Page 107 of Three Dark Kings and the Gilded Serpent

His hands don’t stop reaching for me, checking me over, and I take a heartbeat to breathe and assess my own senses because there’s a danger that I’m in shock and could be badly injured without yet feeling it.

But no. My hair is curling on my right side, but only the strands that were loose. The bulk of my braid and the yellow ribbon are completely unscathed on my left.

A second later, my armor wraps around me. I wasn’t aware of the moment the silver threads retreated, but now they wind around both Stellen and me, settling softly like a blanket, sealing us in.

I wrap my arms around Stellen’s neck and press my lips to his cheek. “Stellen, hear me.”

He stills, his hands pressing against my back, his cheek to my cheek, his icy-white hair tickling my neck.

“I’m okay,” I whisper before a deep sob pushes at my throat. “But the serpent isn’t. He’s hurt.”

Now, Nara blocks my view, her furry, white body positioned resolutely between me and the fallen beast, her soft whines telling me how concerned she is.

The awful scent of burning flesh and scales is a horror I can’t ignore and won’t accept. “You have to help the serpent.”

Stellen’s cool fingertips tangle in my hair as he gives a slow shake of his head. “The serpent isn’t in pain anymore.”

Another sob rises to my throat. I close my eyes, struggling against my tears. “This isn’t right. He can’t die without his name. I can’t let this happen!”

Stellen’s arms tighten around me. “You need to stay here where it’s safe.”

The thumping sounds of the brutal fight happening across the dark plain break through the quiet between Stellen and me.

I press a kiss to Stellen’s cheek, forcing myself to breathe through the ache in my heart. “No. I don’t.”

“Thyra?”

I draw back to meet Stellen’s unearthly eyes. “I’m going to the serpent, and I will fight you if you try to stop me.”

The corners of his mouth flicker upward. “A fight with you is the last thing I want.”

If only there was time to reach up and press my lips to Stellen’s, to breathe through this moment, the first time I’ve seen him since I thought I lost him.

I surge back to my feet, my armor quickly adjusting around me as I rapidly find my balance and race past Nara, who follows me at a run.

As I hurry back toward the serpent, I catch sight of the starlit woman retreating farther toward a pallet that rests like an island in the dark channel’s narrowest point. She reaches a fallen man who is struggling to his feet beside the pallet.

I have so many questions about that woman, about this whole situation, and I need all the answers, but for now, the serpent is my focus.

Along with the fight between Antony and Maxim.

Antony’s punch sends Maxim tumbling across the rocky ground and it’s clear Maxim isn’t fighting back.

At some point, he has pulled on a pair of pants. Or maybe he was wearing them the whole time—I couldn’t really tell through the flames rushing toward me.

Maxim takes the hit and the next, stepping forward into Antony’s third punch. Fire finally leaps up around Maxim’s body, healing his split cheekbone and visibly broken jaw.

“Is that all you’ve got?” Maxim roars, proving just how fully his jaw has healed as he steps back into Antony’s space. “My bones don’t stay broken. How are you going to hurt me, Iron King?”

I’m suddenly caught in the indecision of getting between them, but my heart hardens.

They’re enemies. They won’t stop until they decide to stop. For now, their choices are not my responsibility.

I drop to the ground beside the serpent, catching my breath before I force myself to face the damage to his body.

Charred black bones. Scorched flesh. The middle of his body on his left side is…

My hand flies to my mouth. I didn’t see any of this from within the cocoon he’d created around me to keep me safe.