“What have you done?!” Evanna shouted at Lachlan, disgust and horror dripping from each word.
“Something you refuse to do… I’m saving our people!” the asshole barked at her.
The fucking nerve.
Ire travelled through my entire being, magic swirling with the need to fire, but I tried to stop myself from killing him where he stood. My magic had to be reserved for Raithian, now more than ever, because only the Celestials knew how powerful he had just become.
“You have betrayed your kingdom, Lachlan. You betrayed us all!” Nikau bellowed from my other side, hurt and disbelief distorting his features.
“I did what I had to, Cousin!” Lachlan replied, desperate to defend his actions. “Someone had to save us!”
“They don’t look saved to me,” I declared, fists trembling at my sides from indignation and the surge of power begging me to let it go. How dare he do this to our people? To Evanna. TomyDragons? “There are too many green eyes among them, for anyone to have agreed to this.”
The hatred he felt for me exuded from his pores, and he bared his teeth at me threateningly.
“They don’t know what’s best for them yet. Once this is over, they will thank me.” When his attention returned to Evie, his demeanor softened. “We made a deal that will benefit us all,” he urged, trying to make her understand. “Raithian will give Caelisium to me, to us, Evanna. You can rule beside me. He will let us free our people and rule this world however we want. The war would finally be over. All of this would—”
“Let me guess,” I interrupted, not entirely surprised that Raithian had offered the same deal to Lachlan, and he’d accepted. “The only thing you have to do is tell him where theEye of the Worldis… Oh, and kill us all to get us out of his way.”
To be honest, I wasn’t sure if I should feel pity or be repulsed by Lachlan. I settled for being repulsed.
My gaze shifted to Raithian, who regarded me with a wild but pleased expression.
Fucking psychopath.
“He is using you, Lachlan! Can’t you see that?” Evie demanded. “You are just a means to an end.”
“The saddest part is you thought offering Caelisium like this to Evanna would make her run into your arms,” I added, floating forwards until I paused between the two Dragon armies.
“I am doing what needs to be done to reclaim our world!” he snapped.
“No. You are doing what needs to be done for you to be powerful. For you to be the king and get the woman you want as a prize,” I seethed, sickened by him. “What you fail to understand is that Evanna isn’t a prize you can win. She is the queen, and you are not worthy of her. Never were, and never will be.”
It was nauseating how easily a person could betray their morals and values just to get what they wanted.
“You are dooming another world to our fate,” Nikau countered, distressed by his cousin’s betrayal. “All those innocent people will be—”
“Let the Mirror World fight their own war!” Lachlan bellowed. “I do not care what awaits them at Raithian’s hand, they aren’t my responsibility. Caelisium is.”
“If the only way we can get our freedom is by sentencing more innocent lives to the Warlock King’s barbaric ruling, then I rather see Caelisium lost forever,” Evanna confessed, both courage and sadness glistening in her eyes. “My parents didn’t die fighting for our people to stand again, just for you to condemn another world to live on their knees. If you think selling your soul to Raithian is justified, then you were never the man I thought you were. You are a monster, Lachlan, just like he is.”
“Surrender now and live, Lachlan. Otherwise, you will die too,” I warned.
His jaw worked as he regarded me. “You bastard!”
“Oh, but I’m not a bastard… You know exactly who my father is.” My blast of energy crashed against Lachlan’s chest and sent him tumbling off Saithar’s back. His scream reverberated around us as he fell through the sky.
The possessed Dragons pounced at ours in response, while Saithar dove after her soulmate. With a call of war, Asher, Harper, and Imogen, led Edward, Arlo, Skylar, Harvey, Quinn, and Elijah forwards, while Aaron, Charlotte, Willow, and Louis left the battle below to join our ranks in the sky. This fight was not going to be easy, we only had sixteen Dragons in our Sky Legion and now the Warlock had twenty.
I instantly let go of the floating sphere that kept me airborne, dropping out of their way. “Vyper!”
“The traitor is mine!” Nikau demanded.
“But he’s your cousin—” Kingston began.
“My cousin is dead. That man is an enemy of the Crown and Caelisium. He needs to be stopped.” Nikau dove with Nuri before the chief could stop him, heading straight towards Lachlan—who was now climbing onto Saithar’s back.
Vyper swept me from the sky the next second, swerving out of the way when Nuri and Saithar collided before us. I looked up, my gaze connecting with Evanna.“Be careful… I love you.”
