Page 232 of The Dawn of the Cursed Queen

They were going to win.

I was going to be taken and never see Samkiel again.

“You give me the best memories.”

I had said it that night, and he had. Under stars, on a lake at night with sparklers and moonkrest who were rare and eternal. And now I wouldn’t remember that or the first time he made me laugh. I wouldn’t remember the festival and the face he made the first time he tried cotton candy, my heart fluttering as I laughed—really laughed—for the first time in ages. I wouldn’t remember the photo booth he could barely fit in, that stupid garden at Drake’s, or that damned flower I’d tossed away the first time we fought. That was when I thought he despised me, but I’d stared at it for days as it wilted. I wouldn’t remember the castle he made me when I wanted nothing but to be left alone. I wouldn’t remember the ocean and how I dipped my toes in the edge as he watched, waiting and making sure I did not break. I wouldn’t remember how he healed me or our ice skating and laughing. I wouldn’t remember our small but perfect wedding. I wouldn’t remember what we had, the fights, the laughs, the playfulness. None of it. All of it would be gone and tainted by Kaden. I failed Samkiel like I failed Gabby. I should have told her I loved her more. I should have told him more. Now, I’d never get the chance.

A cry left my lips, a wordless plea playing over in my mind. The blade slipped closer. Even with all my strength, my body was giving out. Blood ran down the blade from my leaking fingertips as I tried to grip it tighter, but Isaiah was causing every blood cell in my body to seize. He pushed even harder, and I couldn’t tell if I was crying or if it was blood flowing from my eyes. A hollow, aching sob tore from my throat.

No. I couldn’t forget. I wouldn’t.

Even as my hands slipped on the hilt, I promised to claw, rip, and tear my way back to Samkiel. I swore it.

My muscles finally seized. A battle lost. My arms dropped. My eyes closed.

“I’ll remember that I love you.” I knew he couldn’t hear me, but I made the vow just in case.

Silence fell, and the world paused. Everything stopped, and I fought to find a way to lock a part of him away in my mind, to choose just one memory for safekeeping. I could save him, revisit it. It was a lifeline for me to hold on to until I made it back to him, because I would make it back to him.

My world. My heart. My lost soul.

A sonic boom broke the silence, so loud and violent that I wondered if the sky was still intact. My eyes snapped open on a gasp. I fell forward and felt control of my body return to me. I tossed my hair out of my face, rubbing my eyes to clear them of the blood and tears so I could see. My mouth dropped open as I sat up, looking around in awe.

It was as if I had been transported to another world. The building I’d been in was gone. Every building had been reduced to ash, a world littered with gray snow. There were no trees, mountains, or living beings. Everything around me was suddenly gone. A residual vivid silver light skittered across the sky where a hole had been punched open. A portal. I took a shaky breath when I noticed that Isaiah and Kaden were gone, nothing left of them but ashes floating on the wind.

And I knew.

“Samkiel.” My voice emerged as a whisper. I knew what this meant. Everyone would know he was alive. She would know he was alive.

I wrapped my arms around myself because I finally understood the stories and the legends. Samkiel never needed the Oblivion blade to be feared. It was clear now why so many bowed, why they chanted, why they followed. Looking around the desolate wasteland that he had created, I finally understood the true nature of his destructive power and why they called him World Ender.

NINETY-EIGHT

SAMKIEL

The air above the Isle of Detremn tore, shuddering beneath the weight of the portal. The entire planet was wrapped in plant life but otherwise deserted. It didn’t even have any animals, but more importantly, it was several realms away from Dianna.

Trees broke and fell, the ground bunching beneath Kaden and Isaiah as I threw them to it. Power I had not used since my father’s reign wafted from my skin in silver tendrils, reaching and stretching, eager to defend and avenge her. It disrupted the atmosphere, clouds curling and darkening before rain poured. Lightning struck all around them, the wind holding them in place. My feet hit the ground, sending a shudder through the planet.

Kaden and Isaiah struggled to their feet, their faces masks of pure shock and hate. One by one, their Dragonbane helmets slid over their heads in an effort to protect them, but it was too late.

“You are supposed to be dead,” Kaden snarled from behind his horned helmet.

I flexed my wrist, the power flickering over my skin to coalesce in my hand. The shadow of a blade formed in my palm as dark and hateful as they’d made me. The sword solidified, purple and black tendrils of magic reaching, searching for their next victim. I pointed it at Kaden. “I am not, but you soon will be.”

“Oblivion,” Isaiah whispered. “How did you get that from Mera?”

My lips curled in disgust. “I did not get it. I am it. Oblivion is not something anyone can take from me.”

He took an involuntary step back, but his fear and good sense were short-lived. The serrated blades protruding from the armor above their wrists were as sharp and twisted as the two of them. Isaiah’s eye twitched before he looked at Kaden. I knew how powerful they were. Separate, they were deadly, but together, they could tear the world to ribbons with only claws and teeth. I had to be smarter. My father had preached intelligence during a fight.

“Even the strongest of your enemies has a weakness. We may be fierce warriors, but we are flesh and blood. Above all, we are emotional beings, no matter how hard or tough we think we are. Emotions, my son, run faster through the system than blood.”

He spun his spear above his head as we sparred, the tip coming to rest against my heart.

“Find a weakness, and use it if you must. No fight is fair, not even between gods.”

“I understand your obsession with her, brother,” I spat the last word as if it was poison. Even if I denied it, his obsession and love for Dianna were as strong and potent as mine. “After having her, I understand why you can’t leave her alone.”

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