Page 230 of The Dawn of the Cursed Queen

“No.”

Kaden nodded. “I have never stopped loving you, Dianna. I just need to get rid of all that anger. You will be mine again, and this time for eternity.”

Terror gripped me at what they planned to do.

“No. I’d rather die than have you ever touch me again.”

“I’d never let you die, Dianna, and I promise to keep you safe.”

The muscles in my arms, my legs, and my whole body ached as I tried to regain control. Sweat broke out on my brow. I wouldn’t let him take me.

Kaden raised his hand, the blade carving a path to my heart, threatening to rip out the love I harbored there. He was threatening to take from me the one person who defied nature itself to help me, love me, protect me. Something snapped in me. Fire raged in my blood, and for a moment, I felt it in my eyes. A scalding hot fire flowed from my heart and, with each beat, reached more of my body. A flicker of bright orange flame danced across my hands, and the man from my dreams, the one who sat atop his throne made of bone, stood. His orange eyes glowed brighter, and a wide smile revealed his sharp white teeth.

“Finally.” His voice scraped over my brain like molten steel.

My arms jolted forward, my hands clasping Kaden’s wrist. Isaiah reeled back a step, his mouth dropping open as I broke his hold on me. The whites of Kaden’s eyes shone as I easily held the blade inches from me. A trail of flame flared along my fingers, and Kaden hissed as if it even burned him.

“Never.” It was my voice, but deeper, raw, and pissed.

Isaiah covered Kaden’s hands. I tried to stand, but only my upper body seemed to be free. It would be enough. They grunted, pushing to drive the dagger into me.

I held on, using everything I had left. The flames on my hands rose and then sputtered. I gritted my teeth, sweat running down my face, stinging the myriad of cuts. The fire flared, hot and intense, but then fell, smoke curling around my knuckles. A wave of nausea slid over me so quickly that I almost doubled over.

The blade moved an inch closer.

NINETY-SIX

SAMKIEL

I strode toward Ennas, slinging blood from my sword before calling it back. I grabbed him by the front of his now tarnished armor and lifted him off the blood-soaked ground, his torn wing hanging limp and useless.

“Where is she?” I snapped.

“Rot in Iassulyn,” he hissed.

My eyes burned silver, the light surging forward so hot and intense it cut through his arm and severed it just below the shoulder. He screamed, spit forming on his lips at the pain.

“Where. Is. She.”

He swallowed, the pulse in the column of his neck beating visibly. “Someone intercepted her arrival. Change of plans, you know the drill.”

“Changed to where?” Ennas shook his head, staring at me defiantly even through the pain. His scream ripped through the air as I burned his other arm off. “Tell me!”

His mouth twitched as if he wished to laugh. “It is so humorous to see you concerned with another. She will know it now. All will. The great World Ender has a weakness.”

I dropped him to the ground and placed my foot on his chest, looking at the destruction surrounding us. His fleet was destroyed, the battlefield littered with the dead and dying. “There will be no one alive to tell the tale, I’m afraid. Even you.”

“My sister will look for me. I am already late checking in. She’s probably on her way now. You remember her, don’t you?” His smile was bloody and just as nasty as mine.

My shoulders lifted in a shrug. “I’ve fucked a lot of sisters. Can’t say she was anything special.”

Ennas jerked beneath my armored boot. “You will die for that.”

“And you’ll die if you don’t tell me where she is.” I leaned down and gripped his injured wing, grinding the broken bones together. He screamed, all the color draining from his face. “Tell me where she is. Where is the new location?”

He gritted his teeth with a cold, bitter smile. “I hope they rip her to pieces and send the parts back to you.”

“They?” My boot dug into his chest a fraction harder, and I crushed the bones between my fingers.

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