As his sister stooped to support Sariah, Daemon felt a magic other than his own stir in his veins—liquid and warm and rising like the tide.
His whole body went taut, his shadows swirling as the hair on his arms stood on end, and an alluring melody drifted across the field.
An eerie silence settled in the air as every soldier from the Court of Pearl froze. Locked in the clutches of a siren, their weapons fell to the ground, a glazed look falling across their features as his allies dispatched them one by one.
He’d seen Yvaine use her power—felt itmore than he would have ever liked to—but this siren’s song was an entirely different magnitude than he’d ever witnessed.
Thiswas the reason few knew of her abilities.
Daemon smiled as the ones on the outskirts of her range began to flee back toward the border of their court. They wouldn’t get far, but he’d at least give them a head start.
Pulling his sword from Lord Kaemon’s neck, Daemon sheathed the blade then took a few steps to retrieve the weaponhe’d had knocked from his hand. But as he reached for it, a pain so cold it burned bloomed in his chest, radiating out through his limbs and causing his knees to buckle. Daemon’s vision darkened, his breath coming in shallow pants, and he attempted to breathe around the unexplained agony.
Nothing about it made sense.
Yvaine had subdued nearly an entire army with her magic, giving them the upper hand. The only injury he’d sustained was a minor one at best, and it had already clotted. There was no reason for him to be in this much…
As the pain subsided, clarity took its place.
Auraelia.
“Your Majesty!” Panic-laced words and the sound of an arrow sinking to flesh penetrated what was left of the agony-induced haze around his mind. “Goddess damn it, boy. Get your ass up,” Lady Aesira growled in his ear as she hoisted him upright.
“Auraelia,” he groaned as he rubbed at the still lingering ache in his chest and met the hardened gaze of a warrior.
“What about Auraelia?” she demanded through clenched teeth, her eyes scanning their surroundings before coming back to drill into his.
“Something’s wrong. I’ve never felt—” Daemon rubbed at his sternum. “I’ve never felt her from this far away, but it’s the only thing that makes sense.”
“Goddess help me,” she muttered as she hastily stooped to pick up his blade and thrust it into his hand. “You feel her pain because you are fated. Because you have bothacceptedthat bond. Knowingly or not, it doesn’t matter. But I swear to the Goddess, if she dies, you will be next.”
Sheathing his blade down his back, he yelled his sister’s name, hoping by some miracle she could hear him. When she turned, he could only imagine what was written across his face as her eyes widened, and she screamed,“Go!”
Diving into his well of power, Daemon summoned as much as he could and let it carry him back to Lyndaria.
The sun had barely begun to kiss the horizon when his feet touched the ground, its tangerine glow bouncing off the soldier’s armor and lighting up the battlefield like it had been set ablaze.
If he’d thought that the battle he’d just left was a bloodbath, what Auraelia was fighting was a massacre. Bodies were strewn all across the open field, blood soaking into the ground as screams of agony echoed throughout the air.
“D!” He heard Aiden shout.
Whipping his head toward the sound, he hollered, “Where is Auraelia?! You’re supposed to be with her!”
Aiden sprinted to his side, his breathing heavy as he swiped blood from his brow, smearing it across his face. “I don’t know. Garnet came out of nowhere, and Xander said he had her, so I just—”
“Fuck.” Daemon cursed under his breath as he scoured the field, looking for any sign of Auraelia amongst the throng of people. When he found her, his lungs ceased to function.
“No,” he breathed on an exhale, his eyes wide as his worst nightmare came to fruition. “Auraeliaaaa!”he screamed, his voice somehow carrying over the chaos as he began sprinting toward her.
Her knees buckled, and everything around him went dark.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Auraelia
After Daemon left…
The sun was hardly above the horizon—the war just beginning—and it already felt like she’d lost.
