Page 28 of Tale of the Heart Queen

With a heavy sigh, I close my eyes and attempt to sift the pieces of myself into something that resembles a man who has any idea what to do next.

My feet carry me back up the stairs, an unwilling passenger on this ride, where I emerge to find Jareth and Rhyle, two more of my brothers. Their eyes widen as I emerge from the dungeon, clearly sensing my distress.

“What’s wrong?” Jareth asks, looking beyond me into the darkness of the stairwell.

“He’s gone,” I say. “He killed Drex and Syran, and then he fucking ran.” The words bruise my ears with the sagging weight of their impossibility.

Immediately, they both head for the stairs, but I call out. “Don’t. There’s nothing to be gained by seeing them. What he did was . . . unforgivable. We must focus on finding him and bringing him to justice. I’ll send someone down and remove the bodies and give them their due, but I can’t face it right now. I need a moment.”

My brothers exchange a wary glance, and I push between them, marching down the hall. I didn’t even realize my sword was still in my hand. Suddenly, it feels like it’s welded to the floor, and I toss it to the side with an abrupt clatter.

Jareth and Rhyle shuffle quietly behind me, probably wondering if I’m losing my mind.

“Where are the others?” I ask, looking over my shoulder.

“They’re with Tyr in Atlas’s study—I mean . . . Tyr’s study.”

I hear the uncertainty in his voice.

None of us were prepared to navigate this new reality.

Looking forward, I nearly halt at the presence of two figures now directly in my path. A low, impatient grumble rattles in my throat at the sight of Mael and that brother of Lor’s. Trevor?

“Get out of my way,” I say, already knowing I don’t have the patience for whatever this is. They attempt to stand their ground, but my stride never wavers, and they’re forced to step out of my way.

“Where are you going?” Mael asks as I brush past. “We have to do something about Nadir and Lor.”

I ignore him as I continue down the hall. I have no idea what happened to Nadir and Lor, and it’s not that I’m not worried about them, but I have bigger problems to deal with right now.

“Gabriel!” Mael calls, but I still don’t stop. A moment later, I hear two more sets of footsteps join alongside my brothers’. Storming through the palace, everyone leaps out of my way. I’m like a thundercloud rolling through a picnic on a sunny day, scattering food and lemonade.

When we reach the king’s study, I slam open the door with enough force to crack it. This room is Tyr’s now. A sharp breath pierces my chest because everything is different.

Inside the room, I find the other warders along with Erevan, Amya, Hylene, and the lady’s maid who’s actually Lor’s sister Willow. Apricia sits sniffling in a chair, dabbing her eyes with a tissue. I’d almost forgotten she existed.

“Rion took Nadir and Lor,” Mael says to me at the same moment I declare, “Atlas is gone.”

Everyone in the room goes still, our gazes meeting.

“We need soldiers to go after them,” Mael says.

“The abduction of your prince and his girlfriend are matters for The Aurora, not Aphelion,” I bark and spin around, pointing to my brothers.

“Atlas killed Drex and Syran and has escaped. We have to find him.”

“We’ll leave immediately,” Jareth says.

“Just us,” I say. “Any more, and he’ll sense us coming.”

“You can’t leave,” Erevan says to me. “We need you here.” His gaze slides to Tyr, who sits in a chair staring straight ahead into nothing. Gods, he’s right. I can’t leave him alone like this after what I’ve done. I run a hand down my face.

“Then you go,” I say to my brothers. The more of us there are together, the less effective Atlas’s magic is against us. They’ll be only seven without Drex and Syran, but it will have to be enough.

“What about the king?” Rhyle asks, and it takes me several seconds to realize he’s talking about Tyr.

“I’ll protect him.” There’s a certainty in my words, and I know they don’t doubt me, but these are perilous times.

“Okay,” Jareth says, though I can tell he doesn’t like the idea of leaving Tyr’s side. We exchange another look and then they turn to leave, but I call out. “Wait.”