Page 87 of Fate of Draga

Kaita looked to Nash.

Color had finally returned to his face and those aapoak eyes sparked with the force of his fury. He strode forward and she fell into step beside him.

“And so the lions take the final kill,” the king muttered. “Fitting I suppose. Excellent play, your majesty.” He bowed his head to Adelina.

“Together,” Nash gritted out.

She nodded and placed her hand over his and they swung hard and fast.

The king’s head splattered to the floor and then rolled until it stopped at Adelina’s feet.

Everyone stared at the dead king, and then the dead all around them.

But they didn’t have time to bask.

“Varan, call theJasmine. We leave immediately for the border.” Adelina stepped over the king’s head and strode out of the throne room without once looking back.

Kaita didn’t dare breathe a sigh of relief. Not when there were two males on the edge of exploding.

“You were late,” she said, deactivating the bracelet with a flick of her wrist.

“You got captured,” Nash retorted, but that rage eased enough he looked at who remained. “You heard the queen,” he snapped. “Get your asses moving.”

It took Varan a long moment before he followed.

Chapter Twenty

Battle for Khara

VERI

The battle was worse than she’d imagined it would be. Veri had never really experienced anything quite like it. The fight in Draga had been bad, but this…

This was so much worse.

She couldn’t tell if they were winning or not. All she could do was keep fighting – keep pushing forward as they fought side by side with the rebel Neprijat.

Asher had taken over the small army they had brought with Sozav. Right as they’d started to move for Khara. Adelina had asked William to lead the Draga Royal Army. Ajax and Vasara helped him alongside Sirus and the other lords and ladies.

So many warships.

Enemies fell from the sky – broken parts raining doom on the planets below. Reports from the warriors on the ground gave a muddied picture. Her hands started to ache from gripping the steering on her fighter so tightly.

Veri just kept firing at the Neprijat – keeping a wary eye out for their allies in the same ships but with red and gold splashed across their bows.

She would never lie to Adelina. There had been a few mistakes and some of the Neprijat rebels had been taken down by friendly fire, but chaos reigned. Keeping everything straight with the chatter on the fleet-cast and the ships flying in every direction was not easy.

The Draga warships were nearly too far and she would have to turn back around soon. Otherwise the cover fire would be out of range and she’d be a sitting duck.

Veri was tired and hungry and her tongue felt thick from thirst. All she needed was a quick break, but there didn’t seem to be an end to this battle. Every time she thought they’d cleared a good section of space, more Neprijat appeared out of nowhere to fight back.

The teams on the ground were having just as much difficulty. Some had found the slaves that had been freed. Some took out the anti-aircraft tech, and others still had taken military outposts. But not enough.

When the Neprijat had realized what was happening, they’d slaughtered thousands of slaves before they could leave their pens. Then they’d released what felt like all the hounds that existed. Those howls and screams over the channels felt like a never-ending nightmare as she took out ship after ship.

Thank all the gods for the tech and weapons Adelina had taken. Without them Veri didn’t want to think about what would have happened – the slaughter and genocide of her people that would have occurred.

Adelina’s small fleet had broken off a while ago and was taking care of Khara Prime’s space.

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