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Never take it off.If only I knew what it was for, perhaps I could use it against him.
“Please,” I called to the Mad King, “Don’t hurt her. Take me, just let her go.”
“Oh, my dear, you’ll have your turn. Patience,” he said, never removing his eyes from Aisling as she stepped up one, two stone steps and onto the dais. She was sobbing, her shoulders shaking.
My own eyes filled with hot, angry tears. I was going to watch her die. And there wasn’t a thing I could do about it.
Ricon caressed her face, brushed her long hair back. Tilted her chin up to look him in the eyes.
It was a miracle I didn’t wretch.
He hushed her, “Don’t fret,” he said, looking down upon her, “A part of you will live on—within me.” Then he plunged the dagger into her chest.
A bloodcurdling scream tore through the throne room, echoing its agony up into the skies. Pleading. Broken.
It took me a moment to realize the sound had come from my own lips.
And it was too much. It was all too much. She couldn’t be dead. I hadn’t just watched her die.No.It didn’t happen.
Couldn’t have.
Ricon’s eyes rolled back into his head, his pupils glowing violet before his gaze settled on me. It was done. The transfer of Aisling’s Grace to the Mad King was complete. With an indifferent shove, he removed the blade from her chest and she fell. Her lifeless body slumped to the ground in a heap of beaded satin and tangled mahogany hair.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Finn
My arms screamed in burning protest as we reached the top, climbing the last few yards to the base of the palace where there’s an opening in the stone wall. It was nearly full dark, thank the gods. If there were too many of them in there, at least they could use the cover of darkness to escape.
Ahead of me, Alaric lifted his head to see inside. He held his hand in a fist—telling us to hold back. He climbed over the ledge quick and quiet as a spider over earth. A few seconds later, a feint grunt and he’s leaned back over, waving us to come up.
I lunged over the opening—stretching out the tension in my arms and thighs. A soldier lay dead at my feet. His neck snapped. We waited for the others to climb inside before we set off down the corridor, without even so much as torchlight to see by. Good, then they wouldn’t see us coming.
We picked off four more soldiers before the corridor ended at a fork. We could continue straight, go left, or right. It was deadly quiet. I listened with the others but heard no movement. No shuffle of boots on stone. Not even the sounds of breathing. If there were any more of the Mad Kings soldiers to be found in the palace, there weren’tmanymore.
There were three with Liana and Aisling including Valin. The two Dracs circling on the outside. And the Mad King. I didn’t know what to expect of the male in terms of power. But with Kade’s fire and my ice and our combined skill in combat, our odds weren’t awful. And it went unspoken that this was a mission some of us may not return from.
Liana was the goal. Save her. Whatever it takes. Now we just needed to figure out which way to go. I bent, looking for small boot tracks in the dusty floor, “I don’t see—”
A long, horrified scream pierced a hole in the placid night, ramming me right in the chest. It was Liana. There was no doubting it.
As one, we ran down the passageway to the right, Alaric in the lead—sword out. Us on his heels—Kade lighting the way with fists coated in flame.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Liana
The male to my right jerked, his hand releasing its grip on my arm. A sword, coated in crimson, protruded from his belly. A split second and Valin has released me, too. I nearly fell, catching myself, whirling to the clashing of steel against steel. Alaric drove his sword down against Valin’s, a fury in his eyes like I’d never seen in him before.
The others crashed into the throne room behind him—panting, ready for action. Relief flooding their expressions for an instant when their gazes met my own before they rushed into action.
My heart soared, then I remembered, and it sputtered. My lungs near collapse.
“What’s this?” Ricon said, and I spun to find him, arms raised, his sights fixed on my males.
No.“Run,” I shouted at them, but it was too late. Valin sheathed his sword, and Alaric just stood there. They all juststoodthere. I lunged for Finn, he was the closest, shoving my shoulders into his chest, trying to force him back.
“Liana,” he said, his hand frozen on the hilt of his sword. “Go,” he begged, his eyes widening.Finn.I knew he had planned for everything, but he didn’t plan forthis.
