Page 102 of Throne of the Wolf Queen

My captain stood by my side, arms crossed as he squinted towards the volcano.

‘Why’ – my heart stuttered at the break in his voice – ‘why is she taking Sorrow to Vyrus?’

It was a good question. Her invasion of the Shuteran continent began and ended with Asmar. She’d taken a silent path to Drufaera. No warriors slaughtering. No guards razing villages. It was as though Sorrow had been the treasure she’d sought all along.

And my breath hadn’t settled since she’d gone.

The God stilled, tilted his head in the direction of my friend.

He snorted. ‘It’s another reason I despise you all.’ The God raked his fingers through his tangled hair. He’d not held a bottle since we’d torn northwards in pursuit of the empress. ‘You slaughter each other, delude yourselves that the Gods bless you or curse you, go on with your lives in the misbelief I’ll leave you alone as long as you appease me with sacrifices.’

The onyx sand beneath his boots crunched as he stepped forward. ‘You spend your pitiful existence fearing the Gods when your deadliest foes are yourselves.’

Asher’s brows narrowed. ‘But… you did send the meteor? You tried to destroy us?’

The God turned back, his dark hair whipping across his face, and shrugged. ‘We all make mistakes, Captain. It was a long time ago. Isn’t it time you moved on?’

I glanced over my shoulder at the forces who’d come with us. I couldn’t bear this burden alone. I returned my gaze to Vyrus.

My jaw clenched. The old saying racing through my head. To own the heart is to possess the God. If he couldn’t, for whatever reason, defeat her, with the last fragment of his heart flickering within his chest, she’d own the whole thing. I rubbed my aching temples. I should tell him. The God should know what he faced.

‘Sorrow… my mother gave her something. A ruby.’ I kept my eyes on the waves, ignoring the way his head whipped around, eyes boring into me. ‘She wasn’t sure what it was,’ I lied. ‘Wanted to be sure before she returned it to you.’

‘And where is this ruby now, little king?’

I heaved in a breath. ‘With Sorrow?’

The God went silent, but the sand around his feet began to swirl. I swallowed, imagining what we faced. Either Vyrus or the empress would be in control, and as she had more fragments than he did, would even Vyrus be enough to destroy her?

‘And if you get your heart back⁠—’

‘When, little king, not if.’

‘When you get your heart back, when you’re at…’ I waved my hand in his direction. ‘Full power. What are your plans then?’

Embers sparked in his eyes, and I shivered. ‘You’ll just have to wait and see, little king. Wait and see.’

Asher and I exchanged a wide-eyed stare and I shrugged. What else were we supposed to do? The empress hadn’t just taken everything I held dear. She’d butchered my family, seized my soul, abducted my heart. My instinct screamed at me to leap into the solitary rowboat bobbing against the rocky bay, storm the volcano and take back my wife, but my desire to spare others from burdens was a cut I had to staunch. Instead, I’d gather all those who’d join me in our fight for our world’s very existence. Alliance guards, troops from all six nations, united with the cunning of the Midnight Insurgence, the stealth of the hunters. Evella’s healers stood towards the back, ready to assist those who would be harmed in what could very well be our final battle. I snorted as I spotted the blond hair of Duke twatting Lommond, who’d even offered his support. Some mortals and Anomalies had grabbed whatever weapons they could as we passed their villages, and my heart swelled at the might standing on a windswept obsidian beach, reaching back along the path.

My eyes met Raine’s, their rebels blending into the ebony sand as they stood behind their revered leader. They inclined their chin.

‘Your mother regretted the years she lost with you,’ they signed.

I closed my eyes against the still far too raw scar of Mother’s loss. ‘I thought I’d have years…’ I opened my eyes; a muscle twitched in their jaw. ‘I can’t imagine Asmar without her.’

They turned their face towards the grey waves rolling against the sand. The plumes of the volcano merging with the clouds.

‘Neither can I, Matthias.’ They blew out a breath, rolled their shoulders. ‘If, Evella bless us⁠—’

‘Vyrus.’

They chuckled as I signed the God’s interruption back to them. ‘Whoever decides to listen, gives us a chance, what do you want for Eusis? How can we make your mother proud of the world she’ll never see?’

I swallowed against the pain lodged in my throat. ‘She’d want a world where everyone is equal.’

They nodded. ‘A Eusis where no child goes hungry.’

It was my turn to nod, brushing the hair from my eyes as the low sun reflected off the sea. ‘Where no one suffers pain if they don’t possess enough coin.’