Bitterness stings her eyes. She’ll make them pay for this, like Astrid promised. Maybe not now, but later. They want an heir? Well, they’ll get one. She’ll destroy them all—and burn the whole country to the ground. There will be no more duel, no more conscription—because when she’s finished, there will be no more Vatra.
As they swoop in to land near the temple, Skylar sees a small crowd of people, their faces pulled into focus by the magic she’s channeling. The king and queen. Astrid and Zryan. Axel. In among various Dreki and witches, a few nobles. All of them, staring up at her. She has no idea how they knew, but it’s clear that they have come out to watch.
Should I keep flying?Mjolnir asks.
Skylar squares her shoulders.No. I’ll have to face them sooner or later.
She can feel her power buzzing in her veins as they land, hopes she can keep a lid on it. If the king tries to say something…
Astrid, she tells herself.Kaida. The people she needs to keep safe, while she is blood bound.
The faces of the crowd crane to look at her as Mjolnir comes to a stop, tucking his wings into his sides. He lets out a soft growl. All the watching party take a step back. All, except Zryan—who is staring at Mjolnir with an expression Skylar cannot read—and Axel, who is looking not at Mjolnir but at her.
Skylar slides from the dragon’s back, like her muscles remember the action. Like she was born for it. She supposes she was, even if she never knew it.
The king and queen are watching her, she knows, but she daren’tlook at them for fear of what she might do. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Astrid—Bastet and Kaida on one side, Gwen and Bjorn on the other.
No one speaks.
Skylar turns away from them. She doesn’t care what they think. She doesn’t care if she wasn’t supposed to do that. She doesn’t want to speak to any of them.
But she hears footsteps behind her. She thinks it might be Zryan, coming to demand why she rode his dragon, but when she looks back, Zryan and Mjolnir are holding eye contact, clearly having some kind of silent conversation. It’s Axel moving toward her.
He stops at whatever he sees on her face and holds his hands up, a gesture of peace. “I heard about your friend.” He murmurs it, so quietly she doesn’t think the rest of the crowd will hear. She can see the king striding toward Zryan, Ottilie at his side. Choosing to ask his son, and not her, what this all means.
She doesn’t ask how Axel heard. “Did you know?” she says instead, her voice flat.
“Skylar, I—”
“Did. You. Know.”
“No. I swear it.”
“I hate you,” she spits. Hates him for making her believe there might be a sliver of good in him. For those moments, when her guard was down, when shewantedhim.
His green eyes are level on hers. “I know.”
He takes another step toward her. “Skylar, I am so, so sorry. I can’t imagine what you’re feeling, but I know what it’s like to lose someone, and if there’s—”
“Don’t you fuckingdaremake comparisons. Your mumchoseher life. She knew the risks and shechoseit. Cam didn’t. You can’t even begin tothink…” But she can’t finish. Her throat is clogged and she can’t get the words out, because saying his name causes a wrench of pain. Tears blur her vision and she blinks.
“Skylar,” Axel murmurs, reaching a hand for her.
“I said don’t,” she shouts. And with it, she lets her power pulse from her, pushing him back with raw magic, so that he is thrown afoot away from her, landing on the dying grass with athump. Thunder cracks around them.
Axel pushes onto his hands, looks up at her. No one else makes the slightest move toward her.
“Don’t ever come near me again.” With that she turns, leaving him on the ground and heading back to her room alone.
Because alone is all she has now.
44Astrid
“What we want to know, Custodian, is whether my daughter can take Mjolnir into the duel.” The king’s unctuous voice slithers over her, making her skin itch.
He sits in his mate’s chair—in his full royal regalia, red cloak and all—behind the desk in the queen’s reception room, his wife at his shoulder and two Dreki behind them. Astrid, her mum, and the familiars are all standing in front of the desk, Skylar on one side of them and Axel on the other. Axel tried to stand beside Skylar when he first entered, but she threw him a dark look and moved next to Astrid. He attempted to follow, but Bastet and Kaida issued warning growls that he cleverly heeded.
They’re all intent on the Custodian now, his trembling gloved hands carefully studying the Covenant laid out on the desk in front of him.
