ra.
Rhyan!
But this wasn’t Rhyan. And yet—it wasn’t Auriel either.
This was a whole other life, I realized—another incarnation they had—we had—experienced. It was after the Drowning, I was sure of that. But I didn’t know anything more. Not hisname. Nor mine. Nothing. ButI knew his soul. Auriel was in that body.
Rhyan was in that body.
And I felt my love for him, for all of them rise and grow, for Rhyan in three different forms, deep in my chest. I needed him, needed to be with him, to protect him and save him. Rhyan. Auriel.
The prince.
I raced forward, my limbs speeding up with pure determination. While in this incarnation, Rhyan was no warrior, neither was I. Yet it didn’t stop me. Even when I realized I didn’t have a weapon.
For some reason, it didn’t seem to matter to me—or my incarnation. Because my fingernails suddenly lengthened and sharpened, leaving me with two large hands, my nails as large and sharp asdaggers. I was the weapon. Without hesitation, I sliced through the chimera’s tail, cutting off the nahashim. Its black eyes closed and its body fell to the grass, curling limply and rolling before stilling with death.
The beast roared and the chimera turned its ire on me—giving the prince just enough time to slip out of its hold. He started toward me, his eyes wide. He wanted to fight. To protect me, too. But he couldn’t—not in this life. Not yet.
I shook my head. “Run! ” I screamed, my voice strange and accented. It almost reminded me of the way Ramia spoke. “Now! ”
The beast lowered its skull and charged at me. I extended my claws, and with a battle cry, I stabbed out the eyes of the head nearest to me. Because that was how to weaken and defeat a chimera.
I knew that much. Remove the tail. Remove the eyes.
