And curled up atherfeet, instead. She swore she could feel them purr against her as she looked at what was left of her father.
A pile of dark clothing, and an empty throne.
Ezer sat down upon it, surprised that it fit her shape perfectly. Like it was made for only her. And at her side, Six sat proudly.
A soft growl revealed her distaste as Kinlear approached the throne. Six was not pleased, after what he’d done.
‘Ezer,’ he said. ‘My hand is yours. My heart, too, if you will have it.’
She glanced up at him. His eyes were dark as night. His lips had curved in a fine, fanged smile, and a part of her relished it.
She remembered how he’d kissed her, and she shivered as he bowed before her, took her clawed hand in his own, and pressed it to his lips.
He was stronger than he’d ever been. He wasalive,without fear of thefuture.
It would be so easy to accept him.
So easy to forget the fear he’d placed in her heart, when he drove his blade in.
So easy to forget who she once was.
But as Kinlear backed away …
She remembered it all.
Every godsdamned moment.
‘You killed me,’ Ezer said. ‘And now … you will spendforeverserving me until you prove your allegiance.’
A breath, and the shadows left her. She could feel them like an extension of her own body as they locked around his wrists.
And she relished it as she forced those shadows to haul him away. She ignored him as he cried her name, trying to fight his way out of her power.
But she was stronger than him.
Stronger than anyone now.
Her Sentinels arrived with a breath, a thought, and bowed before her, acknowledging that she was the Next.
‘The storm, Acolyte,’ one of them said, dark eyes wide in wonder. ‘You no longer need to control it?’
‘A gift,’ Ezer said, ‘A blessing this Realmbreak.’ She looked down at the second ring she wore, a new one, to match her mother’s. ‘I traded Erath’s soul to sustain it.’
It meant that he would have no future in the Ehver.
He would cease to exist.
It was the darkest act she’d ever done, to steal a man’s eternity.
But it was a small price to pay for freedom.
She would not be anchored to Erath’s shadowstorm, forced to live her life in this darkness.
No, she would ride into battlewithher army.
She would feel the moonlight on her face, let the wind dance against her, as she
led them all to victory. She would break through the wards into the Citadel.
