Page 226 of The Dawn of the Cursed Queen

“We had something,” Kaden snapped. “You and I. No one is here but us now. You cannot deny it.”

“Deny it?” I scoffed. “You are the epitome of a walking contradiction. Of course you’d beg me to come back after I finally destroyed every ounce of feelings I ever had for you. We had something? Maybe eons ago. I tried. You pushed me away. Actually, you quite literally gave up on me.”

“I had to,” Kaden practically screamed at me. Isaiah watched him, his eyes blinking rapidly at Kaden’s confession. “You know everything now. The whole truth. Why I acted the way I did, why I had to . . .”

“Say it!” I snapped. “Tell me why you had to kill her, rip her from me, or how about you explain why it was okay for you to use her to make me obey you. Huh? Say that part.”

Kaden’s jaw worked, but he didn’t explode in anger like I expected. “I can erase it. The pain you felt, the pain you have. We can go back to how it was before everything.”

“You mean when you forgot every birthday I ever had? Or when you couldn’t even remember what food I absolutely hate? What about my favorite color, huh? The places I love to visit? My most precious memories. What makes me laugh, Kaden? What makes me smile? What makes me cry? You don’t know because you weren’t there. You never were. There is no us. No happy moments or love, because I was nothing more than your puppet. A weapon you pointed and used. There was nothing. There is nothing. You. Are. Nothing. To. Me.”

The room shifted, and so did my form, my hands dropping to my sides. I was tired of this game, tired of him. By the old gods and new, I was no longer the scared girl who held back but a queen born of darkness, flame, and anger.

“And now I am going to rip you both to pieces for what you’ve done, and when you wake up on the other side, hopefully writhing in agony, you’ll finally understand that I have not an ounce of love for you.”

A ghost of a smile twisted Kaden’s lips. “No matter. You will be mine. I taught you how to fight to survive. You are not trained in war.”

“You did.” I nodded, bracing my feet. “But I’ve learned a lot since I left you.” I hoped my eyes burned with as much hate as I felt. “Only one of us is leaving this place. And it will be me.”

“You always were a dreamer.” Kaden tossed the blade before placing it back in its sheath.

I knew Kaden sensed what I was about to do and saw him look at Isaiah. I grinned and tossed a ball of flame at him. He dodged, stepping to the side, and the next one sailed for Isaiah. He ducked, and the wall behind him exploded.

Claws slid from my fingers, and I roared a challenge as my beast surged to the surface. Kaden and Isaiah changed between one breath and the next. The building erupted as we took to the skies, all teeth and wings and unbridled hatred. The sky was lit with flames and ash, the ground trembling beneath the weight of our fury.

NINETY-FOUR

SAMKIEL

It’s fine. Everything is fine. I repeated the words to myself, running my fingers over the thick band of my ring. Perhaps it was the loss of her soul that had spurred this overprotectiveness. Or perhaps I had always been this way with her. I hated being apart from her for any length of time. Something terrible always seemed to happen. I sighed and gripped my ring, closing my eyes as I ran my thumb and forefinger over it. It had been longer than five minutes since I reached out this time. I just needed to hear her voice across my mind, and then I’d be fine . . . at least for another five minutes.

I pulled on our connection but was stopped by a thick wall. My eyes snapped open, my blood running cold. There was nothing there. No spark or tingle across my subconscious. No warmth. She’d taken her ring off. My heart pounded, terror gripping me. I knew there was only one reason she would do so. It meant she was in danger, and she thought she was keeping me safe.

Damn stubborn woman.

“Roccurem!” I bellowed, and he immediately formed in the room. I was already on my feet and pulling on my coat.

“Yes, my—”

His words died on shattered glass and broken wood. The windows erupted into the room, and we both looked down as the small devices came to rest on the floor. They beeped once before exploding into a cloud of piercing white noise and deep gray smoke.

MY EARS RANG AS I SAT UP, MY CHEST HEAVING. I COUGHED, TRYING to clear my lungs, and rubbed my eyes. My vision cleared, and the world came rushing back. Sound returned as my ears healed, and the first thing I heard clearly were the screams. I pushed a large wooden support beam off me and started shifting the stone, trying to dig myself out.

“Secure the fate,” I heard someone say. “She needs it whole.”

I stilled and lifted my head. The fate? They were here for Roccurem.

Smoke filled the room in a thick haze, but I could make out the shine of gold and black armor. Nismera’s soldiers. Fuck. They had found us, which meant this was all a setup. I pushed from the rubble and lunged to my feet, several of those golden helmets turning toward me. One soldier held chains that shimmered with silver power. They were wrapping them so tightly around Roccurem that I was glad the fate didn’t need to breathe to live.

“Who—”

I kicked him across the room, watching as he hit the wall and lay still. My back erupted in pain, and I hissed before spinning. The soldier held his sword to his side, already preparing for another attack. I darted forward, and we met in the middle. He raised the blade, and I grabbed his wrist, twisting until I felt his bones snap. His sword fell, and I snatched it out of the air before it could hit the ground. His eyes dilated a fraction as he witnessed my speed. One swipe, and I sliced his head clean off.

The air moved behind me, and I shifted my weight to kick out, catching the charging soldier in the stomach. His body slammed against the wall, and I chucked the sword at him so hard it pierced his chest plate. The force of the blade held him impaled against the wall.

I squinted. It was still too hazy to see clearly, and from the sounds Roccurem was making, those chains were also designed to hurt him. Fuck. Footsteps echoed, and I dropped to the floor as two soldiers swung their blades toward my head. Summoning an ablaze dagger, I swept my leg out in a low kick, taking both men to the ground and stabbing them through the neck.

Roccurem was coughing and moaning when I reached him, his skin fluttering as his form begged to be released from the shell he wore. I hauled him over my shoulder and ran out the door without bothering to look back. He coughed as I jumped the stairs, landing in a crouch.

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