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There were less than I imagined, ten at most, the numbers dropping as some rushed off, my now-opened eyes appearing to faze their determination.
“Where are you going, idiots?” Stralia howled, her anger mounting. “She can’t do anything in here! She’s tied to a chair and can’t use her magic in the dungeon.”
The magic blocker. I can’t do anything. But neither can she.
Realizing that I had no choice left but to stall her or die, I put her on the defensive, wracking my brain for an escape. My choices were few, bound to a chair and weak, but I hoped that one of the uncertain servants around me might have a change of heart and release me if I gave them the opportunity.
“They’re leaving you just like Cade did, Stralia. They can see that you’re not a leader,” I told her flatly.
She whipped her white-blonde mane toward me, her face paling at the words, two more bodies rushing off the site at the opportunity.
“How dare you!” she spat.
“How dare I?” I retorted, wheezing in the poor air but struggling to keep my composure. “You are the one who’s trying to kill me!”
She laughed mirthlessly, rushing toward me, her clear eyes flashing with malice. “It’s mine! All of it! The palace! The kingdom! CADE!”
Her hysteria mounted dangerously, and she raised her hand, showing the gleaming edge of a blade for the first time.
This is it. This is how it ends for me, for us,I thought mournfully.I’m sorry, little one. I wanted to protect you.
I tried to muster more strength from within me, but even in my most primitive form, it was impossible, my powers depleted.
Move!I screamed at myself.For the sake of your child! Cade’s child!
My baby, still too small to be anything on their own, would never have a fighting chance, and yet I was without recourse to stop the inevitable from happening. I was going to die here, in this gods forsaken place, by the hand of my mate’s former lover. I couldn’t think of a worse way to go.
“It was fated,” I rasped, desperate to keep her at bay. “Cade and me.”
“You should have stayed in Anderlane,” Stralia yelled. “Why didn’t you just stay away?!”
“Because Cade will always come looking for me, Stralia. Can’t you see that? We’re mated. We are destined to be together, no matter what you do. Even if you kill me, he will never be with you.”
Her face melted into a smirk. “We’ll see about that, won’t we?” she purred, advancing on me.
“Stralia!” I barked, but my words were meaningless to her.
The vengeance in her eyes was beyond reason. I had already known I was going to die, and there would be no more drawing it out.
“Good riddance to you,” she spat, rushing toward me, the silver dagger extended.
I thrust my head to the side as Stralia’s blade flew toward me, my eyes squeezing shut.
I’m sorry,I told my unborn again, a tear slipping down my cheek.I wish I’d been stronger for you, little one.
Chapter20
Cade
Never had I moved so quickly in my life, and yet I still didn’t feel as if we were moving fast enough.
Every step we took along the stairwell made me feel as if we were getting closer to Zephy. And simultaneously, she felt like she was slipping away from me.
“Is there another way to access the dungeon?” I asked Ryland as we moved. “Beyond the kitchen?”
“I don’t think so…”
“Find out if there is and send guards that way. If there is a way for anyone to escape, I don’t want them to take it. I don’t care what it takes to apprehend everyone inside.”
