It hurts to see her. As a wise woman of our court, she was training my mate to do the same. I suck in a sharp breath at her command and draw up every ounce of courage to obey her words. My tail helps brush off some of the blood and rubble still stuck to my skin and clothing.
Motion merely stirs the ugly, murderous rage and grief brewing within my ribcage.
I feel more animal than Enduar. More demon than king.
Luckily, I am not alone on the steps. Liana and Vann still stand behind me.
“You need to rest, brother,” Vann says.
I look at his grim face. He holds his arm out, almost like a specter of the past. Fifty years ago, he did the very same thing to save my life as my father exploded the continent with his cursed volcano. It was the very day that all four of our great cities sank into the ocean deep.
Unlike that day, I don’t reach out to take his hand.
“No.” My tone is clipped and impossibly low.
The tight line of his lips twists down. “Teo, we will get her back. I will sharpen my cleaver tonight, and we will go hunting tomorrow. But… you don’t look well. You need to sleep first.”
“I saidno.” I flex and close my hands.
“Vann,” a soft feminine voice practically sings. Ulla steps into view. Blood is splattered across her cheekbones, and her soft blue eyes are filled with concern. “I know that look.”
“What are you doing here?” I spit. “Lothar is dying.”
Ulla chews on her lip. “There wasn’t much I could do. He is being cared for by Luiz. I wanted to see Estela.”
It’s like a fucking dagger straight through my heart.
Liana steps between me and the others. “Ulla, the queen is gone. I suggest you all leave before something bad happens. Go back to tending to Lord Lothar.”
Vann whips around to look at her, but what he sees causes him and the others to back away.
Blood, vengeance, and cruelty seep out of the surface of my skin as the intrepid wise woman grips both my shoulders.
“Teo’Likh?” she asks bitterly, citing my father’s name and raising her eyebrow.
“What?” I growl at the name, his obnoxious voice laughing in the back of my mind.
My son.
My son.
Myson.
“Get off me.”
She is strong and doesn’t budge. “You wear the face of a dead man.”
I snarl and step away, feeling the pulse of the ground below me. A lick of my hot magic scalds my body, reminding me that I had been on fire an hour before I knelt atthe steps.
Liana shakes her head. “You are exhausted—mind and body. I know how much the magic must’ve taken this time. If you don’t feel like resting, then I will put you to sleep, but you must not continue to sit in this attitude. You are going to damage your mind and body.”
I take a sharp breath. “I will go by myself.”
She frowns. “I will come?—”
I brush past her and start walking toward my room. The palace is a blur until I open the door to the king’s suite, and a wall of sweet-smelling earth and flowers crashes against me.
Estela.
