Page 43 of The Dawn of the Cursed Queen

When I asked the question, the queen laughed before coughing. She tried to sit up further and winced.

Dianna waited for me to tell her, my lip curling when I looked at her. “It was vulgar, but in short terms, she won’t tell you. She hopes you die with him.”

Dianna shook her head and chuckled as she smiled at the queen. “You know, you don’t even know who he is.” She bit at her bottom lip. “Samkiel would have helped you, saved you and your people. He would have bent over backward to offer you peace. Unlike the old gods, he is kind and caring.” Her eyes darkened to a brutal crimson as she raised her hand. “Everything I am not.”

Flames roared from Dianna’s palm, and I yelped. The queen had no time to scream before she was engulfed. She burned until nothing but a smear of darkened ash remained where she’d sat. Dianna called the flames back to her, and I wiped my brow, the heat making me sweat.

“Now.” She turned to me so quickly that I jumped. “We need to go get a fate I left on another planet.”

She grabbed my sleeve and dragged me with her, the world shaking and rumbling. The stone beneath our feet cracked with a bellowing rumble, compromising the city’s stability.

“Wait, you said a god? And fate?” My mind reeled.

“Yes.” She kept pulling me along with her. “His name is Samkiel, and the fate’s name is Reggie. We need to go get him before he throws a fit.”

I stopped in my tracks as she turned to look at me. “The Samkiel?” I gulped. “The World Ender?”

A smile, short and brief, curved her lips before sadness crept in. It was as if even the mention of him brought her joy. “Yes, the one and only. Now we have to go save him.”

“But . . . but he died. They said . . . but his light is in the sky . . .” My heart thudded. “How is he alive?”

She started forward again, and I followed. I studied her back as we passed the open door and turned toward the massive hole in the wall. From the size of it, this was where she’d entered when she first arrived.

“How do you feel about flying?” she asked, ignoring my question.

We stood at the opening, clouds rushing past us. My stomach dropped as we stood at the terrifying precipice. I gripped the satchel tighter, my eyes widening as I realized what she meant. “I’ve never flown anywhere before.”

She shrugged. “Well, there’s a first time for everything.”

Dark, thick smoke encircled her, and her form grew massive. I jumped back, my gasp dying as scale armor covered her body. Massive wings tore through the walls and ceiling as she spread them. I had a second to decide what I wanted, and the answer came easier than I expected. I would finally leave this crumbling place behind. The darkness offered me a new life, a new choice, and I took it. I shifted the satchel and started to climb, using her scales to pull myself atop her back. I had barely settled before she leaped out of the building, destroying the entire wall as she went.

The wind tore the scream from my lips, and I gripped the spikes along her neck so tight my hands ached. Her wings beat soundlessly, propelling us through the sky as we shot up. The floating Jade City, along with every bad memory it held, was in pieces and on fire as it fell.

SIXTEEN

CAMILLA

Nismera sat at the head of a massive, carved stone table. I watched in awe from the shadows as living lightning danced beneath its surface. It whipped and coiled toward her and back, a physical manifestation of her power. I had heard stories of her, the other witches whispering her name in fear. Sweat rolled down my back at the thought of her catching me, but I needed answers. I’d felt a shift when we’d arrived here, and that harrowing feeling had done nothing but grow. Something old, powerful, and angry was stirring, and I couldn’t place a finger on it. A deep sigh parted her lips as she placed her hand on her brow and shook her head. Temper flared, and even the holographic image of a soldier in thick armor shuffled on his feet.

“The legion sent to retrieve her has failed, my liege.”

I watched her clench her jaw so tightly a vein pulsed on her forehead. A memory of the World Ender flashed through my mind. How similar yet so vastly unalike they were.

“How many casualties?” she snarled, her voice guttural.

The soldier paused. “All of them, my liege. There was nothing but ashes and scorched ground left.” A commotion behind the soldier had him looking behind him before refocusing on Nismera. “And Commander Fig’s eye was . . . detached, my king.”

Nismera covered her mouth with her hands and turned toward Vincent. A feeling I couldn’t quite name hit my gut as he placed a hand of comfort on her shoulder. Her loyal general in that damned dragonbane armor. So many spikes and rigid lines, just like him and his damned soul.

He had been by her side from the moment we’d arrived in this realm. If he wasn’t escorting me to and from my workstation, he was with her. He was more than her general, and it turned my stomach sick. I still hated how he was practically my damn shadow, and I was even more pissed that our rooms were practically conjoined, with only the hall separating us.

“But before the legion perished, they did collect her companion. He is being shipped to the prison.”

That got her attention.

“Companion?” Vincent asked, one perfectly sculpted brow raised.

“The fate,” Nismera corrected. “I did not kill him. He is the one helping her now. It has to be him.”

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