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“My painting,” Cassia said, wrenching her hand from mine.

I beat her to her target, carefully sweeping her easel and supplies into a closet before I fastened the window shut.

A bang sounded on the door. I knew it was Elijah, and I removed my ward so he could enter.

“I sent out some scouts,” he announced. “They’ll report back quickly.”

I nodded. “Thank you.”

Just then, the air pressure plummeted, and Cassia’s fingers pushed into her temples as she glanced at me.

“I’m going to leave as soon as they report to you and stop this.”

Elijah’s gaze tracked Cassia as she poured herself a glass of water on the sideboard. “I’ll keep her safe; you know I will.”

I knew he would do his best. His life depended on it. But I trusted no one with her fully, except for myself.

Selena stomped into the room, dressed in leather and more weaponry than I knew her small body could handle. Elijah’s eyes glowed at the sight of her, and he did nothing to stop his visible physical reaction, including his protruding fangs.

She smirked at him and went over to Cassia.

“I have a plan for her,” I leveled a gaze at him, while he itched to continue leering at his wife. “You will not interfere, no matter how much she begs either of you to.”

The room flashed red before he could acknowledge my order.

“Holy shit,” Selena marveled.

Cassia gasped and ripped the window’s fabric to the side, clearing the large picture window.

Vicious streaks of bright red lightning spiderwebbed across the sky, arcing and leaping from cloud to cloud. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end while the two women paled at the phenomena. Selena pulled a sword from the sheath strapped to her back, and Cassia backed away from the window.

The castle shook in its foundation when a deep roll of thunder echoed through the valley.

Elijah snared Selena around the waist as she moved closer to the glass. “Overconfident,” he remarked, as he planted her on the floor beside me.

“I’ve killed demons,” she sneered.

“Yes, sweetheart, I know. This isn’t that. Lukas, I’m going to go check for the scouts. Stay with them a moment.”

Moving toward the glass, I held my palms facing outward and let the energy flow through me. Whether I had enough magic to fight Wyvon and Annalise remained to be seen, but I wasn’t going to leave the glass subject merely to Elijah’s wards and spells. He wasn’t anywhere close to as strong as me.

“What’s going to happen?” Cassia rushed across the room. “What are we going to do?”

Cupping her chin, I tilted her head up. “I’m going to kill them all.”

Her brows furrowed. “But don’t you have friends there?”

“Yes.” It didn’t matter if they were friends or not. No one was going to threaten me and mine and continue breathing.

She pressed her lips together. “What about Kiam?”

“Oh, Kiam’s cool, don’t kill him,” Selena piped up from her vigil by the window.

I ignored her. “Another man’s name on your lips again,” I said, softly. My chin lifted and I gave Cassia a small smile. She shrank back. Not very far, seeing as I still had a grip on her face.

Elijah appeared by the door frame. “A contingent was seen in the West,” he said. “A blond woman I can only assume is your queen, with a man by her side. An army of wraiths and Kakian demons. Maybe ten thousand.”

She’d woken the king.