Page 191 of Crowned In Venom

We don’t look back.

Everything is collapsing.

Kareth’s men have taken the outer courtyards. I can hear their battle cries, their war drums.

The Matriarch’s reign is over.

I don’t know when I cross into the open air, but suddenly, the smoke thins, the burning palace behind us, the sky above a deep crimson, painted with the fires of war.

The battle is nearly won.

The rebels have seized control.

It is over.

The implication of it slams into my chest.

I turn to Anya.

She is barely conscious.

"Anya?" I shake her gently. Her head lolls against my shoulder.

Too pale. Too still.

No. No, not after everything. Not after we survived.

"Stay with me."

She doesn’t respond.

Fear grips me and I panic.

Suddenly, a hand grabs my arm. I look at up and I see the Ghost without its cloak.

He smiles and says, “She just fainted. Don’t worry.”

Kareth appears, looking worse for wear but grinning. “She’s over. Forever.”

60

ANYA

The first thing I feel is warmth.

Not pain. Not fear. Not the crushing weight of battle or the suffocating grip of despair.

Just warmth.

It cradles me, a soft, steady heat, familiar and grounding. The scent of leather and smoke, steel and something distinctly him wraps around me, pulling me back from the void.

I shift, my body aching but whole.

There is no more darkness.

No more pain.

I am alive.

---