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16
EVANNA
A wild tempest of rage and fear brewed inside me, as Kingston took me away from the battle happening back at the green lands. He held me with the full viciousness of his warrior grip, keeping me flushed against his chest and unable to move a single, excruciating inch. He had never used his abilities against me, and the indignation and fury that awoke in me were something he had never had to deal with, but oh, was he going to get it now.
The second we landed back in the palace and he brought me down from Luna, finally releasing his hold, I spun on him. My boot slammed against his chest with full force, sending him staggering until his back hit the cold ground. His guard was always down with me. Big mistake.
“How dare you?” I seethed, taking slow steps towards him, hands fisted as he glanced up at me in shock. “How the fuck dare you take me away from there, against my will or command, and leave them all to fight for me?”
He sighed as though I was a cantankerous child throwing a tantrum, and stood. “You are the princess and my priority, as well as theirs, is to protect you at all costs. They knew the second they signed up to be your guard that they would risk—”
“My life is not more important than theirs!” I shouted back, appalled by his excuse. “Neither was my parents’ more significant than their people’s, or my aunt’s for that matter, and you dishonor their memory by making mine so.”
“That is different, Evanna,” he growled back, pain and ire simmering in the depths of his honey eyes.
“No, it isn’t! They gave their lives for their kin without a second thought. Yet if the situation were reversed, you would let them all die just to save me. Do you not realize how wrong that is??”
Kingston’s muscles visibly contracted as he swallowed, pain marring his features. “I gave my vow to Ezra and Sienna that I would never allow anything to happen to you.”
“That is not an excuse to do what you just did.”
“I swore to Sacha that I would die before I let anything or anyone hurt you, and I will protect you until my last breath, Evanna. Please understand that. You are the only one left to rule, I cannot permit—”
“Not good enough!” I barked.
Tears stung my eyes with the love and blind devotion exuding from his every word, but I shook my head, pain travelling through me.
“I love you, Kingston, but I will not allow anyone else to die for me. Least of all, you. When I’m gone, someone else will take my place, just like my aunt did for my parents, and like I did after she was gone. There will always be someone who loves our kin and this world so fiercely that they won’t hesitate to act. You can’t ever forget or stop hoping for the will of our people to overcome the evil threatening us. Otherwise, we have already lost.”
Whirling around, I marched towards Luna, stopping a few paces from her face.
“You honored me by choosing me after my mother died, your presence and protection are invaluable to me.Youare invaluable to me, and I need you to know that. But don’t you ever do that to me again,” I gritted out, repressing tears of anger more than of pain. “If you want to leave the fight then leave me behind, but never,ever, take me from it against my will. Understood?”
Her gaze fell from mine in shame, but she nodded, lowering her wing for me to ride her again.
Without hesitation, I stepped onto the talon protruding from it for her to lift me onto her back, yet my guardian’s hand stopped me.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m going back.”
Kingston’s jaw tensed, eyes becoming tortured. “Please… I can’t lose you too. If I’m not your guardian, I’m no longer worthy.”
Lifting a hand to his cheek, I attempted to stop my lips from trembling as I spoke. “That is where you are wrong. You are the most honorable man I have ever met. You no longer require forgiveness, and you have to find a way to accept that.Theyneed you more than I do. Braxton needs you, but you have to let go of the past to be able to help him.”
My hand fell from his face, and I pointed towards the outside world.
“He is out there, fighting for me and a world he never even knew existed, of his own will. If nothing else, let that be proof that he is not the man his father became, but was born from the one who helped us be who we are today. One worthy of your respect and loyalty.”
Pulling my arm away from his grasp, I turned and let Luna lift me up, settling onto her neck a moment before she began to lift into the air.
“Evanna, please…” he beseeched as we turned around, positioning ourselves to fly through the gap.
“Amma and my parents didn’t teach me to run away, Kingston. And neither did you. Don’t expect me to do it now.”
Luna’s form twisted when we flew out of the mountain, leaving my guardian behind, and my heart slammed against my ribs the faster we tried to get back to the others. My gaze stayed alert, but all I saw in my mind’s eye was a conjured image of Braxton battling Azazel to the death, and the breaths seemed to vanish from my lungs.
That monster was capable of heinous things. He had leveled entire villages, even mountains with one combined fire breath, his fury and thirst for death witnessed by my horror-stricken eyes. Azazel was more dangerous than twenty of our Dragons united, which had made our attempts to kill him not only life-threatening, but impossible. Especially under the influence of Raithian’s supreme magic. So, the mere sight of him flying towards where Braxton and the others were, ripped all sanity away from me.
