Page 128 of An Empress of Air & Chaos

The Dark King. The only king Emara knew of was the King of the underworld. The King of the Fae would have nothing to do with this. The dark one was the only creature who could tie this madness together.

Emara’s blood boiled and bubbled under her skin. “Tell me, Taymir, does your king know that you struck me and then tried to rape me? Is that his idea of protection?”

“He did what?” Torin stepped in front of Emara, fully blocking her behind his monstrous physique. “She’s going nowhere with you. You are going to have to kill me first.”

“Ahh, the infamous Blacksteel Brothers.” Taymir’s eyes glistened. “Are you really going to let one girl’s life come before that of hundreds?” His lip curled up at the side as he gestured to the crowd.

An unsettling wave swarmed around the room. Muffles from the crowd let Emara know that everyone was asking themselves the same thing.

“This is not just about one girl’s life,” Torin said. “Maybe the question is why do you want one girl over hundreds? That tells me you believe she is valuable. Why would I hand her over to you?” Torin’s hand twitched on his knife.

“That’s enough,” Viktir Blacksteel’s voice boomed from the back of the ballroom as he walked forward. His face set into a hard stare. “Stand down, boys.”

Torin let another growl rip from his throat, but he didn’t move from his stance in front of Emara, nor did he take his eyes from Taymir’s face. He was ready to annihilate Taymir Solden from this world. And Emara had the feeling that she could give him one small signal and he would do it.

“I know who you are working for.” The Commander stalked towards Taymir. “And if I am right, I have something that could prove to be more valuable than you can imagine. Gideon?” The Commander held out his hand. “The stone”

“What stone?” Emara caught his stare as she studied his face.

“I’m so sorry, Emara,” was all he whispered.

“What stone, Gideon?”

“Your stone,” he confirmed slowly. Something in his voice broke as he lowered his head. “Your stone,” he repeated.

Emara stilled as Gideon pulled out a white cloth from a hidden pocket in his jacket and gave it to his father. Viktir walked up to the front of the ballroom deliberately slowly as he unravelled the material that revealed a small stone.

It was her grandmother’s stone.

The resurrection stone.

“Forgive me,” Gideon uttered.

“You took my grandmother’s stone?” Emara spoke quietly as the betrayal sunk into her heart. “Why would you do that?”

Gideon did not lift his head to look at her. “I had to. I was…”

Why would he steal from her? How did he know about it?

“It was your mission.” Emara pulled her lips over her teeth, gathering herself. “You were instructed to?” She looked at him. “Am I right?” Betrayal smacked into her heart harder than a punch. She felt it break as soon as she spoke, “How could you take that from me?”

A thousand thoughts swirled in Emara’s head. He was his father’s thief, she realised. His mission must have been to get close to her, in order to see if he could find something of importance. She knew Viktir had been suspicious in the library, but he had never confirmed if he had connected the dots.

Not until now.

Emara flicked her gaze to Torin, but he appeared to be as rigid as her. He didn’t know about what Gideon had done.

“I am glad you finally completed your mission.” She sneered at Gideon. “When did you take it?”

“That does not matter.”

“When did you steal it from me, Gideon?”

He flinched. “When you were asleep in my infirmary bed,” he confirmed.

Gideon had clothes brought up from your room, so you didn’t have to go down there.

Rhea’s words slammed into her mind. He must have taken it, then. Every cuddle, every kiss, every moment shared between them, was to lead him to the stone. His mission. One singular tear rolled down her cheek and she tore her eyes from him.

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