Kaden spun and pointed his finger at me. “Shut up.”
I decided it was probably best to do just that.
“You know, I mourned you,” Isaiah said. “When I was locked in that dungeon, I replayed your death over and over, and I mourned you. I don’t know what happened or why you came back, but you returned an even bigger dick than before. Maybe you should go back to being dead because you aren’t the brother I know.”
Isaiah slammed against Kaden’s shoulder as he strode past him, but I was watching Kaden’s face. I saw better than he probably wished just how much those words hurt. I recognized that pain and wondered how many times in his life he had heard some variation of them. Kaden was a monster, yet it seemed he was capable of feeling genuine pain.
I walked over and picked up the things that had spilled from my basket, repacking it before closing the lid. When I finished, I handed it back to Kaden. He took it without saying anything to me, and we set off after Isaiah.
The trees finally cleared, and we stopped at the edge of a small cliff. Below us was what appeared to be a long, narrow dock. Voices drifted up to us as people worked. We all crouched, but continued to watch as they unloaded the ship hovering just above the surface of the water, a still open portal just behind it. As the crewman passed boxes and crates onto the dock, one of Nismera’s royal guards handed the captain what looked like a sack of coins.
Dark mist formed on either side of me, and I gaped as Kaden and Isaiah morphed into identical copies of two of the crewmen below. We stayed low and quiet until the guards sorted the supplies onto transports and moved back toward the forest path leading to the palace.
As soon as they were out of sight, Kaden and Isaiah moved. Kaden gripped my arm and hauled me up with him, hurrying down the path to the beach below. When my short legs weren’t fast enough to keep up, Kaden lifted me and tossed me over his shoulder, knocking the wind from my lungs.
They darted across the sand in a half-squat until they reached the ship. Isaiah went up first, climbing the rungs attached to the sides to haul himself aboard. Kaden followed, seemingly unaware of the added weight of me and the basket. People muddled about, too busy preparing for their departure to notice us as we moved to blend in. Kaden set me on my feet, he and Isaiah staying close enough to hide me between their bulk.
A resonant alarm made my bones shake right before a transparent dome surged around the ship, sealing us in. Cool air circulated, still carrying the scent of the water. Crewmen began clearing the area, moving lower and deeper into the ship to continue their work, but we remained on deck. Kaden and Isaiah shifted us deeper into the shadows, keeping me between them while giving themselves space.
I leaned against the railing and watched the water ripple below us. I had never been on a trading ship, but I had heard about them. They traversed space and brought stars within touching distance.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
Kaden came to my side, watching as we neared the shimmering portal. “Whitcliff.”
38
SAMKIEL
Iwas bloody, torn, and beaten. Groaning, I popped my shoulder back in place, my ego as bruised as my body. The building he’d tossed me through crumbled, and dust filled my lungs. This wasn’t the first time I’d pulled myself out of rubble, but it was only arousing when Dianna was the cause. Him? I wanted to slaughter him. I took a small breath and counted the heartbeats pounding steadily a few feet from me, hoping to calm my raging one.
Claw marks raked across my armor. He was powerful enough that he hadn’t just marked it, but torn into it. I was fucked and not because he could best me, but because as long as he had Dianna’s body, I could not hurt him.
“It’s been eons since I’ve had a foe as durable as you.” Gathrriel laughed. “I enjoy you, Samkiel.”
“Yeah,” I said, “I get that a lot.”
I watched him, standing still to give my body time to heal as he paced before me. My mind worked feverishly, trying to figure out what else I could do to help Dianna break through his control. Gathrriel lunged, and I barely had time to block his punch, my forearm radiating with pain.
“You insult me. All you are doing is defending.” He sneered. “Why is that? Why won’t you attack? Fight me, challenge me.”
I ignored his taunts. “You are a few centuries too late if you hope to punish those responsible for your loss, Gathrriel. The gods are long dead. I am the last.”
“So you say, Samkiel. But you are a hardened warrior, well-versed in battle skills, yet you did not attack when I left my flank exposed.” His face grew angry. “Why? Why do you not fight back? Have you grown so weary of life, so-called god king, that you wish for me to end it?”
“To be quite frank, I may have taken you up on the offer before her,” I said, wiping the dirt from the side of my face. “But I have someone to live for now, someone I love very dearly and whom I wish to protect.”
“I did too.” He sneered in agitation and tried to step forward, but he almost fell when his right back leg refused to move. He looked back, but there was no obvious obstacle, no piece of broken building to trip over or crack to trap his foot. But regardless of how he tried, he could not get that leg to move.
I chuckled, so damn proud of her. “I think she wants her body back.”
Gathrriel growled at his stuck foot, both hands reaching as if to pull it back to himself. “How are you able to fight?” He all but bellowed. “I have sealed you.”
The corner of my lip rose as I took a step toward him. “You, like so many others before, underestimate just how strong my Dianna is. It will be your undoing.”
Eyes of molten lava leveled me as his wing shot out and sliced across my abdomen. I grunted at the impact, but it was the heated liquid that gushed from the wound that had me stumbling back. Fuck, too cocky. I went to one knee and glared back at Gathrriel. That shot had cost us both. He stood with the use of both legs, Dianna no longer having a hold over him. My wound had distracted her so much that she’d lost the hold she had on him. Double fuck.
Gathrriel walked toward me, stopping in front of me. His eyes dilated as he lifted his head and drew in a deep lungful of air, taking a deep whiff of my blood. “It’s been so long since I fed on a god.” His hand snapped out, grabbing my throat and forcing me to my feet, my face inches from his. “Know that your blood will fuel me to end the rest of your line. Your life has a purpose, warrior king. Die nobly.”
