“A grave. Unsurprising, given all the people they’ve killed,” I said bitterly, earning a raised eyebrow. I slowly released a breath, letting my bitterness, my anger slip with it.
“This looks near Thaern,” Nabil said, looking at the marker. “There’s a village called Shyra near that area. The grave must be nearby.”
“But—this makes no sense,” I muttered. “This journal tells the story of the war, and the wall wasn’t built until long after.”
“That we know of,” Nabil said with a shrug. “History, records, documents—they can all be changed.”
The library doors creaked open, and I stood in a rush, turning to see Aliah stride into the room and shake her head. Shit.
“There’s no sign of her anywhere, and we can’t risk returning to Morysen until we have proof the princess is there. Kamaal thinks she took Layla and flew elsewhere. She mentioned something about finding allies.” Aliah glanced between our faces. “Did you find anything?”
“Maybe.” I read that phrase again. A grave through worlds. “The journal mentions a terrible power that cuts across the continent of Wyvara, capable of immense magic.”
“Avoid the wall,” she replied, striding across the room. “Good to know.”
But I shook my head and found Nabil watching me. “It says right here.” I motioned to the passage. “The power needs to be claimed immediately. To let it fall into Zalaam hands means the end of all known life, but if we get to it first, we can stop everything.”
And kill the monster who took my grandmother,I didn’t say. Revenge burned its fierce heat through my chest, and when I blinked, I saw the king’s hateful eyes. I heard him telling me that my mother tried to find me and was slaughtered for it.
“Shula told me strange things happen near the wall,” I added, “and I’ve grown up reading stories that say the same. The queen burned the journal so we couldn’t read it, but here’s something that might stop her.”
Aliah didn’t entirely believe me or Kamaal that we’d seen the Zalaam queen in the flesh, but I knew it wasn’t simply someone using her name. That oily, beating magic left such a strong impression that I could recall it perfectly, and feel it even now.
“You want us to fly out and try to find it,” Nabil guessed. “To claim it before they can.”
“It could save us all,” was what I said.
But what I really thought wasit could wipe out this darkness before it can take anything else from me. Before it can steal my new family, and my husband.
CHAPTER 36
AMEIRAH
My suggestion of flying to the Wall of Hydaran received a dozen different arguments and complaints, but Kamaal’s opinion swayed both legions to my side. He was there, after all. Hesawthe queen, felt her sick taint of magic. That was only a taste of what she could do if she reached Ithanys, if she put into motion whatever plan made her warriors conquer more cities and towns each week.
“It’s one trip,” Kamaal said, his voice carrying with the confidence of a prince. “We can be there and back in two days. If those two days have the possibility of removing those wyverns from our skies, I’ll do it. Will you join me?”
No single person refused, and that was that.
“We could sneak off and no one would know,” Varidian murmured, his lips brushing my ear as his arms encircled me from behind.
We’d been flying a few hours now, both the Legion of Fyrevein and Silverstorm, and we’d stopped to rest and hydrateour wyverns in the heart of Willow Green, where a copse of trees wrapped around a pool of water as silver as moonlight. The greenery was always a shock when we flew across this part of Ithanys. It was vivid and dense, and the scent of it filled my lungs with fresh, clear air a good degree cooler than the air over the desert.
“There’s a cluster of trees over there,” Varidian continued, his voice pitched so only I heard him. “No one would see us behind them.”
I turned in his arms to give him a chiding look, but it was underpinned by the hot throb between my thighs. “They would know.”
“How?” His blue gaze simmered, eyes heavy lidded as he met mine. “We’ll be quiet.” His hands slid up my back, teased the nape of my neck, then the mark he’d bitten on the swell of my breast before sliding back down. “I need to be inside you again.”
“I know,” I murmured, flicking my tongue over my bottom lip. “I felt you the entire flight.”
He groaned softly. “Are you wet for me?”
“I’m not answering that in public.”
His eyes fell shut. “That’s a yes.”
When his eyelids fluttered open again, the sharp edge of a decision made lightened his eyes. I was ready for a deep, possessive kiss, so I shrieked in surprise when he clasped the backs of my thighs and threw me over his shoulder.
