“Yes, it is resting at the bottom of the ocean. An Ig’Morruthen reduced it to rocks and rubble.”
“Yeah, I know, and you just missed the one who did it.”
“I know.” Her lips turned up. “And you are going to help me meet her.”
My brows furrowed in confusion. “And why would I do that?”
Vincent tried and failed to sit up. The wounds I hadn’t healed were not as severe, but they were still seeping blood and causing him a lot of pain.
“Okay, there has to be another way,” she said a little too quickly, folding her arms. “You help me, and I will bring you to Sumaril.”
I perked up at that, and she knew it. “Are you that desperate for Dianna?” I asked.
Her smile turned predatory and lethal. “You have no idea what has been put in motion. You cannot comprehend what you just sacrificed. I want to be on the winning side, and she is the key.”
I laughed, the sound sick and harsh. I waved toward the rubble and chaos. “Regardless of how strong she is, take a look around. I fear she was not the victor.”
The beautiful mystery woman leaned close, eyes scanning mine as if looking for something. Vincent made a noise in his throat, not liking her being too close.
“Do you not feel it? Does your magic not sing? That feeling of what’s coming, what she will bring. It is not Nismera you should fear. There is a power shift on the horizon. Lines are being drawn, and sides are being chosen. Dianna now controls three of the strongest beings in these realms. I want to be on that side.”
I started to respond, but she gracefully pushed to her feet. She pursed her lips, emitting a harsh whistle. The dark shadows retreated, leaving only the one in front of her and the male behind her. She gave me a tight smile, and they turned to leave.
My hands fisted in Vincent’s torn shirt, the fabric stiff with his blood. “Wait.”
She paused, and her head turned slightly. The man with her already had a foot in the shadow world they’d come from.
“I’ll help you, just help him.”
Her smile was damn near playful, as if to give me a sense of ease, but it was an impossibility to feel at ease. Especially as those shadows grew back, and others stepped through, reaching out to help us up. I felt as though I’d just signed my life away to another powerful being.
61
SAMKIEL
The chirping of the birds made my entire skull throb. I raised my hand, cupping the back of my head, surprised not to find a wound or any blood. Goldpass. Dianna’s panicked face when light burst above me in the midst of battle, and then I remembered nothing. Fuck. They had taken me. I forced my eyes open and stared at the ceiling of the beautiful room, and groaned. Raising up on my elbows, I glanced down to see that I was dressed in comfortable white and gold-trimmed pajamas.
I jumped to my feet and strode toward the massive window. Light poured in when I pulled back the curtains covering the eight-foot windows. It nearly blinded me, but I shielded my eyes and hated what I saw. Large golden warships hung in the air, clouds rolling across them in waves, half obscuring the behemoths. I rubbed a hand down my face when I realized where I was. Fuck. This couldn’t be happening. Dianna was going to be so furious. I knew this world, this realm. I had been here eons ago. This was Trugarum, Milani’s home.
That fact left me with a couple of options. I could speak with her and see if she would let me go before my wife showed up and burned the sky to embers, or try my hardest to break out myself. The warships before me seemed to taunt me as if that attempt was even possible. Fuck. I needed another plan. I knew Milani. Knew that while she may be a tad overly possessive, she was not a warlord, but maybe there was a way I could speak to her and see if she’d be interested in switching sides. Hope flared in me.
I would do anything in my power to prevent war. My father had taught me long ago that some battles could be won with words and treaties without ever having to lift a blade. War served no one but the rulers who sat on their thrones and benefited from it while soldiers and citizens bled. I had learned in my long years alive that it was pointless. There were no victors in war. If they did not die, they carried such deep scars that not even a generation could erase the trauma. War was the last thing I wanted.
Air hissed as the doors to my room slid open. I turned and stepped away from the window, watching the adrueth guards enter my room. They flanked Ennis, their shining white gold wings spread.
“Looks like sleeping beauty is finally awake,” Ennis said with a smile.
I started toward him, but a sharp blistering pain exploded in my neck and radiated through my body, sending me to my knees. My body shook, and I gulped down air when the agony finally eased. Lifting a shaking hand, I traced the loose-fitting silver prong collar encircling my throat.
“What is this?” I hissed.
“A safety procedure,” Ennis said with a careless shrug.
He pressed that button again, and pain shot through my nervous system. I jerked as if I had been electrocuted, gritting my teeth as I stared at him. He only smiled before lifting his thumb off the button.
“I didn’t do anything,” I said through clenched teeth and untempered rage.
He only smiled and shrugged. “Oh, I know.”
