Doubt still trickled in.
Gods, I hoped I was wrong.
Dax patted his breast pocket. “I can make more once Mrs. Mallowmere brings in more pyrrot.”
One was all we needed.
Shaking from the tips of my hair down to my boots, I let the candle fall. The flame extinguished with a hiss as I marched forward.
“Allie!” Dax whisper-hissed behind me, drawing unwanted attention on me.
I didn’t care.
I was controlled by a force stronger than shame or guilt right now.
I hadn’t allowed myself to truly think about my future husband’s death. Not until today.
How easily I could have lost Ryker.
Every.
Single.
Night.
Solkar’s Reach stilled as I raised my bow, the arrow aimed straight at his unguarded back, hundreds of mourners frozen in fear all around us.
I clenched my jaw, letting that famed Vegheara pointed chin convey what my lips couldn’t utter.
Rage boiled inside of me.
Betrayal burned away whatever forgiveness I had left, until only the lust for revenge remained.
Deep beneath our feet, I swear I could feel the crater murmur as I tightened my bow’s string. The head of the arrow glinted in the flickering candlelight flooding out from the Memory Hall.
The citizens of Solkar’s Reach had come here tonight to mourn the souls they’d lost in the war.
Instead, they watched in horror as I raised a weapon at their Commander, the man they worshipped.
Ryker’s eyes sparked as he whirled around.
Shock flickered across his face, only to be replaced with something much worse.
A deep, bone-searing disappointment that hollowed me as well.
He didn’t even reach for his blood powers to freeze me where I stood. Didn’t try to stop me.
He sensed the stench of inevitability in the air and let the truth stand bare between us, undeniable.
We stood in the same position we’d been in when we’d first met, back when the walls of the Sanctua Sirena maze had closed in, the stones had been splattered with blood, and we’d survived the slaughter.
The day when my father had been assassinated and I lost my throne.
Back then, he’d smirked at me.
Challenging.
Waiting.
