Chapter 56

The entire Keep rocked back and forth as I climbed to my feet.

Too late. Tristan had almost been too fucking late.

"Hold still, Raz." Anaria was already fitting the key into the lock on my shackles. I caught another flash out the corner of my eye —this time of movement.

In one graceful, smooth motion, Lyrae lunged with her sword, fast as an adder, plunging the blade into Crux's side. The point exploded out his other side, showering Zor and Tavion with blood.

Crux twisted away, tearing the sword from her hand and frantically trying to drag the weapon from his abdomen. "You…you fucking bitch…" He gripped the handle and slid it out with a wet, sickening sound, dark red blood soaking the front of him.

His panicked eyes met mine. "See you in the Great Beyond, motherfucker." I grinned like a madman. "I hope you burn in the Pit like a fucking dog."

Anaria was setting Zor and Tavion free; Lyrae tossed me a knife from her belt as I raced past her.

Straight toward the now-frantic Shadow King, his eyes darting around his ruined throne room as if expecting his guards to come save him.

Five feet in front of him—halfway there—I hit a wall of impossible-to-breach power, my fingers clawing futilely, knife stabbing down over and over, the blade sparking as I dragged the tip down over his shield.

Serpens clasped his shaking hands together and leaned forward. "Did you really think I was foolish enough to leave myself vulnerable?" His gaze lifted and I didn't know what he was looking at.

Lyrae, his favorite protector gone rogue.

Or Crux bleeding out on the floor.

Then the Shadow King's eyes widened in fear, all the color draining from his face. And I knew exactly what he saw.

Anaria's magic hit the shield a second later, splintering through Serpens's power like the barrier wasn't even there, a star-drenched ball of pure power striking him full in the chest. But not to kill.

To incapacitate.

Because the king's death blow was mine.

Mine for what I'd endured. Mine for what I'd lost. And mine because this fucker had to die in order for the world to thrive. Otherwise, he'd consume this world and everything in it like his brother had.

And I would not allow Anaria to have his filthy blood on her hands.

I was her blade. I was her vengeance.

I would take this life as I'd taken Carex's.

Dealing out death had been my calling my entire life. It was no surprise I was Gattica, the God of Death. If Anaria was life, then I was her antithesis, and I would become the darkness for her.

So she could always remain in the light.

Two slices through his wrists sent those heavy, cruel hands thumping to the floor as he collapsed in his throne.

The knife slipped between his ribs, so smooth I didn't know I'd struck true until dark heart-blood coated my hand, the king's eyes flaring in understanding.

"You will never rule this realm," he hissed through a gurgle of blood. "You will never sit on this throne."

I twisted the knife in deeper, his body jerking. "It's a damn good thing I want no part of thrones or crowns. As far as I'm concerned, both can rot, right along with you."

For all his blustering, Serpens went to his grave like any other man, his blood rushing out of him too fast for his heart to keep up with. I savored every beautiful second of his death before I heaved his body to the floor.

"Rot in the Pit, motherfucker." I cleaned my knife—Lyrae's knife—off on the king's finely embroidered waistcoat before handing the blade back to Lyrae. When she reached for it, I yanked it out of her reach.

"Try not to stick this in my back, will you?"

"Oh, I'll try, but I can't make any promises."

We were all on our feet and out of those fucking shackles, and the throne room was half empty except for a few dazed, frozen courtiers in front splashed with the king's blood. I crunched across a floor of broken glass toward Anaria. My thundering heart didn't quiet until I'd buried my face in her hair and inhaled a deep breath.

"Are you okay?" I murmured, running my hands over her before pulling back to inspect the bruise beneath her eye, a blaze of fury heating my blood.

Then I knelt before her and lifted the hem of her gown, fear turning to icy fury when I saw her ruined knees, split and bruised. One gentle wave of magic had the wounds mending, the dark bruises fading.

"I'm okay. I didn't think Tristan was going to set off that explosion in time." She blew out a shaky breath, her fingers stroking through my hair. I wondered what we must look like to the onlookers, a queen and her most loyal knight.

"But we're all alive. The plan worked." She spoke like she was trying to convince herself, her gaze sliding to where Lyrae was crouched, staring at Crux with loathing written all over her face. I half expected her to stab him again, to make sure he was dead.

"I can't believe our plan worked, Raz."

"All because of you." I watched her scrub her pale face with her hands, watched the fear turn to courage as she remade herself into the queen these vultures expected to see. "Now let's finish this. How soon before Torin arrives?"

"An hour, give or take. They should make quite the entrance." I smiled despite myself. "Give these people something to talk about, besides…well, what just happened."

We both stared at the blood and bodies a shade too long.

Anaria cleared her throat. "We're giving them hope, Raz. Hope for the future. Don't forget that." She nodded to a stone-faced Zorander, then we all turned to face what remained of the Shadow King's decimated court, his throne room lying in ruins.

"The king is dead." Zorander raised his fist above his head and faced the court. "His daughter Anaria Centaria is now queen, through blood and name. I will command the army, and Tavion Montgomery will liaise between the queen and her royal court."

Tavion's lips peeled back to reveal his fangs, a low, feral growl emerging that no one would mistake as friendly. "And by liaise he means if you fucking cross me, I will gut you faster than you can say I hate rich aristocrats."

"Tavion," Anaria scolded beneath her breath. "We talked about this."

"They are a bunch of soulless monsters," Tavion growled back, and I tended to agree with him.

"Zor and I will take control of the guards, then we'll tackle the army. We'll try to ensure the transfer of power is…peaceful." I locked eyes with Lyrae. "Care to tag along?"

"You do know the guards despise you. They think you are shite on their boots since you've had so many run-ins with them over the years." Her light blue eyes brightened. "Yes, I'm coming. I wouldn't miss this for the world."

"Then they're about to be sorely disappointed in their choices, aren't they? Either follow the orders of a slave and a traitor…or die." I grinned at Zor, suddenly feeling better about today. "Let's go stir up some shite."

"Stay with Tavion." I squeezed Anaria's arm in warning. "Tristan will be back soon, once he gets past the crowds. Torin and the others are on their way. A few more minutes and this bullshite will be over. We can get to the next part."

A few courtiers shouted insults, Tavion snarling the same right back at them, and I almost felt sorry for the poor fuckers. They had no idea what they were in for.

"Bullshite, indeed." Anaria threaded her fingers through mine and gazed at Tavion and Zor with a soft smile. "I'm not sure we'll have a royal court after today if Tavion has anything to say about it."

I smiled back, but my chest was locked in an unforgiving vise.

We'd nearly died for real today, and I was going to kick Tristan's arse when he did turn up.

One more second…

If Anaria hadn't come up with about a hundred ways to delay the proceedings, if Zor hadn't started that fight with Crux, those would be our corpses lying on the dais, not Crux's and the king's. Lyrae wouldn't have risked her life to save us, that I knew for sure.

And we still weren't finished.

Once Cosimo figured out how to remove the iron from the soil and the magic was reborn, we were going after the Oracle and Corvus. The vise around my heart squeezed tighter.

I could protect Anaria from a lot of things, but I couldn't protect her from what was coming and fate had a way of fucking us over.

A young girl emerged from the back then crept through the crowd, eyes dancing over the disbursing royals, the wrecked throne room, and finally, the two bodies sprawled behind us. A savage, wild smile split her face.

Then she caught sight of Anaria. And burst into a run.

I stepped forward to block her, but Anaria gripped my arm. "No, it's okay. I know her."

The girl slid to a stop and cocked her head. She was in a servant's uniform, her hair pulled back in a severe bun. "My lady?"

Anaria absolutely beamed, then the two of them were hugging then laughing before they pulled apart. "Look at you." Anaria's smile was brilliant. "It is good to see you, Sophie. I told you I'd be back."

Sophie's eyes were big as saucers when they fell on the king. "I have to admit, I didn't think your return would be such an…event."

"You know me, I'm big on grand entrances."

"Will you be wanting your old room back?" Sophie pursed her lips at the destroyed throne room. "We might need some time to clean things up, given today's…" She tried to stop her grin. "Festivities."

"Why, Sophie, you're quickly reminding me why you were my favorite person in Blackcastle."

I cleared my throat and Anaria rolled her eyes. "Okay, fine. My second favorite."

That's when the shout went up outside.

"Oh gods, what now? Are we under attack?' Sophie asked quickly.

"No." Anaria and I traded a look. "That's the rest of our court making their grand entrance." We linked arms, then Anaria held out her hand. "Let's go outside and welcome them to Blackcastle. Come with us, Sophie. I have a feeling you'll really appreciate what comes next."