Samkiel’s eyes glowed eerily in the night, and I blinked up at him mutely. Concern and anger warred on his perfect face. He cursed and summoned a cloak, wrapping it around my naked body before lifting me against his chest. The wind pushed the smoke into my face, and I coughed, fire crackling and burning all around us. Samkiel flicked his hand, and a powerful gust of wind extinguished the flames.
It was then that I realized what Reggie had done, and I wanted to kiss his face. He had distracted and delayed, and then he had goaded Gathrriel into setting the trees on fire, creating a light for Samkiel to follow.
“What happened?” Samkiel asked, his eyes raking over me, searching for wounds. “What are you doing out here?”
My body shivered, and his arms tightened around me. I knew it was more than just the cold that made my bones ache. “Ga-Gath—” I tried and failed to get the words out, my teeth chattering too hard.
“Dianna, your lips are blue, akrai.” He brushed his lips across my cheek and hissed. “You’re cold as ice. What happened?”
I swallowed, my saliva like daggers in my throat as I tried again. “Gathrriel poss-possessed … me.”
Samkiel didn’t scare me. He never had. Even at my worst, he was never cruel. But right now? When his eyes darkened, I felt what I saw in his mind on Shorerock, and the look on his face terrified me.
11
DIANNA
Flames blazed in the fireplace, licking at the hearth, the aroma of embers and burnt logs filling Samkiel’s study. I folded my arms tighter around myself and huddled closer to the fire, some heat finally returning to my skin. I’d still been so damn cold when we got back to the castle that Samkiel had put me into a hot shower. Steam had filled the bathroom like fog, and I scrubbed my body until Samkiel took the sponge away from me, pulled me out, and wrapped me in a towel.
Once I had dressed and warmed up enough to speak, Samkiel brought me here, and I’d told him, Cameron, and Reggie everything Gathrriel had said, everything he had done, everything I had seen. Now, I stared into the flames as they spoke in low tones behind me.
My mind still reeled. I’d had no control, trapped in the steel cage of my mind, watching everything unfold before me, powerless and weak. My gaze flicked to the floor, imagining the dungeon deep in the palace and wondering if that was how Logan, Neverra, and the rest of The Hand felt. Were they trapped, alone, and screaming? Were they fighting and clawing to get free, struggling to stop what they were being forced to do? Oh gods, I would never stop trying to free them, and if I ever believed there was no hope, I would give them mercy.
A log popped, bringing me back to the present. I rubbed my hands against my baggy, dark lounge pants and watched a shower of sparks float up the chimney. Absently listening to the conversation behind me, I anchored myself in the sound of Samkiel’s voice.
“… a general …” I heard Cameron say.
“… history, of course, rewritten. But to fit whose narrative?” Samkiel said.
“… asking the wrong questions,” Reggie said.
My body ached. Every nerve throbbed like it had been scoured with sandpaper, and my flesh felt burned from frostbite, but my mind was starting to calm until I heard his name.
“Gathrriel,” someone said, and I whipped around to face them.
“How could this happen?” Samkiel asked.
“You’d know if you had been there,” I snapped. All three turned to look at me, and I was glad Miska had stayed with Enya and a few of her other friends tonight. “Where were you?”
Reggie opened his mouth, probably to defend Samkiel, but Samkiel spoke first.
“I was taking care of some things in preparation for your birthday.”
My shoulders relaxed, relieved that after everything that had happened, he didn’t feel he needed to lie or hide things from me, even a sweet surprise. The surge of amusement surprised me, and I let out a snort of laughter. My husband had left me in the middle of the night to organize my birthday.
“My birthday is weeks away,”I said down our bond.
“I like to be prepared.”
I managed a weak smile, his sweet tone extinguishing the fire in my anger. I wasn’t mad at him, anyway. This whole situation sucked, and I was angry about it, but my rage was rooted in the complete violation of what Gathrriel had done to me. After being Kaden’s bitch for so long, I refused to let anyone use me like that again. Never again would anyone make me weak and controllable. Never.
“So, he waited until Samkiel was away before he finally made his big move,” Cameron said, completely unaware of the conversation between Samkiel and me.
“It appears so,” Reggie agreed.
“I still don’t understand why,” Samkiel said, putting his hands on his hips and turning back to them. “Dianna and I have been apart numerous times since he began haunting her. So why now?”
“You’ve never left me while I was asleep,” I said, and all eyes turned toward me. The heat of the fire warmed my back as I continued. “He said he hadn’t been able to get to me while I slept, but whatever had blocked him wasn’t near last night. That’s Samkiel. So, my best guess is that he’s afraid of him?” I shook my head. “I don’t know.”
