I beg my sight to clear.
Come on! Come on!
It clears enough to take in Ronyn’s limp frame, a cracked and bleeding split in his head.
NO!
But I can’t do anything.
Because that’s when I see him.
A tall, imposing figure cloaked in black strides through the treeline, gold chains hanging from his neck in a show of blatant ostentatiousness. His ocean blue eyes are the same hue as Kael’s, but that’s where the similarities end.
“Ah, it’s so good to see you again, nephew,” he croons with an arrogant smile.
Kael spits blood onto the ground in greeting, drawing his mouth back in a snarl.
“You always were an untrained animal, Kael. Your father raised you to be weak—always acting with your soft hearts instead of your brains and blades,” Maldrak growls.
Kael’s breath hitches, but not at the insult. His eyes dart to a rocky outcropping beside Maldrak, and then back again, flicking back and forth. Confusion, or terror, or something else entirely fall across his face.
I can’t see.
I fight desperately against the lillath.
What the fuck is over there?
Kael groans, fighting against the restraints, but the soldiers push him down, a blade at his throat. A soldier with a leather strap fixing his hair in a long, tangled tail of dirty blonde hair leans down to Kael, whispering something that makes Kael’s jaw clench.
“We had a deal, nephew. Or should I call youprince?” Maldrak mocks.
Kael doesn’t respond, veins bulging in his neck at the tension.
“I’m just so glad you could make it today, nephew. I thought you wouldn’t come. After all, I know you thought you could change your plans without my knowing,” Maldrak sings, but there’s no denying he’s toying with Kael. “But then, it’s so fortunate that we have a mutual friend who could keep me informed.”
The crowd of soldiers jostle around, parting to make way for someone moving to the front.
“Rhyven,” I whisper, barely believing my eyes.
“RHYVEN!” Kael’s voice is murder incarnate.
My heart cleaves in two.He fucking sold us out.
“Did you think you wouldn’t pay for what you did to Zak?” Rhyven growls, animalistic fury taking over his body, his fists clenched at his sides with barely leashed rage.
“You fucking rat!” Kael screams, and I can hear Therion andDaelen snarling into the dirt with boots and blades keeping them in place.
“Why?” I breathe, almost inaudibly.
“Why?” Rhyven snarls, his voice cracking under the weight of his hatred.
“Because you are no one. You are nothing. You don’t belong to Zerynthia. You don’t belong to us. You were a curse from the moment you crawled into our world—an infection we should have burned out long ago.”
His chest heaves with barely leashed rage.
“You ruined my brother. You ruined my family. You made usweakwhen we needed to bestrong—and now look where we are.”
His voice lowers into something even uglier.
