Page 234 of The Dawn of the Cursed Queen

Her expression grew guarded as if she knew whatever she was about to say wouldn’t make me happy.

“I had a plan. A stupid plan.” She nodded and tapped her pocket. “I still have it.”

My thumb swiped across her cheek. “I couldn’t find you.”

She nodded, her body shuddering with pain. “I didn’t want you to show up. They would know you were alive. Nismera would know you were alive.”

Thunder cracked across the sky, the rain picking up speed. “I do not care about them or Nismera, only you. Never do that again.”

She smiled, the wound on her lower lip threatening to crack. “Pinkie promise.”

I made a noise low in my throat before placing both of my hands on either side of her head gently, letting my power flow into her. I smiled as she closed her eyes, relaxing into the warmth. She started to glow, and gods above, she was beautiful. The small cuts along her scalp knitted themselves back together, and her busted lip closed. I slid my thumb over its plump fullness, and she parted her lips, opening to me. I heard a few snaps as her bones popped back into place, and I fought the urge to kill Isaiah. Dianna sighed, and her hands wrapped around my wrists. She opened her eyes, and I slowly pulled my power back, easing out of her.

“I forgot how much that tingles,” she whispered, a pale line of red running down her face, the rain washing the fight off her bit by bit. I was relieved that her wounds were healed, but all the dried blood on her made me want to go back and kill him again.

“Feel better?”

She nodded and took a breath that wasn’t labored. “Are other worlds like this?”

“No.” I shook my head, casting a glance around the ruined and devastated planet. “Only this one. Only where you were.”

“Oh.” She sighed, pushing the hair that escaped her ponytail away from her face. “Also, I knew you could fly fast, but . . .”

I glanced up at where I had entered the atmosphere and shrugged. “Depends on the realm, technically. Some places are faster than others, gravity and all, or lack thereof.”

Her eyes dropped back to mine. “You destroyed a world for me?”

Dianna said it in utter disbelief. She did not fully understand the lengths I would go for her. Destroying a world was not even a fraction of it. She thought me a hero, but a hero would defy others for the greater good. She was mine, and for her, I’d do the unthinkable. My strong, fierce, beautiful girl who thought she could take the world on all by herself. Only she had me now, and gods above and below help anyone who thought they could hurt or take her from me.

My brows furrowed at her surprise. “I’d destroy several worlds if it meant keeping you safe. You have no idea the limits I’d go for you.”

“Shameless flirt.” She smiled through the rain, and it was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. I chuckled, but I did not deny her claim.

She nodded to Isaiah’s slumped form. “I’m assuming Kaden is dead?”

“Long overdue, but you assume correctly.”

Dianna sighed, closing her eyes in relief, and I wished I could have given it to her sooner. When she opened them again, she seemed lighter, as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

“And Isaiah? You’re going to interrogate?”

I nodded. “After we take care of you.”

“Such a gentleman.” A soft sigh left her lips, and she glanced down. She bent and picked up the dagger she must have dropped when she threw herself at me. The crystal blade shimmered, an aquamarine gem in the center. “We need to talk about this too, and trust me when I say you will not be happy.”

I lifted my hand, and a gently swirling vortex appeared beside us. The vast, gorgeous landscape below our castle appeared. The imposing mountains rose in the background, and I could just make out the towering walls of the outer bailey peeking through the trees.

Sweeping her off her feet, I picked Dianna up, supporting her back with one arm, the other looping behind her knees. She smiled up at me and rested her head against my chest as I kicked Isaiah’s body through the portal. “Trust me, I am already not happy.”

NINETY-NINE

CAMILLA

Thunder cracked and clashed above the palace, and I wondered how loud it must be to reach down here. I shivered on the floor, my cell dark and cold. I tucked my arms in close against my body, my wrists bandaged but still throbbing and burning. Water dripped from the ceiling as someone far off and down below hummed a tune. A door clanged, and three sets of armored boots grew closer.

They stopped outside my cell, and I rolled over, lifting to my knees while trying not to jar my arms. Vincent stood between two guards, towering over them in his half-cloak and lightweight armor.

“Nismera’s trained pet come to piss on me for amusement now?” I spat, and the guards shuffled, trying to hide their smiles. They loved seeing me powerless, it seemed.

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