“I’m fine,” he lied, as my arm burned from his pain. Jace reached his hand out, cupping my cheek as he attemptedto bring me back to reality. “Lia,” he breathed. “I’m okay. I promise.”
“No,” I whispered as my eyes rapidly darted back and forth between his own, but they were unseeing in my rage.
My body pivoted to look below once more, and my eyes finally locked on the source of the blood-dipped arrows.
Kellan stood atop a burning wagon as he reached into his pocket and dumped a blood-filled vial onto another set of arrows as he took aim at us.
“Nox!” I screamed as my stare bore into Kellan’s. I watched the tip of his lips twist into a smirk as he released the arrow aimed at us. “IGNYSTAE!” I roared, my voice unrecognizable.
My friends yelped, holding onto anything they could as Nox took off at terrifying speeds. We barreled through the smoke-infused air and toward Kellan, a cascading wall of flames erupting from Nox’s gaping jaw.
I nocked my arrow into place and released it as we rapidly approached him. Kellan leapt from the wagon, barely escaping my arrow by tucking and rolling, and then took off in a run into the line of tents that were up in flames.
Nox hooked a sharp right turn and swooped down after him once more. We raced through the line of burning tents, so low to the ground that any soldier unfortunate enough to stumble into our path was instantly splattered against Nox’s chest.
The screams were slowly dying down as the fire absorbed everything in its path. Tents, wagons, and supplies had been reduced to ash. The soldiers were no longer concernedabout fighting us and focused all their attention on surviving the attack.
They wouldn’t. I would make sure of it.
The time it took to catch up to Kellan felt as if it were hours when it had been mere seconds. Time slowed as I raised my hand and screamed my command into the burning sky.
Nox unleashed the last of his flames directly at Kellan’s back. My sweat-slicked face contorted into a sinister grin, eagerly anticipating the sight of Kellan's body engulfed in the flames—only it never came.
Kellan pivoted to the right and dove out of the way, only half a second before he would’ve been consumed by the inferno.
My eyes flared with fury as I watched him strain to push to his feet before taking off once more between the burning tents. Nox struggled to turn at such speeds and had to move to circle back.
“Fuck. This,” I seethed, my teeth clenched so tightly that I thought they would shatter.
I spun around in the saddle, grabbed Jace by the chest plate of his armor, and pressed my lips to his. “I love you,” I said on his mouth.
“Elianna, don’t you fucking dare!” he roared at me, but it was too late.
I jumped up onto my feet, glanced down to the ground fifteen feet below us, and leapt from Nox’s back.
I tucked my knees tightly to my chest and rolled once I hit the terrain. My body refused to waste even a single secondas I sprang to my feet and took off running after my former lover.
The echoes of my mate’s shouts of panic were lost in the roaring flames surrounding me.
Chapter five
Kellan
I’d give that stupidbeast one thing—it certainly had more flame than I anticipated.
My gaze roamed over the burning field, and I took in the sight of my remaining soldiers as they flailed around, their bodies up in flames.
“Adler!” Callius’ voice boomed through the smoke-filled, suffocating air.
He appeared through the haze and gripped me by the collar of my shirt. His face was barely an inch from my own as he violently shook me. “Where is the prince?!” he roared. “Where is Kai? You had one fucking job!” He released my shirt and shoved me backward, almost causing me to lose my footing.
My back stiffened, and I waltzed back up to him and pointed in his face, mimicking him only an hour prior, before the camp had been set aflame.
“Keep your fucking hands off of me!” I barked at him. “I don’t know where the little prince is,” I spat. “I left him in his tent.”
“Oh, you mean the tent that is now up in flames?!” Callius screamedat me.
“They’re all up in flames! Everything is! There’s no escaping this.” I gestured to our camp. “What would you have me do, Callius?”
