Another tremor shook the palace, and I turned to see the demon king collapse, his limbs moving in violent convulsions.
Triumph swelled in my chest. If my theory was correct, killing him with the vikkarni poison would sever his bond to the souls he’d stolen. When he reanimated, I would drive my witchwood blade through his heart, ending his immortal existence.
But before I could move to watch the life drain from his cold, black eyes, more of those horrible tendrils shot out. They wrapped around my wrists and ankles, wrenching me to the ground.
Pain radiated through my skull as my chin struck the hard obsidian. My witchwood blade clattered out of my grasp, sliding across the slick floor toward the chasm that had split the chamber in two.
No.
The blade came to rest along the edge of the crack, and I sucked in an agonized breath.
I raised my head, looking to Semphrys, who was stilllying in a heap. His face was the color of bleached bone, and a sickly yellowish foam leaked from his mouth.
He was dying, yet he still managed to hold me in his grip.
A guttural shriek made my stomach jolt, and I whipped my gaze around.
Kaden was on his knees, face twisted in agony. The tip of a rowan-wood stake protruded from one side of his chest, and driving it in from behind him was —
A cold vise clamped around my heart as the imposter Adriel twisted the blade.
Kaden screamed, and the fake royal guard’s glamour melted away to reveal therealXadorsch.
A cruel smile twisted the courtier’s lips as he slowly twisted the stake.
Kaden’s guttural groan made it feel as thoughIwas the one being stabbed, and my bottom lip quivered as I watched his hands turn white where they were splayed on the floor.
The sound of splintering wood rent the air, and Kaden let out another moan. Then Xadorsch began to move, his dark robes billowing as he shuffled toward me.
He was going to kill me.
I could feel Semphrys’s power fading as I lay bound by his shadows — feel that suffocating darkness dissipating like smoke as the vikkarni venom did its work.
Only it wasn’t fading fast enough.
My heart throbbed in my throat. If I could just reach my blade —
But Xadorsch was mere feet away, and I was still bound by what remained of the Dark King’s magic.
Scouring my mind, I recalled the levitating rune I’dpracticed ad nauseam with Gaeldric back in Adraeis. I’d never quite mastered it, but maybe . . .
Eyeing the blade balanced on the edge of the chasm, I poured every ounce of intent into moving the dagger.
I thought of Adriel and Sorsha, who would die slow, agonizing deaths at Semphrys’s hand if I should fail.
I thought of Anvalyn and all the innocent fae who would perish if the king continued his crusade of greed.
I thought of Kaden’s mother, who’d been brutalized by the Dark King and slaughtered by her own people.
I thought of my own mother, hunted and slain for what she was.
And I thought of my mate, who’d sacrificed everything for the ones he loved.
Gathering my power, I focused every fiber of my being on moving the dagger. The hilt quivered, and then, to my astonishment, it rose a few inches off the floor and shot into my outstretched hand.
I turned to Xadorsch, but his face had gone slack.
My gaze dipped to his abdomen, where the bloody tip of a sword protruded.
