Page 68 of Queen of Wrath

My blood ran ice cold.

I froze in place as if that could halt time itself.

That voice… It can’t be.

I tried to swallow, but my throat tightened and filled with sand as I turned slowly.

The moment our eyes met, the little remaining color drained from his face entirely.

Wide-eyed and slack-jawed, he simply stared at me, seeming unable to come to terms with what was right in front of him.

He was standing close enough to me that I couldn’t make any attempt at escape, he’d catch me before I could even get past him.

“How…are you here?”

Damn, there’s no going back now.

I stood slowly, trying to keep calm, even if I was screaming in frustration inside my head.

What do I do? How can I even begin to explain?

Nothing useful came to mind. There was only one thing I could do, but I was sure it would make the situation worse.

Oh, well. What do I have to lose?

I discreetly reached my hand into the pouch strapped to my side, keeping eye contact with him in hopes of distracting him enough so he didn’t notice my movement.

My fingers felt around the different shapes of the glass bottles until I found one shaped like a trapezoid.

My thumb carefully popped the top off.

“I know what this looks like, but let me explain.” I held out one hand to keep him back, but he was already charging at me with his arms open wide.

The expression on his face was one of elation, but I was already in defense mode.

I pulled the potion from my pouch, and threw the liquid right into Zane's face.

He stumbled back, wiping at his eyes, and hissed, “Lea, why?”

He called me Lea…

The way he’d said it, it was almost as if he was trying to breathe life back into her.

His hands then dropped to his sides, his eyes lingering on me as he fell to his knees. “What did you do to me?”

That was the last thing he uttered before he fell face-first into the soft grass and marshy earth.

I turned away, my eyes welling up with large tears. I tried to blink them back, but they dripped out and off the ends of my lashes.

I hate it. He thinks he can just utter her name and bring her back?

No, that won’t happen.

I wiped my eyes dry, wondering what I should do. I could contact Rowan, but she would kill me for even coming here, especially without telling her about it first.

I threw my head back and rebuked up at the sky, “How about giving me a break for once, huh?”

I don’t have a choice. It puts the mission in danger by not telling her.

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