“After our bodies were remade”—she gestured to herself—“I asked the Veil of Visions to show me my father, and it was in the same moment you abandoned him with the king, leaving his heart open for that blade.”
“Esmyra, I’m so sorry.” His eyes darted back and forth between hers. “You need to believe me; I didn’t know that was what the king planned to do. I thought he was going to have me torture Blackwood, and I refused to take part in it.”
She desperately held back her tears as he went on.
“But you’re right. I hold the blame for his death,” he said, his shoulders quaking as if he wanted to sob. “I will do anything for your forgiveness but would also understand if it’s never granted.”
“You should’ve killed your king,” she growled.
Draevyn let out a small chuckle, but there was no warmth in it. “I nearly did. He threw my ass in the dungeons for a night because of it too.” He reached up and brushed her cheek with his knuckles. “I wanted you to be the one to kill him. It was your revenge to take, not mine.”
Esmyra was stunned silent at his confession.
Was that why he didn’t interfere when I stormed Lephyrin’s throne room that day?
With a powerful movement, he flipped her beneath him, reversing their positions in a blur of motion and strength. The world spun, and before she could blink, he was on top, caging her to the floor with his arms braced on either side of her head.
Esmyra sucked in a sharp breath.
“So, where does the truth leave us, Wildfire?” His voice was quiet and scorching, like flames licking at the edges of her resistance.
Where does that leave us?Where could they possibly go from here after all she had done? Esmyra had killed a king of Rymelle. She was a fugitive of Lephyrin’s crown, holding their queen hostage in a kingdom the world didn’t even know once more existed. Draevyn was the brother of Lephyrin’s new king.
There was no future for them. There never would be again.
In some cruel twist of fate, their souls were destined for nothing but repeated heartache and betrayal by one another.
Esmyra gazed into those flame-lit whiskey eyes and was desperate to scream and rage and disappear. But what startled her most was she wanted to press her lips to his until all the pain, all this agonizing torment that had become their lives, melted away.
Instead, they remained staring at each other in tense silence, the weight of everything between them threatening to drown her.
And then a sudden, blood-curdling scream ripped through the stillness, shattering the tension like glass. It was sharp and ragged with terror, echoing from outside and down into the basement.
Both of their necks snapped upward, staring at the caved-in ceiling they fell through as tiny specs of dust continued to rain down on them. More shrieks rang out, overlapping with cries of panic and shouted warnings.
All gods. They gave each other a horrified glance before shoving to their feet.
They scrambled up the crumbling stairs, their boots skidding on loose wood as they reached the first floor theyhad fallen through. Narrowly stepping around the hole their bodies created, Esmyra and Draevyn ran out into the alleyway and then back into the streets.
The world had shifted. Above the dilapidated rooftops of Anchorage Cove, endless sails blotted out the dark horizon.
Esmyra’s eyes widened and she took off into a sprint to get a better look at what they were about to be up against.
“Esmyra, wait!” Draevyn shouted, but she didn’t stop.
The sound of boots against stone echoed behind her as he gave chase, following her as she ran through more winding alleyways that led out to a beach about a mile from the docks. When she skidded to a halt in the sand, her hands balled into fists as she took in the sight.
A wall of ships had arrived at the isle, their masts a dense forest of wood and canvas against the midnight sky. Adorning every mast, their banners snapped in the wind, bearing the sigil of Lephyrin. Their battleships anchored in the harbor, while pinnaces funneled soldiers onto the docks by the hundreds.
Draevyn came up behind her, panting as he stopped at her side. The weight of his hand fell to her shoulder as she scanned their surroundings.
She needed to fix this. They were here because of her, and she didn’t want anyone in Anchorage Cove suffering because of what she’d done.
Or are they here because of Draevyn?
“It’s Atlas,” he started. “They must’ve followed us here.”
Her eyes whipped to him. “Likely story.”
