“Harder, starling,” Roshan moans, and I squeeze firmly just as Darrius snarls and hitches my leg high to claim an extra inch, slamming so deep my vision wobbles. He leans over, eyes gleaming bright gold, one strong arm planted on the bed beside my head, and I feel the graze of sharp teeth where my neck meets my shoulder.
I bare my throat in perfect trust.Mate.
Everything happens in glorious succession. Fangs sink into me, the bite of pain preceding an obscene rush of pleasure that obliterates me as I bear down on Roshan, who comes with a savage snarl, his gaze never leaving mine. Darrius’s filthy groans are a balm to my heart when he explodes with a roar, the sound multilayered with man and beast, spilling his seed into me as his shadows devour the entire room.
Whimpering at the onslaught of my endless orgasm, my magic erupts through his darkness like a maelstrom of shooting stars, and as he collapses on the bed next to me, the soul bond seals between us—the beautiful tether glittering like a piece of the night sky.
But that’s not what makes me gasp in wonder.
It’s the shadows swirling with stardust and edged by the golden light of the sun that surround the three of us. I’ve never seen anything so ethereal, so godsdamnedmagical. I turn to Roshan, who isglowingwith lambent golden light... a light that winds up my forearms to coil with the black and silvery runes already embedded there.
The interplay of the three—shadow, starlight, and sunlight—takes my breath away. My two halves... my two loves. At the realization, something vital locks into place, a feeling of completion in my soul. A sense of rightness.
Only now do I understand the prophetic words of my simurgh:We are the passage between the earth and the sky, a conduit between the bright of the sun and the dark of the moon—both of your halves will be loved and anchored by kings.
Darrius, the darkness of my night sky, and Roshan, the radiance of my rising sun.
My soul-fatedandmy chosen.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
The attack comes within a week, much sooner than we expected.
But Anahima isn’t one to dawdle—she’s a planner and she’s methodical—she would not have moved unless all her playing pieces were in place. I feel a twinge in my gut at the thought of my friend’s betrayal, though I can’t even imagine what Darrius is feeling.
This is hissister,his right hand, the one he trusted most in the world.
My heart breaks for him. For both of them.
The king of Everlea left at the crack of dawn to meet with his war council and ready the Aspacana. Roshan departed for Oryndhr a handful of days ago so that he could gather his army, and while the thought of him being so far away from me forms a huge knot in my chest—mostly because I can’t feel him like I do Darrius via our soul bond—I know he’ll be careful. Still, it feels like my heart is walking around unprotected outside of my body and I hate it.
“Don’t you dare do anything stupid like die,” I’d warned Roshan as I peppered him with kisses before he entered the portal to Kaldari. “If you do, I will be forced to reanimate you with sanguimancy magic and then murder you slowly.”
He had smiled, tucking my hair behind my ear. “So vicious.”
“I mean it. I didn’t get you back only to lose you.”
“You won’t lose me, my starling. I promise.”
Darrius had stood behind me, his strength the only thing keeping me upright as one half of my heart left for another realm. “He has the power of Saru, Starbright,” he had whispered. “I suspect he might be immortal. In fact, I’m certain of it. The manticore saw a divine light around his aura.”
That insight had given me a small measure of peace, but until Roshan is back here with me, I remain anxious.
The plan is to bring his army to Everlea via a portal in Solis. With Rakh guarding the sea-facing borders and Shabra, Karkad, and Chamros defending the west, as well as Darrius’s army covering the north, Roshan will be well placed for any attacks from the east. We will have a defense on all fronts, or at least that is the idea. I’m sure that Anahima has a contingency plan in place, and my stomach is roiling with dread.
I pop into my old bedroom to check on my father. He’s asleep, but he has been able to stay awake now for hours at a time. Nuadar is the reason my father is still alive. After Maxur’s prompt interrogation, the beastmaster had made no effort to conceal his mind from his king’s psionic magic, proving his loyalty.
I’m not too proud to admit that I might have judged him unfairly.
In truth, without his help, the deadly serum would have kept eating away at my father until he was too weak to live. But now, his sleep cycle will return to normal and the lethargy from the toxin will leave his muscles. Papa will have to undergo some special healing for any atrophying of his body, but according to Nuadar, he’s going to be just fine.
“Did you know Anahima was a sovran-level magi?” I ask Ziba as she helps me into my leathers and armor in Darrius’s quarters.
Ziba lets out a telling sigh. “As a child that girl had a jealous streak a mile long, but she hid it well. Everyone in the castle knew the princess had power, but when she tested, she was mestial or dominant at best.”
“She told me the same,” I say, wincing as she draws the buckles as tight as possible.
“It was part of her outer mask,” Ziba says. “Downplay her strengths, pretend to be a healer while secretly studying how to use advanced corpus magic in poisons and toxins, not to mention her dabbling in death and blood magic. If anyone caught her, she manipulated their memories with them none the wiser.”
