“You.” Esmyra pointed a taloned finger at the elven woman.
The word burned through her skull, but before she could move, before she could end this, the sound of his roar cut through her haze
“I said let her go!” Draevyn’s voice echoed.
The heat of his voice sent a shudder through her, tearing open an old wound.
“Don’t you fucking tell my wife what to do!” Atlas bellowed in Draevyn’s face as he continued to struggle beneath him.
Wife.
Esmyra turned to face the woman, and a sly grin crept up her face. “Elowynne, is it?”
“Wynne, finish her!” Atlas screamed between grunts.
The elven hesitated, her magic flickering as it continued to dance along the corners of Esmyra’s mind.
Esmyra shook her head and tsked. “Oh, you’re not getting back in there, pretty girl. Your element of surprise is lost.” She took a threatening step closer. “It’s my turn now.”
“You attacked my betrothed. You attacked my family and kingdom!” Elowynne screamed as she forced her mind-magic toward Esmyra once again.
Esmyra merely lifted a brow. “You’re fighting for aRowe? Let me save you the heartache. You can do better.”
“Don’t listen to her!” Atlas screamed. “Listen to me! Hurry!”
The moment Esmyra stalked forward, Elowynne stumbled back, eyes widening as she realized the distractions had cost her.
Water wrapped around Esmyra’s arms, circling like twin serpents. It was difficult now, calling on her power after being wounded, but she thrust every ounce of energy she had left into it.
And then the doors to the throne room burst open.
CHAPTER 11
Draevyn
Draevyn’s heart thudded wildly in his chest as the guards poured into the throne room with their muskets raised. They quickly took their positions, lining the walls, blocking every exit.
That was where the guards had fled to? They ran to get the guns.
Yet still, Esmyra didn’t show an ounce of fear.
She stood at the center of it all, breath heaving as her focus moved from Elowynne to the men. The moment the soldiers came in, her midnight hair turned wild and silver, tattoos pulsing like liquid light beneath her skin. The blood had dried from the wound where Atlas’s bullet had grazed her, the skin surrounding it stitched back together.
How could that have happened? He knew velsinyte still affected gods, but was she somehowstillset apart from others? Or was there something else at play here?
“Fire on my command!” Atlas barked, and suddenly every gun was aimed directly at Esmyra’s head.
Draevyn’s throat went dry.
“Hello, boys,” she cooed, stepping forward as they all shifted nervously on their feet.
She was taunting them. Cocky as ever, his Wildfire feared nothing.
But Esmyra didn’t know the entire castle’s guard had been armedwith velsinyte since they’d last been to Lephyrin. Varis brought hundreds of pounds of it, immediately delivering it to the castle’s blacksmiths. Draevyn had only learned about it himself the prior morning.
He knew one shot to the heart was all that would be needed to take her away from him forever.
Elowynne scrambled away from her, pressing herself against the far wall, panting, as Atlas ran for her.
