Page 15 of Sins of His Wrath

CHAPTER FOUR

Dark fury clouded every moment of Akoro’s existence.

When word came that annin-eellithihad breached the city, he’d abandoned the camp that his army had set up a few miles away and raced back on hisnnirae.His focus narrowed down to one thing; Princess Naya. She was the only Omega in the area, the only one that thennin-eellithiwould be attracted to. Desperation slowly consumed him on that short ride. He needed to know that the magic hadn’t torn her apart, like what had happened with so many other omegas—what had happened to her sister. But when he arrived, he couldn’t find her. She wasn’t in his room where he left her; she wasn’t in her room; she wasn’t in the entire fucking palace.

The desperation intensified, turning raw and dark, propelling him to search the corpses and look for the color and pattern of her clothes among the clamor and confusion and death. But even as he frantically searched, an inkling deep within him sparked a realization that became stronger with each bloody corpse he looked at.

Naya had somehow caused this devastation. That was why she left the palace yesterday. She had headed west toward the weakened boulder, and he hadn’t figured out what she’d been doing, but it was obvious she’d been planning something. She had to have figured out how to escape.

His fury started building in the hours it’d taken to dispel the rampant magic that still charged around the city. The princess was the only one powerful enough to do this. In the confusion and devastation, she could easily escape. The question was, did she succeed? Was she still in the city? Was she in the Sands or had she died in her attempt? Or had she somehow created a portal and returned to her home?

Akoro had immediately sent soldiers searching the city for her, but he doubted they’d find her. If she had access to magic, even for an instant, she would have found a way home. Even though he had warned her what would happen if she tried.

She’d left him and made a devastating statement by killing his people in the way they most fear at the same time. He stared at the chaos around him. This attack was one of the worse he’d witnessed in the city since before his rule. Blood and debris scattered across the streets, corpses lay strewn in every direction, some with hunched, bloodied loved ones crying over them. Walls had collapsed and scorch marks streaked the ground and any surface that remained erect. His palace hadn’t been spared either. One side of it was covered with black dust and had been scarred with jagged marks. His beautiful city looked a mess.

He threw himself into the rescue effort with the palace guards, but Naya lingered on his mind. He couldn’t deny the agitation he felt blended with worry and even a thread of fear. It was like a whirlwind in the pit of his stomach that he couldn’t calm, an agitation that sparked through his body, urging him to do something, anything to settle the idea that his Omega might be unsafe.

Along with the growing team of guards and wardens, he searched collapsed walls and buildings, and sought healing care for as many people as they could find. But the longer he worked, the more he was sure that Naya had escaped, and his anger slowly heightened until it was a thick, smoldering fog that filled his lungs with every inhale.

“My king.”

Akoro turned to see his head administrator, Yashol, just as grimy as everyone else. He straightened to his full height. “Tell me.”

“Thisnnin-eellithiis a particularly powerful one, but it has shrunk since it entered the city. It’s bouncing between the boulder guards as they attempt to repel it. All of ournnin-shu?nnare working to get it under control and dispel it.” He hesitated. “Nrommo has requested to send back at least one division of the army to help.”

Akoro’s fists tightened. This morning the army had been rested, positive, and eager to invade after years of preparing for this moment. Pulling them back from the camp would destroy the focused mindset they needed to invade successfully, but using the army to clear the dead and get healers to the wounded was the only way to secure the city and prevent more death. “Tell him to send two divisions,” he said, his voice as low as his mood. “And to stand by in case more are needed.”

It was dark by the time the roads around the palace were cleared. As suspected, the soldiers he’d sent to look for the princess had found nothing, not even a sign that she’d traveled out of the city.

He went to his room to bathe and change, only to find a worried Oppo waiting for him when he came back out.

“I thought this couldn’t happen?” Oppo said in a half-whisper, even though there was no one else in this wing of the palace.

Akoro said nothing, standing still to pull on the extra padding around his limbs that he needed to continue the rescue efforts.

“There will be unrest all over the city.”

Akoro grunted. “As expected. Have you heard what the death toll is yet?”

“Yashol estimates over a thousand at the moment,” Oppo said grimly. “All the people at the markets, all the buildings surrounding the palace…. It’s a lot. Citizens will be angry, Akoro. We should expect protests and crowds at the palace gates before long.”

Akoro began walking. “Let Yashol do his job before we panic, Oppo.”

Oppo frowned at him and then matched his stride. “What’s wrong? I saw you out there on the rescue behaving recklessly, but I assume it didn’t harm the princess or you wouldn’t be on the rescue teams.”

The fog in Akoro’s lungs tightened in his chest. “She’s gone.”

Oppo’s steps faltered. “What?”

Akoro’s jaw clenched. “She’s gone.”

Oppo recovered quickly, quickening his steps to catch up with Akoro. “Do you mean she’s gone and is hurt somewhere in the city, or that she’s… escaped?”

Akoro exhaled heavily as they turned a corner. “It was her, Oppo. She called thennin-eellithiinto the city and used it to escape.”

Oppo’s shock was almost tangible, his disbelief thick in his throat. “No. Omegas can’t do that.”

“She can.”

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