Page 31 of Tortured Royals

“The angels need someone to control them,” she snarls, wheezing. “And with you and your mate out of the way—” She manages to break one hand free from my hold, but before she can send out her flames, I close my fist, and the air around her neck squeezes so tight it takes her head.

I stare as Mirelle’s body thuds to the sand, but Princess Blake’s voice pulls me from my thoughts. “Callan!” she yells.

Princess Blake and the others stand by the cage. The bars have been twisted open, but Nate still hangs, the golden wire tight around the shifter. “No physical being can touch him without the wire contracting,” I tell them. As the scorpions prepare to sting Nate, I send out a burst of air that lifts him higher before they can lash out with their tails.

Nate’s nostrils flare, and I launch from the ground, landing on the top of the cage. Now that it’s not shrouded in fire, I work on the metal box that holds the roll of chains and wire connected to Nate. It’s complicated magic created by a powerful archangel in Toralyn, and created using the blood of the one who wishes to control it. I can’t be sure if Queen Vespera or Mirelle ordered its creation, but it doesn’t matter. Taking out my blade, I slice a line into my palm, and I turn my hand, letting my blood drip onto thewire. Because no matter what they did, they were my family by blood. If in no other sense of the word.

Instantly, the wire turns from gold to a dull gray, and it loosens from Nate. Using my wind power, I free the shifter and move him through the open hole in the bars. Princess Blake and Dante grab him, and they pull him to the sand.

Princess Blake grabs Nate’s head in her hands, and she searches him for wounds. “Were you stung?”

He shakes his head, and she sends a thank you to Lady Fate before crashing her lips to his, the rest of her mates crowding around her. All her mates, that is, except for me.

I stare around at the angels in the stands of the amphitheater. A few of the angels applaud, but most of them look lost. As if just like me, they’re surprised at what I’ve done.

Chapter

Twelve

~ Princess Blake ~

We stay at the angel palace until word reaches Prince Andal about the deaths of the queen and princess. With Princess Mirelle’s claim to the throne no longer an issue, the oldest Prince is set to become the new king of Toralyn.

It’s hours before Prince Andal arrives, and Prince Callan stands facing his brother. The older prince remains silent while Prince Callan recounts recent events, the prince’s expression darkening the longer Prince Callan speaks.

“Do you think this one’s a psycho just like his mom and sister?”Shade whispers in my mind. She’s still salty at Prince Callan for forcing her away when she had tried to attack Princess Mirelle, though it’s obvious the archangel was trying to protect her.

I stare at Prince Callan, not sure how I should feel about him. The sting of his betrayal still hasn’t left me, and I think of my birds, their ashes scattered in the wind. There’s a cold spaceinside me, and even though I now know the truth about Prince Callan trying to free his sister, I’m not sure if I can forgive the archangel for betraying us. Not yet, anyway.

“Let’s hope not,”I reply to Shade. I don’t bother saying more than that. Only Prince Andal can choose what kind of king he wants to be.

“You should have told me what happened the last time you were here,” I tell Nate, still annoyed at the shifter for almost dying.

“It was Prince Callan’s secret to tell,” he defends. “And it’s not like I thought I was gonna get strung up.”

I wince as the image of him hanging in the cage flashes in my mind. “And do you have any other secrets that might take me by surprise?”

He rubs his chin thoughtfully. “Only that I don’t plan on returnin’ to Toralyn for a very, very long time.”

“That’s not a secret,” Dante drawls. “You’re merely stating what we’re all thinking.”

“We should have stayed at the hot springs,”Shade laments.

Reaching up, I scratch her neck.“We can do better than that. How about we go home?”

She perks up, and I watch as Prince Andal passes a silver flask to Prince Callan. Prince Callan pockets it, and then the pair are striding toward us.

“Prince Andal has just come from the battle in Danora City,” Prince Callan says when they stop in front of us. “The witches are proving to be much more organized and powerful than the angels expected, and he’s agreed to call on the united realms for assistance.”

Shade relaxes on my shoulder.“Finally.”

I keep scratching her neck, mostly to give myself something to do, and my crow laps up the attention. “That’s good news,” I say.At least, Dad will be happy.“And the coronation?”

“It will be held within the next two days,” Prince Andal replies, his face kind. Like Prince Callan, he has large golden wings, but his hair is a stark white in comparison to Prince Callan’s honey-colored locks. “I had hoped, my brother might stay for the ceremony.”

I shift uncomfortably.

Before I can comment, Prince Andal smiles. “But it seems he’s certain his Ahalian Touizda would wish to return home immediately.”

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