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“Was he as fiery when you had him on his back and fucked him, dear brother?”
“Always.” Lark smirked.
Heat climbed my face. “End this before more people die. Sit on your throne and make your court dance, but leave the shatterlands as they are. There is no need for bloodshed.”
Razak tapped his finger against his chin. “You clearly do not know how power works, having never had any true of your own. And what little power you did have, I took from you.” He spread his hands. “You’re offering me nothing. I’ve already destroyed Love and Justice, and War will destroy itself, as is inevitable, considering its blundering king. But rest assured, we will welcome you into our new world.”
“‘We’?” Noemi asked.
“Oh yes, Zayan and I. You see, we’ve come to an understanding. Did you know he’s played you all along?”
“You scheming rat!” Ogden surged. Draven lurched to his feet and blocked the king from making a mistake.
“Is this true?” Noemi asked Lark.
“I was never one of you, and we all knew it. You each wanted to save me, thinking me lost. I was always exactly where I needed to be.” Finally, his gaze came to rest on me. “You especially, Arin. So adamant I could be saved, making you my hero. I told you time and time again, I am not who you think me to be.”
It wasn’t true. It couldn’t be. We’d been here before, with Lark’s lies tangled around us. And itwaslies. I knew him, his kiss, his body, his breathless gasps when he came undone in my hands. I knew his soul, his heart. I knew every piece of him, and I knew this was a lie.
“I loved you.” The tears weren’t hard to summon. I only had to stop holding back the heartache.
“That’s your mistake.”
Razak watched, appraising, determining, scouring every word and glance for the truth.
“Razak, you have the power to prevent further bloodshed.” Noemi stepped forward. “You have everything you wanted. Let the children go.”
“Says the bitch who stabbed me. Justice let my father rot beneath its foundations and hid the truth from the shatterlands. You are the worst of all the courts, with your corrupt laws that we all must follow, all exceptyou. The courts—” He snorted. “—the shatterlands, it’s a cruel joke. Dallin knew it. He tried to regain his power, and you all buried him for it, trapping the source of each of our passions, our will, beneath your foundations. The shatterlands are mine. Your people are mine! The air youfucking breathe is mine! You live because I tolerate you! Now get out of my sight before I harvest your souls!”
The air around him warped and twisted, rippling as though thick, like water.
“Go!” I yelled. “Retreat now!”
We clambered onto our horses, but as the others galloped to the relative safety of the riverside, I hesitated. My horse shied again, dancing. Razak laughed, but the sound of it carried far and wide, across the river, into the city, and beyond. Beside him, Lark looked at me and brought the bloody knife to his lips. He licked the blood from its surface and when Razak turned and swept away, Lark followed, throwing his own wicked laugh at us for believing in him.
I trusted him.
I loved him.
I knew how strong he was, but also how vulnerable. Razak was his weakness.
What if he’d lost himself in the dark? A storm never ended if the sun did not break through.
He’d need me to light his path back.
I turned my horse and galloped toward War’s front lines.
The shatterlands could not wait on Lark’s plan. We needed our own.
I dismounted outside our hastily erected tents and strode toward the king’s. While Razak’s attention was on the west side of the city, on our front and the warriors and the line of children, we’d send in a band of smaller, less obvious warriors, unnoticed. Draven would be among them. He’d lead them. He’d find Razak and kill him. Diplomacy, peace talks—none of this would work.
I stomped through mud, veering around the outside of the camp, where it was less crowded. We had to fight like Razak, not like Ogden wanted. Underhanded, scheming. It was the only language he knew.
A shadow shifted in the gloom to my left. A blur shot out of the dark. I barked a startled cry, but a hand muffled my voice. Something hard struck the back of my head, ripping my balance away. The ground rushed up, someone caught me. Too fast—too much. I opened my mouth to call for help but a rag was thrust between my teeth, almost shoved down my throat.
No, no!I kicked, dug my heels in, and the second blow swooped in and stole my consciousness away.
CHAPTER51
