“Hi.” My heart nearly beats out of my chest when she smiles at me like this.
I kneel beside her, asking Mera to give us a minute. “Time to leave. Kuron is giving the orders to everyone now.” She frowns. “It’s not safe for us here.” I look around the room before dropping my mouth to her ear and whispering, “I’ll tell you on the transport, but we need to say we were called back for an emergency. Don’t hesitate, act calm. You’regoing to come with me to my rooms so I can get a shirt, and Ezra and Rune will escort us to the transport.”
Her breath hitches, but she nods, taking my hand and plastering on a flirty smile, though I can feel the slight tremble. We find Mera and the two ladies loading Raea’s bags haphazardly. Kuron nods to me as he watches over them. Ezra escorts us to my rooms, where Rune enters with us. My footmen have already packed my bags and are working on their own. Aksel, my butler, tosses a shirt at me, nodding to Rune. Aksel is an undercover Regil and a skilled warrior.
Rune follows us out, Aksel close behind with the others. Ezra leads the way, meeting up with Kuron and the rest of our party, including the media team. It takes five minutes before we exit the palace grounds, and it’s three minutes until we reach the transport. The media team and Raea’s ladies go ahead to ensure all the bags are secured, leaving us with only our guards and my footmen.
Once the transport is in sight, our path is blocked when three men, clad in all-black attire and their faces covered, emerge from the shadow of the transport. They stand before our party, swords and blades holstered at their sides. I put Raea behind me, and thankfully, she doesn’t protest. She stays close, her breath becoming more rapid by the second.
“Move,” Kuron says. “We won’t ask twice.” Their leader steps forward, breaking away from the other two.
“We have orders to bring her to the King.” An inhuman smile crosses his face. “I don’t fail.” What little magic I have flares to life. Over my fucking dead body are they taking her.
Kuron steps forward again. “And which king is going to kidnap a royal?” he asks.
It’s a distraction. Ezra unholsters his Hallo, passing one to me, keeping one for himself. I see Rune slipping his free as well. I don’t have to look at Aksel to know he drew his the moment we stepped out of the palace. Raea touches my arm, and it nearly burns me. Thank the gods her magic decided to work here.
“Enough games,” the leader mutters, and in a single blink, a blade comes flying through the air, straight for Kuron.
Call it instinct, but in an instant, I grip that strand of white, and my wind wraps around us like a protective shield. The men growl before running for us. I don’t have to look to know Raea’s energy shield is activated. I can feel the distinct hum vibrating through the air. I tap mine on just before my wind shield crumbles. I’ll need to work on holding it in place.
Ezra fires first, the plasma bouncing off their own energy shields. Kuron wastes no time wrapping his hands around the first man, cutting off his air. “With me,” I bark at Raea, turning to her and gripping her face. “Stay with me.” She nods, her eyes going wide as I lead us away from the chaos, Aksel sticking to our side, Rune engaging with the third man.
Ezra manages to slip a blade past the man’s energy shield, and a moment later, the hilt is the only thing sticking out of the side of the man’s head. His eyes drain of life as he sinks to the ground. Raea screams.
I step into her field of vision. “Time to run, love. Don’t look, okay?” She’s gasping, her face pale, her body instinctively heating, becoming hotter and hotter by the second.
“Where the hell are the Regils?” Aksel mutters.
“They aren’t coming.” I tuck Raea under my arm, cooling my own skin, leaving her power to manifest. We run, it’s thirty yards to the ramp. Fifteen, five. One of the women screams, halting Raea. I nearly take her out, pulling her with me. “Don’t look,” I command.
“Stop, Stop!” she cries. “We have to go back.” She’s pushing against me as I attempt to drag her up the ramp. “Please,” she sobs. When another scream pierces the air, I turn to see Kuron with a sword hanging out of his stomach. “Please,” she cries.
I hesitate for one second, and that’s all it takes for her to break loose. She runs straight back into the chaos, so fast I can’t catch her. “Raea,” I yell, taking off after her.
The last of the king’s men turns and raises a gun. I swear time slows. It’s Kuron’s Hallo. I keep running—toward her, toward that gun—but before the trigger is pulled, my beautiful, unstoppable mate erupts.
The air itself shatters. Light—pure, blinding, impossible—explodes from her, ripping through the twilight with a resounding whoosh as the air is displaced. It’s not just light; it’s the very essence of starlight, ancient and raw, tearing through the atmosphere with a heat so searing, I feel the bronze button on my pants melt. The sky above usshifts, purples and deep blues swirling, as if the heavens themselves have come to watch. There’s a noise—similar to a gasp—and it’s as if it comes from the universe itself, drawing in a deep breath. As if it’s been waiting for this moment.
My eyelids slam shut against the searing light, but I keep moving, propelled only by instinct, pushing past the unimaginable heat. My vision returns, blurry, but I see her. My girl. She burns so brightly that everyone’s clothes melt right off, smoking and dissolving into ash. The guns and weapons become molten liquid pools at our feet. But her focus is on the ground in front of her, on the man with the gun. Now he’s nothing but ash and smoke taking flight on the breeze.
I reach her, wrapping my hand in hers, letting her know I’m here. I wait, watching her. I’m frozen in place with awe. Her eyes are pools of molten gold, swirling with power, her bright white hair glowing like the stars themselves, unbound and wild around her. That protective starlight cocoon of hers rises on a gentle wind around us, shimmering and ethereal, as she finally turns her attention to me.
Slowly, so slowly, she pulls in the beautiful light. It starts gathering back into her, a breathtaking reverse of creation, before I watch with amazement as the light drains from her fingertips, then her arms, revealing her perfectly creamy skin, completely unmarred. Like a wave being pulled back in, it drains all back to that place in her chest, right above her heart, right where her magic originates. When it’s all gone, I take her in. My gaze falls frantically down her body, noticing she’s fully clothed and unharmed. However, when I glance back up into those swirling golden eyes, I swear her hair lingers like strands of starlight.
She does the same. Her eyes roam over my clothes that are tattered and shredded, and barely hanging on. I have no idea how mine remained, but I’m grateful.
A small price to pay for such power.
In a blink, her eyes return to green, and it’s as if reality crashes into her. The starlight cocoon fades as she screams into the night, bending over as she clutches at her chest, and then she moves for Kuron, finding him kneeling on the ground in a puddle of his own blood. My heart clenches. Even with all that power, all that raw, terrifying beauty, her worry for him overshadows everything. I kneel next to her, holding her as her body trembles with sobs.
“No, no,” she cries. “Please, no.”
Kuron’s usually dark features and dark skin are soft and pale. Ezra and Rune stand, their bodies bare, but unscathed somehow. In fact, as I look around, everyone in our party is unscathed, not even a single blister to be found.
Ezra grabs Kuron, and Rune takes his other side as they lift him up, holding the sword in place. Pulling it from him would be lethal. “Princess, get on the transport, now,” Ezra barks. He looks at me in silent communication, relaying that we go now, no more delays. I run, hauling her into my arms, and pull her into the transport. The rest of our party runs up the ramp just behind, Leif and Bo bringing up the rear.
“Hang in there,” Ezra grunts under the weight of Kuron.
