Page 275 of Between Two Kings

You cannot hurt me, foolish girl. I am beyond pain.

Rowe was right. Nothing could hurt him. Power emanated off him in waves, destroying everything in his path. Whenever another basilisk happened to come into his orbit, he tore their head from their shoulders so quickly Tem almost didn’t notice until they fell, headless, to the ground. He was possessed with deadly power—he was an anomaly. Tem threw herself against him with renewed vigor, doing everything she could to catch him off guard. But Tem was not used to this form—she was not used to being this size or this shape.

And then he had her.

Rowe pulled her down onto the sand, wrapping his body around hers, crushing her with his horrible weight. Too late, Tem realized she was trapped. Rowe’s head was an inch from hers, his fangs fully bared. Saliva dripped from his open mouth as he berated her with his mind.

How dare you challenge me? I will kill you. And then I will kill Caspenon. And then I will kill everyone you have ever loved, including your little prince.

He’s a king.

Rowe laughed, deep and careless. He is nothing, and so are you.

His grip tightened. Tem strained against it, doing everything in her power to escape the crushing weight of his heavy gold body. Suddenly, another voice entered her mind:

I am near you, Tem. You must get away.

Caspen, I can’t. She was trapped beneath Rowe, their bodies writhing in the sand.

Run, Tem. NOW.

I can’t!

You must. I cannot resist for long.

You said there was another way.

I said you must run.

I CAN’T.

But she had to. If she didn’t move—if she did not manage to kill Rowe—there would be two powerful basilisks that wanted her dead.

Apollo, she cried, where are you?

I am with Caspenon. But I cannot hold him much longer, Temperance.

He sounded out of breath, as if he were under great physical strain. Tem could only imagine what it must be like to try to subdue a basilisk like Caspen, how difficult it would be to fight against the curse that fueled him.

Rowe’s grip was tightening. She knew he was siphoning from Caspen, becoming ever stronger. But no matter how much he siphoned, Caspen still had an extraordinary well of power within him: not just his own but his father’s.

Temperance. We are almost there. We are—

One minute Tem was on the ground, pinned beneath Rowe, and the next she was free. Tem recognized Caspen’s obsidian-black scales as he threw Rowe off her, hurling his enormous body against the wall of the cavern. Tem half expected Caspen to go after Rowe and finish him. Instead, he turned to Tem. Before he could advance, Apollo appeared between them. Tem lurched backward as brother fought brother, each of them barely gaining ground before losing it again. Tem looked wildly around for Rowe, who was already coming back for her.

You cannot avoid me, Temperance. No matter how many bodyguards you have.

Tem didn’t bother informing him that Caspen was hardly her bodyguard right now.

It is only a matter of time before you give in. Just give in, Temperance.

Tem would not give in. Tem would fight.

Despite her body screaming in protest, she lunged at him again, and a moment later, they were fighting once more. Every time Tem managed to evade Rowe, Caspen was upon her a moment later. There was no reprieve from the attacks, no moment to rest. Whenever Caspen got too close, Apollo came between them. He threw himself at his brother again and again, taking blow after blow. Eventually, it was killing all four of them. Such violence was unsustainable; someone had to end this.

They were not the only ones suffering. Tem saw glimpses of the battle around them. There was Cypress, fighting two basilisks at once. There was Adelaide, trapped in a headlock. At the sight of her, Tem remembered something she had said long ago:

If the legends are true, it means you can channel Kora.