“I’d have been here sooner, but your lackey deterred me.” I clenched my bloodied hands around Starfire and Angelborn, forcing my body to retain its calm, and wandered to the pillared wall.
The sight below tightened my chest. As a girl, Damenal had been a glorious playground, a future just out of reach. Lately, it had become winding pathways of hope, promises for glory once lost. Tonight, as I looked down upon my home, lives slipped away, blood blotting out those dreams.
From here, the sound of the battle was dim, but the dull hum of roars and groans—of encroaching death—remained. Smoke spiraled away into the night-dark sky, grays tarnished in the burning light of the moon and stars. It thinned where it skimmed the tops of buildings. Fewer explosions were detonating, providing a clearer sight into the carnage below.
Each death prickled my skin like a fine blade. I breathed in those losses.
Then, exhaled them, and turned to face Kakias.
The queen’s sharp-toothed smile sent me back to the night, months ago, when everything I thought I knew had been turned upside down. Except here, poised to destroy everyone I loved, with moonlight gilding her profile, she was more fearsome than I could have imagined. Those soulless eyes turned on me, and they threatened to swallow me whole.
“And where is Aird?”
“I killed him.”
“Pity,” she deadpanned.
“Don’t hide your devastation on my account.”
“When will you learn, Ophelia?” Kakias drummed her knife-sharp nails on the arm of my chair, each tap burrowing into my mind. “Sacrificesare vital.”
“No,” I spat. “I won’t sacrifice anything else to you.”
A smile. “We’ll see.”
“This ends here, Kakias. With you and me—no more loss of life.” I pointed to the city below. “Call off your legions and face me like a true warrior.”
“Where would the fun be in that? I’m winning.” The queen stood from my chair, circling until she was in front of me. That power—that unnatural, stirring, pool-granted magic—wrapped itself around my bones. My breathing shallowed. “Perhaps if you hadn’t stolen my last toy, I’d be more open to negotiating.”
I swallowed my outrage at her referring to Tol asher toy, focusing on fighting the dark power trying to steal my autonomy. Tol’s life had never belonged to her?—
I couldn’t think about him now. Couldn’t lose focus.
It took everything in me not to explode on the queen as she had on our city. Instead, I pulled the Revered mask I’d come to know intimately into place, sliding it between her influence and my resolve.
“Oh, corrupt queen,” I scoffed, trying to move. Her power locked my muscles. “Do you truly expect me to believe my cooperation would have deterred you? Your hands are bathed in the blood of centuries of sins.”
She narrowed her eyes at my choice of words. At the smug smile on my face.
Then, she returned it—hers full of secrets and twisted truths.
Regardless of whether I’d rescued Tol or not, Kakias would have blown up the mountains. This was her game.
“You’re correct about one thing, vicious child. This ends tonight.” She took a step back, her train shuffling behind her, swallowing the light. Long and skin-tight, the dress was an insulting confirmation that she never intended to partake in the fight below. “When the sun rises, there will be nothing left of you to love.”
We stared at each other. Two warriors. Two queens. Two hearts staked on revenge.
From behind her back, Kakias removed a dagger, the fine blade catching the moonlight. Her power still held my bones, circled me like a python’s mighty body.
It slipped along my spine, slithering around my shoulders and down my arms.
And then, it encircled my wrist. Pulled it out and flipped my hand palm up, open to the ceiling.
The rest of my body became free, but that power remained concentrated on my hand, warping and prying with an aching pressure.
My lip curled, fingers flexing around Starfire. Kakias balanced her dagger against the pad of her finger, smile growing as she pushed her blade in. I gasped as something sharp pinched my own and?—
A warmth gathered in my hand.Blood.
