Right now, Ezryn’s being pushed back by the huge swings of Kai’s hammer. Kairyn is clad in heavy black armor and wields the Blessing of Spring. Ezryn has nothing. This isn’t a fight we can win.
I suck in a breath. “I have an idea.”
The Bronze and Sapphire Knight are almost upon us. “Let’s hear it, Darling,” Kel says.
“You get those two against the back wall,” I say and dart off. “And I’ll get Ez toward us.”
Without questioning, Kel leaps forward and throws out his hands. A winter’s gale erupts from his palms, a storm with ice shards and winds freezing cold. The knights stumble, then fall, hurtling through the throne room before smacking against the stone. Kel roars, his face a pained grimace from the immense power.
I focus all my attention on Ezryn. On my mate, who seems so far away from me, even though he’s only across the room.Ezryn. Come back to me.
He turns. Stares. Ducks under the swing of the hammer.
Come back to me! Now!
A confused expression crosses his face, but he disengages from his brother. Then he runs toward us.
I draw my bow. Wait one second. Two. Ezryn reaches the midpoint of the Hall of Vernalion, with Kel and me at the front, and Kairyn and his knights still at the back. Then I look at the huge fissure Kairyn created with his hammer. And release.
Light bursts through the throne room, near blinding. Stone erupts in a massive shower. Chunks smash against my shoulders, my chest. Dust fills the air.
But when it clears, a gaping hole leading to the cavern below lies between us and them.
I cough, searching the dusty air for my mates. Kel staggers forward, grabbing my arm. He points to Ez, face down in the rubble. We hurry over and each grab an arm.
Ez shakes his head, looking disoriented.
“Hurry,” Kel says. “Let’s retrieve your father and go.”
Something clears in Ez’s eyes. Or comes alive. He tears free from our grip and looks back across the fissure where his brother paces like an angry lion.
“So, you’re going to run,” Kairyn calls. “Run, run away. I feel it in my chest. Spring’s Blessing is relieved to finally have a worthy vessel.”
“Don’t do it. Don’t let him tempt you,” Kel says lowly.
I can sense the emotions as if they were my own: Ezryn’s rage, his shame. Kairyn symbolizes the catalyst of so many profound losses—his honor, his realm, his magic. And there’s only one way to reclaim it.
Kill his brother.
There’s nothing we can say.
Ezryn leaps across the fissure.
104
Ezryn
Idon’t even bother to look how far the fissure stretches before I leap. I will make it, or I will die.
I will kill my brother, or I will die.
My bones rattle as I land on the other side. Kairyn steps back, shocked I would attempt the jump. Then he raises his hammer. “Let us end this, then.”
He swings, but not at me. The war hammer collides with one of the stone pillars. Cracks shoot up the side. He yells, swinging his hammer again. The pillar groans, falling forward, crashing across the fissure. A bridge. He waves a hand toward Kel and Rose. “Kill them!”
His knights do not hesitate. They vault on to the fallen pillar and carefully traverse to the other end.
Rage like I’ve never known surges through my body. Kairyn has takeneverythingfrom me. I have been humiliated, disgraced, disregarded by my own people. My name has been marred in history.
