14. Vale

Chapter 14

Vale

B roken table shards littered the floor at our feet as golden magic poured from Idris, wrapping around Selene with a blazing heat that reached my skin from across the room.

The scent of cooking meat hit my nose, turning my stomach as the reality of the situation struck me. She’d betrayed her kingdom—her King. She’d spun this scheme, and for what? Power? Why was it always power with these people? Given the illusions she’d just shattered, she already had plenty of it. Why did she need more?

But as Idris’ magic sizzled against her skin, the walls of the room slipped and slid, the images on the murals churning into something else. Something sinister.

Rune’s presence filled my mind, stronger than it had ever been before. He sensed what we all did—danger was coming for all of us. “You need to get out of that room, my Queen.”

I would have loved to listen to him, but it was already too late.

The silhouette of a man coalesced in the darkest shadows of the farthest painting, his hooded form solidifying as he breached the wall, pulling himself from the mural and into the room itself. Kian yanked me behind him as Xavier stepped between Idris’ exposed back and the tall man, his slender figure belying the power that radiated off of him.

Fenwick had been powerful, but this man was something else altogether.

Xavier’s blue flames coated the floor as Kian reached for the sword at his hip. My magic lurched to my fingertips, the blinding glow pouring from me as a bolt of light formed in my palm.

His hands were raised in surrender, but I didn’t believe that for a second. Eerie violet irises glowed from beneath his cloak, and instantly I knew what that meant. I’d seen those purple eyes before when a group of Girovian mages had tried to murder me where I stood, simply for wearing a Festian emblem.

Boiling-hot rage bubbled in my chest as I remembered the arrows in Xavier’s back, his blood on my hands, his agony protecting me from their death blows. Xavier seemed to remember it, too. The growl that erupted from his throat was punctuated by iridescent white scales rippling up his arms as he tried not to shift.

His mind buzzed with his betrayal, but I knew better. I’d known it the second she’d dropped her magical facade. Selene was the puppet, and we were about to meet the puppet master.

“I mean you no harm, dragon,” the silky voice murmured. “I simply would like a word with your King.”

A word with our King?

“Over my dead body,” I barked, moving from behind Kian as the bolt of my magic lengthened into a sword.

“What are you doing?” Kian snarled, hooking his arm around my middle.

“Stop,” I growled into his mind as I watched the dark swirls of death surround the mage’s head and shoulders.

He didn't have the same magic as the other mages who’d tried to murder us. No, this one was close, personal friends with an evil dictator. Just like Fenwick, this mage was using death magic. Unlike Fenwick, he was a fuck of a lot more powerful.

With his hand still wrapped around Selene's throat, Idris turned to regard the mage in our midst. “I'd known Selene was a traitor, I had no idea just how far she'd fallen. What did you promise her in exchange for killing my bride, mage? Money? Power? Prestige?”

“None of the above,” I said, not taking my eyes off the cloaked figure. “Selene is just another one of Arden’s puppets, isn't she?”

My gaze flicked to Selene, her claws ripping into Idris’ hand as he held her off the ground by her throat. Just like the assassins sent to murder me in my sleep, she had dark magic coursing under her skin, churning around her head, clouding her mind. If I didn’t hate her so much, I sure as hell would pity her.

Then again, I understood all the truths Kian and Xavier refused to say. Selene was just as much a predator as the mage, only he’d gotten the upper hand on her.

Slowly, the mage pulled the hood from his bald head, his sallow skin doing nothing to hide the swirling black magic as his cold gaze slid over Selene’s squirming body. The tips of his ears came to sharp points, the tops decorated with small golden rings. His nose was sharp, pointing to a thin-lipped blackened maw of a mouth that stank of rot.

Shrugging the cape from his shoulders, he revealed his blackened fingers, the dark magic interrupted only by golden rings, and intricate cuffs on his forearms. He resembled a younger Fenwick, only less the beard, and unable to hide the grave magic swirling under his skin.

“She is not a puppet. She is a tool, a weapon—or at least she used to be. Now she’s nothing more to me than expendable. Kill her if you must, she has outlived her usefulness. She can't even manage to kill a weak little Luxa like this one.”

He jerked his chin in my direction before that cold gaze landed on me. Tilting his head to the side, he studied me for a moment before his attention slid back to Idris. He seemed to think that I wasn't a threat. That I hadn't taken the lives of mages just like him.

And I'd do it again.

“I-I did everything you asked, Malvor,” Selene croaked, the tips of her toes scrabbling for purchase on the debris-littered floor. “I got them here. I spelled her. Let my people go.”

Malvor narrowed his glowing purple eyes, his disappointment clear. “You were supposed to kill her. She’s still breathing. You didn’t fulfill your end of the bargain.”

“But why? Why work with Arden? Why kill innocent people? Why kill me?” This was the first one of Arden’s allies that had even been marginally rational—that wasn’t warped by a spell or half out of his mind. If he knew something, I wanted to know it, too.

He raised his eyebrow, astounded that I’d be the one giving him lip. “It's nothing personal. I'm sure you're a fine enough woman. It's just… business .”

I tried to step forward, but Kian yanked me back. “Business? My life is business to you? The kingdom—all of magic—is fucking business?”

His blackened smile chilled me to the bone. “That it is. The curse can’t be broken—not for any reason. Again, it’s nothing personal.”

“Rune?”

A dark chuckle filled my thoughts. “Already on my way. Keep him busy.”

“You’d rather lose magic forever than break a curse? I’d love to know why,” I said, trying to step forward only to get hauled back once more. “If you really plan on killing me, I won’t back down without a fight. You could save yourself a lot of trouble if you help me understand. Why can’t we break the curse?”

“What are you doing?” Xavier growled, his thoughts nearly splitting my skull as his rage burned through my body.

I fought off the urge to roll my eyes. “Stalling so Rune can have a snack. Now are you going to back me up or what?”

The mage seemed to be fighting a smile, his patronizing expression making me grind my teeth as I attempted my first stall tactic. “It’s not that complicated. You tell me why and maybe I won’t help him. It’s not like he likes me, anyway. The only reason Selene is on his shit list is because she fucked with one of his toys.”

That was a bold-faced lie, but the mage didn’t need to know that.

His smile turned into a full-on grin. “Is this the part where you try to get me to divulge my evil plan, little Luxa? I’m afraid I’m not falling for your games. I know how much you care for him. It’s written all over your face. I think I’d rather just…”

I didn’t see him weaving the magic until it was almost too late.

Inky blackness flowed from his fingertips, knocking into Selene with a force powerful enough to rip her right out of Idris’ grip. She flew backward, slamming into the wall as her icy-blue eyes clouded over. Sea-green magic rose from her skin, swirling up her legs as her arms lifted. Guttural words slipped from her lips as her power churned through the room.

I scarcely had a chance to breathe before Kian shoved me out of the way. Putrid black magic streaked across the room, crashing into the wall right where I’d been standing. Idris yelled something unintelligible as he barreled toward Selene, but we had bigger problems.

Malvor lifted his hands as the foul magic slithered through his fingers, his purple eyes glowing brighter as shards of the table lifted in the air. I’d seen this song and dance before. On instinct, I threw my shield wide, barely covering my men before the mage launched debris straight at us.

Most of the wood burned up on contact, but one of those place setting knives made it through, embedding itself into my shoulder. I barely felt the pain as I ripped the damn thing out, launching it back at him with all the fury in my blood. The throw went low but still hit true, catching him in the thigh as I formed a bolt of light in my hand.

Kian ripped me off my feet, putting himself between me and Malvor as Xavier’s magic pinned the mage to the closest pillar. Those blue flames turned to knives, cutting into his flesh, tearing him to ribbons. Blackened blood flew to the stone floor, and all the while he laughed—the dark, haunting glee pouring out of him as Selene’s chants got louder.

It didn’t matter that she was going blow for blow against Idris or that the inky blackness was contorting her body. The battle was far from over.

The scent of the sea filled my nose as wind began to whip through the room. The ocean roiled in the distance, but it was the ear-splitting thunder erupting from the water that chilled me to the bone. True fear took root in my belly as the castle shook beneath my feet.

Blue flames danced in the air as a bellow of pure rage turned into a dragon’s roar.

The wall beside us crumbled inward. Stone crashed to the floor as the side of the castle seemed to dissolve. My stomach went into freefall as the ground beneath me fell away, my shield no match for whatever had collided with the building. A thick arm of a great beast reached for me, its flesh sizzling against my magic but it just kept coming.

Strong arms caught me before I hit the ground, snatching me away from the beast before I went flying again. A scream caught in my throat as I met Idris’ glowing gold gaze, before a white-scaled fist closed around my middle, ripping me away from him as the beast caught him instead.

“ No ,” I screeched, launching a bolt of my power at the thing holding him, but even as my aim hit true, the wound was small compared to the giant creature.

Xavier’s wings caught the limited air, pulling me away from the collapsed building and toward the sky as a flash of red streaked toward us.

“ Go back , ” I screamed into Xavier’s mind. “Go back for him.”

“I can't, my love. It's too dangerous. Idris can handle himself. I have to get you the fuck away from whatever Selene unleashed.”

“Is that a gods-be-damned kraken?” Kian croaked, his blackened scales streaking past us, heading straight for Idris. “Get her the fuck out of here before it figures out it grabbed the wrong person.”

Several arms breached the churning water, creating great waves that overtook the docks and pummeled the poor beach. And still, Selene never once broke her chant while the mage practically screamed in glee.

Rune hadn’t been exaggerating when he’d said there were things in the water that could gobble me up whole, but never once did I think they would be this big. Golden magic hammered the tentacles, but Idris was still stuck.

“Rune, please. Please save him,” I begged, hoping against hope that I wouldn’t lose him.

A week ago, I’d hated him.

A day ago, I’d despised Idris.

An hour ago, I’d fallen in love with him.

A minute ago, I’d known I’d do anything to keep him.

I couldn’t lose him now.

Rune veered to the right, growling as he went. “Stay alive, my Queen. That’s an order.”

Xavier’s course changed, pulling us away from the fight. “Don’t you dare. If I can’t fight that big beast, let me take on Selene.”

I hadn’t been able to pull Nyrah away from her beast, but I could damn well fight this one.

I wouldn’t lose Idris—I wouldn’t lose any of them.

Not ever.