“Please,” I added.
Zyran smiled, his eyes bouncing between me and Cirrian. He nodded at one of the guards, who I expected would remove Cirrian’s binding and allow him to heal himself. Instead, the guard’s fingers hovered over the area, the skin meshing, the seared skin turning a pink fleshy color before returning to Cirrian’s olive tone.
Cirrian’s face wouldn’t show it, but relief flooded his eyes.
“Thank you,” I said to Zyran, hoping my voice or expression didn’t reveal how much of an asshole I thought he was.
Zyran’s callousness and malicious intent was overshadowed by a spark that widened his smile and produced a measure of contentment in his face that I hadn’t seen before. With quiet confidence, he moved toward me and extended his hand, directing me to my previous position behind the guards.
At least he was polite in telling me he was tired of my nonsense.
He watched until I was back in my spot.
Quickly returning his attention to Cirrian, the gleam in his eyes was malicious. It swept in my direction and quickly returned to its target. “Have we asked too much of you?”
“We avoided the theft of magic and our eventual annihilation because of the lycans of Gyaneth. I’ve honored them and their contribution and made it a priority to find a way to release them. Now that the draveths are no longer an immediate threat, you have formed new alliances since their exodus and moved on. My appreciation isn’t as fleeting as yours.”
Zyran scoffed. “Nor is it fully authentic. When guilt is the driver of your dedication, it’s not genuine appreciation. Releasing them won’t bring Goddess Annessa back or absolve you of your role in her death.”
Cirrian glanced at me but quickly returned his attention to Zyran.
What was his role in Goddess Annessa’s death?
“I repeat, what do you have to say for yourself that can persuade us to be lenient?” There was a pause beforeus. Clearly, he considered himself the purveyor of justice. The final determiner of Cirrian’s fate.
“There is nothing I can say that will makeyouchange your mind. Especially since you’ve already made your decision. Anything else will be for show.”
“If death is your sentence, it will be immediate. I won’t allow you to unbind from Kara. You’d never plead for leniency for your own life, but will you do it for hers?”
Cirrian’s confident appearance fell as he looked at me, a concerning amount of desperation in his expression. He glanced over his shoulder at the door. Without a doubt, I saw fear.
“I ask that you preserve her life,” he whispered, his head bowed.
“That is a request, not a plea. Another clemency for your rejection of our rules would require that much. If you won’t do it for yourself, do it for her sake. If I find it worthy, I’d even be gracious enough to extend you another Quelling.”
He looked pointedly at the ground.
Cirrian grimaced, screwing his eyes closed. Seeing what it took from Cirrian, Zyran grinned and stepped back to give him room to kneel. My heart wrenched in my chest, feeling his humiliation and frustration as if they were mine. Sayier cutting her eyes in my direction made me reconsider my impulse to go to him. Nahela’s head shake kept me immobile. Tears pricked at my eyes. Color flushed his skin. Empty eyes looked at me once before he started lowering to his knees.
I would never forgive them for this. Their eyes danced with a diabolical glint. These were deities with a moral compass or ego no higher than those from my realm who exploited their own privilege of power. They were drunk on their influence and the awareness that they were about to force the submission of theirmost defiant subject by making him bend the knee and beg for mercy. The unnecessary and excessive cruelty made my stomach curl.
The door to the atrium exploded open, and Larkin entered with a disgruntled Magnus padding next to him. Larkin’s eyes quickly scanned the room, landing on Cirrian. A look passed between them, Larkin forcing a hold on Cirrian. Cirrian nodded to him and mouthed something that I believed was thanks.
Larkin’s brows inched together, his face displaying a series of emotions but none of the disappointment and anger he had at my house. A slow scowl crept over his features at Cirrian half kneeling in front of Lord Zyran.
Assurance brightened Cirrian’s face as he stood, tracking Magnus, who appeared even larger than I remembered.
Silence overtook the room. The guards gave Magnus a wide berth, eyeing the wolf as he made his way to me at a determined trot, nails clacking against the floor. When he sidled next to my leg, I crouched, sinking my fingers into his thick fur. He eased into my touch. Could wolves sigh? I was certain he did.
“Hey, Magnus,” I whispered. The serenity his presence brought was surprising. I tilted my head to make space for his face that he rested in the crook of my neck.
Mine. Mine.It became a loop in my head. Continuous and persistent.
“Lycan.” Lord Zyran’s whisper cut through the silence. Smiling, he took a step toward us but reconsidered it. Unable to pull his eyes from the wolf, he said, “He wasn’t trapped.”
Cirrian shook his head. “I don’t think there are others. Which is why he seemed so determined to prevent me discovering him.” He turned to me. “You kept mentioning a wolf that appeared when I wasn’t around. It took a moment for me to put it together.” Cirrian’s eyes dropped to the wolf. “You didn’t want me to find you.” His voice held the same warmth andrueful sympathy Terran’s had when he’d determined Magnus had retreated into his wolf. “Youcouldn’t.Not before you’d completed your goal,” Cirrian added to himself.
The wolf’s piercing eyes moved from me to Cirrian.
