“No one, fucking no one, hurts my mate.”
And there it was, our secret split open. The maelstrom of my admission ripped through the silence like a clap of thunder.Sylaira’s gasp was a death knell, echoing off veined marble.
“Mate?” Stadiel’s voice boomed, so forceful I thought the statues of the High Priestesses might tumble from their pedestals.
Zarethiel had the fucking nerve to laugh as I straightened and faced the Koron. Red flushed his face, fury striking every harsh feature. His frame vibrated with barely contained violence.
“Release her,” Stadiel ordered me, gesturing to my sister. Darkness flashed in his expression, the type I’d only seen prior to his decision to issue an execution order.
I was totally fucked.
And Sylaira?
I’d failed her too. The one person I should never have allowed someone else to harm. She was exposed now. Unprotected.
Not knowing what would happen next awoke a primal fear, unlike any I’d tasted before, inside me.
Like I was peeling fingers from my flesh, I surrendered my hold over Iaoth, bracing for the words that would flay me open in front of the whole court. My immense well of white undulated, unfazed from holding the sheer number of Angels filling the ballroom hostage. It was better that no one could move until the Koron and Korona pronounced their judgment.
Heat bloomed at my side. Sylaira stood tall, spine locked straight, chin raised like she was the one who was supposed to bear the crown. Not a single quiver in her body. Not a single crack in her mask.
Defiance radiated from her like she was an enduring flash of lightning.
And in that moment, I fucking lovedit. Promised myself that if I made it out of this alive, I’d call upon that storm and help it grow into a hurricane.
I slid down our bond, trying to gauge her emotional state.
But she had a firm barrier in place.
“Look at me,”I whispered into her mind.
She ignored my request.
“Did you know?” Stadiel barked at Iaoth.
Her mouth curved into a deep frown as she glared at me. “I did not,” she gritted out. The betrayal in her eyes had no effect on me. “It seems my brother has some explaining to do.”
A flicker of fear rose, mixing with the embers of relief. Whatever the consequences, I was no longer hiding. Yet I still didn’t know what she would do next.
Stadiel returned his vicious attention to me. Instinctively, I stepped between him and my mate. I’d just made the biggest mistake of my life, and the fallout was going to be deadly.
What would they do to her now that they know she is mine?
“My chambers. Now,” the Koron hissed. Iaoth leaped to her feet, already stalking out the rear doors that led into the royal wing of Thalvireth.
“Come on,” I sighed, reaching for Sylaira’s hand.
But Stadiel snapped, “No. Just you, Vaeron.”
Fuck.
My head tipped toward the ceiling for the briefest of moments like the Goddess would burst through the roof and save me.
I’d never been that lucky.
“I’ll come for you,”I sent down our bond as I dragged myself after the Koron.
“I will wait,”came Sylaira’s reply.
