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I could feel the humiliation and seething anger radiating from his aura, latching onto my emotions, sparking my own rage. “She said he was just saying that to hurt us. That it wasn’t true.”
I shook my head. “Believe what you want. Why wouldIlie about that? He’s my husband. It was a bitter pill to swallow for me, too, except he wasn’t committed to me when it happened. You’re both cheating liars who deserve each other, and I’m glad karma is catching up to you. Have a nice life, Astor.”
“You’re going to regret marrying Sebastian,” he called after me as I attempted to break away. “Just remember, you sealed your own destiny. I offered you a way out, and you refused. Now you’ll reap what you sowed.”
I turned. “Is that a threat? Because that’s grounds for treason, and I’ve been looking for a reason to lock you up since you sold out the guild and got everyone killed. Draven ended up here because of you, and now he’s dead.” A lump formed in my throat. “So don’t test me, because I will fuck you up. I hurt Kalon, destroyed Hamza—and they were much stronger than you.”
His muscles flexed in his arms, and the man I stared at was a shallow ghost of the boy I once loved. He shoved his hands in his pockets, shaking his head at the ground. “You always underestimated me, Liv.”
“Apparently, I did. I never thought you could be such an asshole,” I snapped. “Goodbye.”
TWENTY-EIGHT
Olivia
I gazed over the grounds as the drawbridge lowered and the king and his entourage left. Once they were a dot in the distance, the bodies were brought out. Sebastian flew down from behind me, pulling me into him. “I’ve been searching for you,” he said, his grip tightening.
“Me too.” I sucked in a deep breath, regretting it instantly.
The stench of rotting flesh suffocated the air, and I was only grateful we were outside. I couldn’t imagine how the other mortals trapped down there next to the dead coped with being stuck in there during the King of Asland’s visit.
Draven’s body was brought out. I recognized his brown leather jacket. A sob caught in my throat, and I looked around to double check Sargon wasn’t around. He’d stopped me from going down to retrieve his body, putting several guards at the dungeons. Mostly so Asland’s people wouldn’t accidentally make their way down there and see the genuine horrors of Sanmorte.
My heart skipped a beat as they threw him onto the mound of contorted bodies. “Sebastian,” I choked, and he let go of me.
He stared down at two of the guards. They reluctantly bowed, slowly rising to meet his glare. He was still their prince, even if they didn’t like him. “We’ll be taking that one.” He pointed at Draven’s body.”
One shook his head. “We have orders to burn them all.”
“Then stop me,” Sebastian challenged, his eyes sparking with rage. He picked up Draven’s body, holding him against his chest, not even flinching at the putrid stench.
My mom walked out from behind us. “Oh, Draven,” she whispered, and closed her eyes.
Sebastian brought him to us, hesitance strong in his expression, as he halted a few paces away. “Ravena,” he focused on my mom. “Take his body. We will bury him away from this place.”
“We can do that?” I asked.
She glanced at the double doors, her teeth clenching. “I’m the queen. I’d love to see them try and stop us.”
I couldn’t bring myself to look at my fallen friend. Instead, I moved my gaze to the mountains silhouetting the horizon. I saw Sebastian hand Draven to Ravena with care, then race to my side.
“Let’s get out of here.” Sebastian’s wings exploded from his back, blocking the sunlight, absorbing the rays into the matte black. His eyes glistened as he took me in his arms, cradling me to his chest. I breathed to the steady thumping in his chest, closing my eyes as a whoosh of air pounded into my ears.
Flapping against the wind, he lifted us above the tower and castle spikes and into the layer of fog surrounding the ancient, weathered walls. With each beat of his wings, we emerged out of the constraints of the castle and towards the freedom of the forest. A heavy weight lifted from my shoulders at the thought of Draven being buried away from the court and the monsters who killed him. I could still smell the cloying, rotting scent lingering on his shirt from Draven, and held my breath.
The evergreen forest inked out into the distance in a spectacular green, blotting through the powdered blanket of snow. We descended into the trees, my mom holding Draven not far behind, her red wings beating against the pockets of air.
Glancing back, I watched as the castle turned into a dot, and we lowered through the thick canopy at the edge of the forest, close to the mountains. He landed us softly against the mossy mattress crusted in ice, and I leaned against a time-chiseled tree.
The temperature dropped a couple of degrees, bringing bitter gales from the mountains into the forest. A spiderweb glistened between branches above me, the poor creature frozen in the spot, a fly just out of its reach. I nudged the trunk as I pushed myself to walk to where my mom was laying Draven. Dead leaves and feathery moss broke off delicately from the interlocking branches. I stumbled back, almost hit a hollowed-out log.
Fog left my mouth with each breath as I approached him, and a sinking feeling forced me to my knees. Ice pricked my legs, stinging them, a welcome distraction from the aching in my heart. Until this point, I’d kept dissociating, staring off into nothing, thinking of nothing, but the reality of his death was in front of me. Draven’s body was empty of energy, not one feeling to hold onto, and as I reached out with my gift, I touched nothing but emptiness.
Whispers of wind whistled in my ears as I stared at his body, suddenly realizing we should have told Erianna we were coming here, even if the decision was last minute. She’d have wanted to say goodbye. Sebastian could have probably carried us both.
A slither sounded between snow and twigs, emerging from the underbrush. I glanced to my side as a snake hissed out an inky black tongue, sliding toward Draven’s body. Grabbing it by the head, no longer filled with mortal fears of snake bites, I threw the creature between the trees. Nothing would touch my friend again.
Draven’s face was as pale as the white blanket beneath him, his eyes closed. I couldn’t bear to see those eyes without the light dancing in them. This felt like a dream, and the world fell into slow motion. Numbness swept through my body in waves, a heaviness settling deep in my chest. I looked over every part of him with swollen eyes. Tears fell thick and fast, shudders of sobs wrenching my shoulders forward.
