My heart pounded, but it wasn’t from fear.
It was from fury.
From defiance.
From the sheer audacity of this man.
This so-called king stood there with blood on his hands and amusement in his eyes, as if it were all a game.
Ryker’s arms tightened around me as though he could sense my thoughts. But I’d had enough of being carried, of needing to be saved.
I slipped from his hold. It wasn’t graceful. My legs almost buckled as my boots hit the ground, but I locked my knees and stood tall. Pain rippled down my spine, and my vision danced with shadows, but I refused to fall.
“I’ll finish it,” I said, my voice hoarse but steady.
“No,” Ryker growled, stepping in front of me. “Absolutely not. We have entertained his little game for long enough. You are my wife, and that makes you my queen. If any of these cowards take issue with that, they can answer to me.”
“It’s not your choice. It’s mine.”
His jaw clenched, and I could see the fury behind his storm-grey eyes.
I turned back toward the balcony and addressed the smug monster seated on the throne. “Let’s finish this.”
“Cadence,” Ryker rumbled as he speared his fingers through his hair.
“I’m fine,” I lied, doing my best to ignore the throbbing pain in my shoulder.
The King smiled, slow and satisfied. “Excellent. Let the final trial begin.”
“Go, Ryker.” A strangled sound caught in his throat before he vanished in a swirl of darkness.
With him no longer at my side, his strength no longer anchoring me, I felt my confidence slip away. Every breathscraped like broken glass through my lungs. My shoulder burned with a raw, pulsing ache, blood still seeping warm and sluggish down my arm.
My legs trembled beneath me, muscles tight with exhaustion, and each step felt as though I was wading through wet sand. Every limb felt too heavy, too stiff, but the weight of expectation was heavier.
My vision swam at the edges, darkening like ink in water, and I blinked, trying to clear it. Every cheer from the crowd felt like a blade to my skull, every heartbeat a hammer against my ribs.
I was unraveling.
But even as the pain screamed for mercy and my body begged to yield, I ground my teeth and forced my spine straight.
Not yet.
Not like this.
They wanted to see me fall, but I wouldn’t give them the satisfaction.
The ring that adorned my finger pulsed, and I curled my fist tight around it, grounding myself in its weight. The magic it housed stirred beneath my skin, but I had no idea how to wield it. I could feel its hunger, its awareness, as though it was calling to me, waiting for a command I didn’t know how to give.
The intensity of Ryker’s gaze hit me like a brand: searing, possessive, desperate. He wanted to stop me. But this trial had been my choice. My fight.
And no one would take it from me.
Not even him.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Cadence
