Everything he’d done his entire life had been to keep himself alive.Then he’d met Talon, this gorgeous, wonderful man who retched every time he was forced to take a life.Who hated losing at poker.Who put his friends above himself.Who had started to teach Zane there was more to life than simply surviving.It was why he threw himself at his father in front of the library—he wanted a better world, a safer world, for himself and his newfound friends, and he was finally willing to conquer his fears to achieve that goal.
Now, that man who was once full of life sat listlessly on a chair, staring at nothing.If Uther hadn’t been such a tyrant hells-bent on ruling the continent, then Iyana’s village would have never been attacked.She wouldn’t have called down Altair for aid, she would have never met Emmeric, and then Talon never would have been caught up in this crazy mess.Talon wouldn’t have died.He wouldn’t have had to make the impossible decision of staying in the paradise of the Everlands or coming back into the hellscape their world had become.Sure, Zane may have never said more than two words to the man, never known what his laugh sounded like or how his lips tasted, but he would have beensafe.He would have still been alive, in body and in spirit.He wouldn’t be sitting on a ship leaving the Dead Lands.
With a scream of despair, Zane tipped over the bar cart, sending bottles flying, glass and alcohol spraying through the air.He tore down a sconce from the wall and flung it across the room into the hearth.There was shouting around him.Someone tried to pin down his arms, but he broke free, ripping the gaudy wallpaper away from the walls.Next, he took a glass knick-knack of some kind and threw it against the bared wood, delighting in the pinpricks of pain from the shards breaking into his skin.There was a rushing sound in his ears.He wouldn’t stop until this entire room had been destroyed.
His father was the cause of all his misfortune, and since he was unable to kill him on the battlefield, Zane would do the next best thing and ruin everything the emperor had loved more than his own son.
But then calloused hands were gripping his face.The scent of oranges and spiced rum finally broke through Zane’s all-consuming rage.That smell washome.
“Zane, my heart,” Talon whispered.“Stop.”
Emerald-green eyes met warm blue ones that were finally,finally, looking at him instead of through him.A sob lodged in Zane’s throat, and a tear broke free to streak down his cheek.Tal wiped it away with his thumb, then pressed their brows together.Zane gripped his shirt tight, refusing to let him go.Not now that he was up and talking.
“I’m here, Zane.I heard you.I came back for you, and I won’t ever leave you again.”
“You promised me that once before, and then you left me, anyway.Youdied, Talon.You—” The words stuck in his throat.He did not want to acknowledge that his man had ever been ripped away from him, and wished instead to live within the delusion that it had never happened.But that was impossible.Not after he’d held Talon’s broken body in his arms, the image of another dead lover superimposed on top of him.“You died,” he whispered.
“I know.I know, Zane.Gods, I’m so sorry.”Talon pressed a kiss to his brow, then pulled him in close.Zane clutched onto him.He knew it was wrong for Talon to be comforting him in this moment, but he couldn’t change the way he was suffering, just as he couldn’t change the past.So instead, he absorbed the warmth from thislivingman—although he could still feel how cold and clammy his skin had been not that long ago—and he wept.
Chapter 4
Emmeric
OnceZanehadcomposedhimself, they all sat down within the dead emperor’s bedroom to discuss what in the nine hells had just happened.Talon and Zane occupied a couch, Kaz was in a wingback chair with her legs folded underneath her, and Emmeric and Iyana sat side by side on a love seat.The new emperor was on the verge of crying again as he apologized for divulging their plans to his father.Talon slung an arm around him, tucking Zane in close to his side.Other than Kaz, Talon seemed the most composed out of all of them, even though he had been dead less than a day ago.They all reassured Zane they in no way blamed him for anything that had happened, and any one of them would have given him the information under the same duress.
However, Emmeric knew that wasn’t true, because Iyana had been under Uther and Azazel’s special care for over a week, and she had given them nothing.Zane didn’t need to know that, but he assumed Iyana could feel his pride radiating down their bond.He hoped it would counteract the panic she had experienced while Zane was recounting what he had been through.
Emmeric and Iyana told the group what they had encountered once they wandered into the tomb of the original Aztia and Kanaliza.Emmeric related what the mural had shown, leaving out the portion where he thought he saw a familiar star depicted as beheading someone.He thought Iyana might not appreciate hearing that just now.Iyana then told them about her brief journey and chat with Alessia, the first Aztia, and how she had claimed the amulet.
Kaz and Talon said Uther and his forces had arrived around an hour after Em and Iyana had wandered into the tomb; although, with the strange atmosphere of the Dead Lands, they couldn’t be certain on the timing.They all were aware of what had happened next—Emmeric and Iyana joined the battle.Iyana healed Zane and then defeated Uther within that magical dome.Emmeric didn’t want to think about her being underneath that barrier, beyond where he could reach her; the feeling of her saying goodbye down their bond and then rejecting the magic he tried to send her.Then, seeing her in Altair’s grip, the panic and betrayal she’d been experiencing, and watching her almost die within his arms.
Haltingly, Iyana told them all about what Altair had done—draining her magic completely, ripping it from her soul, then tearing her amulet and necklace from around her neck.Absolute rage filled his soul like a roaring fire.Iyana turned to him, raising an eyebrow, and he forced himself to control his emotions.He didn’t know how to block her out the way she was capable of, so she felt everything he did, and just as strongly.Emmeric didn’t care if she had some insight into his emotions.If it helped her to trust him even further, then that was fine with him.
Nobody brought up Talon dying, and Iyana did not speak of her time with him in the Everlands.
Then it was Emmeric, Zane, and Kaz’s turn to tell Talon and Iyana of why the sky was no longer filled with stars.Once Altair had finished his tirade, Kaz had pounced at him, and he’d disappeared into thin air.Not long after he had left, all the stars had fallen from the sky.
“So all the stars who used to enslave humans are here?”Talon asked.
“It would appear so,” Zane replied.
“So now what do we do?”Iyana’s voice was tired.She hadn’t had much of a chance to sleep before Zane started throwing things.Emmeric slid his arm around her shoulders and tugged her into him.Part of him glowed inwardly when she leaned into him without a fight, then dimmed when he realized it was probably because she was exhausted and numb.He had sensed nothing from her other than tiredness since Altair had stolen her magic.
“I thought we’d go back to Nyr,” Kaz said.“We’d be safe there.There are still wards present around the kingdom from hundreds of years ago.I don’t think the stars should be able to get through.At least, not without one of us leading them in.”
“Didn’t you say once you left Nyr, they typically wouldn’t let people back in?”Iyana asked.
“Yes, for normal people, that’s true.But not for the crown princess.”Kaz smiled widely, throwing a wink at Iyana.
The Aztia’s head turned to the side as she squinted at Kaz.“I could see it.”
Kaz threw her hands in the air.“Finally.Someone who isn’t surprised that I might be royalty.”
A spark of humor filtered its way to Emmeric, but swiftly died as Iyana returned to her previous state of numbness.She tilted her head to look up at him with dull brown eyes.“You can say it,” she whispered.
Emmeric frowned at her in confusion.“Say what?”
“I told you so.”
