“Holy fucking shit, you two were amazing in there,” Nico howled as we exited the palace. “Fucking badass. You two make such a badass King and Queen, I was ready to bow at your fucking feet.”
Lennox shook her head, a smile creeping up her face. “That felt good, didn’t it?”
“Really fucking good,” I agreed. “I almost wish Declan could have been there to witness the look on Bergan’s face.”
“Telling him about it will be just as sweet,” Nico cheered.
“I can’t believe that man is Declan’s father,” Lennox mused.
“Me either, and I’ve known him for a long time. Bergan is a menace to this continent.”
“He deserves to die, I would have loved to see you make him bleed, Len.”
“There’s still plenty of time for that.” Lennox smiled. “But his life is not mine to take.”
“How did it go?” Declan was upon us the minute we stepped foot in the camp.
“Good?” I said tentatively.
“Good? Lennox and Luka ripped into your father. Let him know exactly what they thought of him. They were this close to knifing him.” Nico pinched his fingers together, only leaving a millimeter of space between them. “But man, Dec, the look on his face—he was practically shitting bricks.”
Declan looked between the two of us, brows furrowed.
“Let me tell you what actually happened.”
When we were done, a ghost of a smile crept up Declan’s face. “You said all that?”
“They sure did,” Nico confirmed. “It was fucking awesome.”
“Thank you.” Declan shook his head, his dark hair falling across his face as his wings tucked in tight.
“Of course.” Lennox draped her arm around his shoulder gently, resting her head on his shoulder “He’s not your family anymore, we are. And you know as well as anyone, I protect my family.”
43
ADREONA
“I’ve found it.” Keziq’s eyes flew open, her pale hands still braced on the arms of the chair, her nails digging into the wood.
I kept my hope tamped down. Everything else Keziq had managed to find had been useless. “Tell me,” I said through gritted teeth.
“There’s a cabin in the woods, in the Blood Court, at the southern border. A family scrubbed from the archives. They have what we need.”
It appears she was coming in handy for once. “Best not waste time, let’s go.”
I held the worn journal in my hands, flipping through the pages, my eyes scanning the words as smoke filled my nostrils.
I had tuned out the sound of screams when the fire first started, too focused on reading the contents of the journal.
My back was kept warm from the blazing fire behind me. I had left it up to Keziq to determine what was to bedone with the family while I scoured the journal, making sure this was truly what we needed.
It was her reward for finding me Astria’s journal.
I flipped toward the end of the book, my eyes catching on the words. A spell, a fucking spell,I had found it.
My hand trembled as I flipped to the next page—where was it? I looked at the ground, turning in a small circle where I stood in the snow. Had I somehow dropped the page? It had to be there. I traced my fingers over the torn edge. There had been a page there.
But where was it now?
