41. Montana

The helicopter soared away from the castle, rising higher and higher until we were sailing above the twinkling lights of the city far below.

My relief at escaping was swallowed by a bitter sadness. Valentina had somehow taken Erik and Magnar hostage. She’d turned them against us, and I was sure the gods had to be involved. If Callie’s ring couldn’t reclaim their hearts, then the power that bound them must have been immense. And I didn’t know how we’d ever fix it.

Julius slid the door to the helicopter closed, shutting out the wind. Danielle was piloting the strange vehicle, the back of her head visible through a partition.

I fell into a seat, cupping my face in my hands as Callie dropped down beside me.

“What are we going to do?” my sister asked, resting a hand on my back.

I lifted my head, willing away the tears prickling my eyes. “I don’t know.” I looked between the Belvedere siblings, searching for an answer on their faces.

Their expressions were grave and offered me no ounce of hope.

“We’ll get them back,” Julius said as he sat opposite me beside Clarice. “Valentina won’t get away with this. I’ll cut her heart out.”

“And how will you manage that?” Clarice bit at him. “She has taken over our empire. We won’t get near her again without an army of biters facing us first.”

Julius frowned deeply, shutting his eyes. “By the gods, Valentina is going to do anything she wants with my brother.”

“And mine,” Clarice muttered.

I recoiled as if the words had struck me a blow. My heart couldn’t take it. Callie released a pained noise and I took her hand, turning to meet her eye.

“Maybe they can fight it,” I breathed, but I knew how hopeless that possibility was. The two of them had tried to kill us with no regard for our lives at all. They didn’t remember loving us. All they could feel was their devotion to that heartless bitch, Valentina.

“If she lays a hand on Magnar, I’ll...” Callie shook her head and I squeezed her hand as her hopelessness fell over me too.

“You’ll do nothing because there is nothing you can do,” Fabian growled and I shot him a glare.

“Don’t upset her,” I snapped at him as Callie toyed with Fury in her hand as if she wished to stab him in response to his words.

“We’re royals,” Miles said meekly, his hand locked around Warren’s. “We can’t be dethroned like this. It’s not right. Our people will never follow her commands.”

“They won’t have a choice,” Warren sighed, brushing a lock of golden hair from Miles’s eyes. “She controls the goddamn sun. What option will our people have but to submit to her? And we underestimated how many wish to drink from the vein; who knows how many more will join her willingly now anyway?”

“The humans,” I whispered, my heart clenching. “They’ll go after the Realms.”

Julius growled his frustration and Clarice rested a hand on his arm for half a heartbeat before quickly retracting it. He eyed her in confusion, shifting an inch away from her.

“Where to?” Danielle called from the pilot’s seat.

We were heading away from the city, passing over ruins that extended for miles ahead of us.

No one answered. We were on the run, forced from the city. There was no way we could land near it without a horde of biters coming after us.

“South,” Fabian answered at last. “Head toward the farmlands. The helicopter’s fuel will get us two hundred miles but no more. There’s a military outpost on the edge of Baltimore. We’ll have to set down before the sun rises, otherwise Valentina could trap us under its rays. We’ll get a car and keep going-”

“We can’t just run,” Callie snapped. “We have to go back for Erik and Magnar.”

“They are untouchable until we can figure out a way to destroy the power holding them,” Fabian said calmly. “And at least we know Valentina has no intention of killing them. We have to look out for ourselves now.”

I shook my head as a pang of horror gripped my heart. “I can’t bear to leave them with her.”

“We don’t have a choice right now,” Fabian growled.

A stony silence descended and I broke apart, knowing Fabian was right. We had to flee. To put as much distance between us and Valentina as possible until we could figure out how to get Erik and Magnar free of her.

“Baltimore it is then,” Danielle confirmed and Callie’s grip tightened on my hand, her nails digging into my skin.

Thunder rumbled overhead and a tremor rolled down my spine. The helicopter swayed violently under an intense wind and I prayed we’d soon make it further south, away from the limits of Valentina’s power.

As the helicopter swung around to face the dark horizon, words burst into my mind that shook the very foundations of my soul.

I swear on everything that I am, I’ll save you from her, Erik.

I will not let Valentina have you.

_________________

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