Page 111 of The Storm of the Empire

“The face with two souls ushers in the night,

“And the son must claim their place, or all will perish under the tyranny and greed of those who wish to keep magic for themselves while all others starve.

“The drought is upon us.

“The Key to survival is and always will be shared.”

Luka staggered,holding his hands out like the ground spun beneath him. “What happened? Where are we?” He stumbled again, and I caught him. That seemed to snap him out of it. “Hazel?”

“What the fuck was that?” I demanded, fear icing through my veins.

“Did I hit my head or something?” He held his head like it was spinning.

My heart jumped into my throat. “You tripped.”

“Yes and then did I hit my head?”

“Do you know what you said?”

“I said something?” he asked, confusion showing in his expression.

“We’re going to the healer’s wing right now.” I stripped off my clothes.

“You don’t need to shift. I think I just hit my head. I can walk there.”

“Get on now, Luka!”

THIRTY-SIX

LUKA

Hazel flew us to the landing near the healer’s wing as fast as she could. Had I not gotten over my dizzy spell before I got on her back, I might have been sick. Thankfully, all my time at sea gave me a strong stomach. But she slammed us down on the landing and urged me off her back with haste.

She shifted and ran straight for the bell on the wall, ringing it with everything she had.

“Goddess. You’re going to break it off.” I said, stopping her hand in mid ring and handing her back her clothes. She’d surely alerted everyone in a mile radius by now anyway, which was the last thing I wanted.

She pulled her leathers on quickly and waved me into the wing. “Can someone fetch Kiera?” she asked the healer at the desk.

“She’s off for the night. Is everything okay?” The healers played defense for each other, and I understood why, but I didn’t want to see anyone but Kiera. Any other healer would blow this way out of proportion, and I didn’t want to stress Nyx out.

“My ryder had an accident. She knows his case, so we need to see her,” Hazel insisted.

The healer glanced between us, and she must have realized who we were. “I’ll go fetch her.”

“Thank you.”

Kiera came in a hurry and took us to a room. “What happened?” She was out of breath and must have run all the way from her rooms. I felt terrible for having dragged her out of bed when she had probably only just climbed in.

Hazel hesitated.

“Just say it,” I told her. We were already here. No reason to conceal it.

Kiera looked between us.

“I don’t remember any of it, so she’s going to have to tell you.” I waved for Hazel to have the floor.

Alarm flickered in Kiera’s eyes. “What in Her name happened?”

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