Page 153 of Kingdom of the Two Moons

Riven doesn’t wait. A wall of dark flames shoots up, surrounding us, a burning tornado reaching far up into the sky, leaving us unharmed in its middle.

But harsh, bluish-tinted wind slams into us from all sides, dousing the flames.

My senses are not fast enough to witness Riven’s shift. Huge membraned wings engulf me a second later, as he pushes himself off the ground and up into the air, me in his arms. Then he spreads them wide, and we are flying.

Riven pulls me against him and spears for the city.

“They’re coming. They’re close,” I say in his ear, loud against the air whipping past.

The Nefarians have recovered and black wings beat hard as they try to catch up. Too quickly, driven by a stream of wind-magic that brings them closer and closer, lilac magic bristling at their fingertips.

My eyes widen as Riven’s magic twists around us in a dark fire to shield us once again—and fails. Fails because of the arrowprotruding from his shoulder. An arrow made of a black, thrumming metal that makes the fae part of me recoil and hiss. Hells, it went right through him.

Riven spreads his wings wide, at the same moment he presses me against him, to shield me from more arrows. A roar rips from him when they strike his legs, his wings, his back, burning holes in skin and flesh. I feel the impact, feel his powerful body barking in agony. Those beautiful, powerful wings. Shredded.

“Riven…” I breathe. Fear grips my heart and squeezes it tight. Fear, not for me, but for him.

“I’ve had worse. Now hold on tight,” he growls, but I see the pain searing his aura.

Then we’re falling.

I close my eyes as we hit the ground, sand and gravel flying all around us, filling my mouth, my lungs as we keep skidding. But I’m not hurt. Because Riven’s under me, I realize with a cold shock, his wings and back taking the collision.

In a heartbeat, he’s pushed me off him and jumped to his feet, keeping me behind him as the three Nefarians land in a crouch in front of us. Riven again spreads his shredded wings to shield me from them. Horror roils in my gut. I can only guess how much this must hurt him. The scent of his blood fills the air as it leaks out of him, seeping into the sand, the vicious arrows protruding out of his flesh in all angles. Too many to count.

“Step aside, Riven. You know too well the arrows have nullified your magic,” the first one says. He’s as tall as Riven and just as muscular, with sun-tanned skin and black hair. Now, in the low light, I can make out harsh features and the swirls of black ink that stretch over his collarbones and up to his cheeks like war paint. “And your healing along with it… even if you’recursed. Step aside and I’ll let you live.”

“That’s not going to happen,” Riven retorts, unfazed. His breathing comes in uneven rasps as he unsheathes one long sword from his back.

The man laughs. “You’re in no state to fight. You’re onlydrawing the inevitable out. Step aside, and I promise I’ll make it quick. She won’t feel a thing. This is not about you. We will let you live, I swear.”

“Keep dreaming, Adriel,” Riven retorts with a snarl.

“You know, sometimes dreams come true,” the warrior drawls, then raises his hand at the same moment Riven throws a dagger he must have kept hidden in his sleeve.

The wave of building, lilac magic collapses the instant the black blade buries itself in Adriel’s heart.

The warrior’s eyes widen in disbelief, and he staggers backwards. “Nefarian steel… how?”

“You forget that nightmares are dreams too. And you just walked right into one,” Riven rasps.

“Blood runs thicker than water. We’re family, Riven,” the man says, his breath coming in sharp, dying rasps.

Riven only lifts the mighty sword in his hand. “Blood alone doesn’t make family. Love and loyalty do.” Then he looks at the two others. “Caryan’snever going to let you leave.”

With this warning, he charges. The other two Nefarians lift their hands almost simultaneously. I freeze as a wall of wind slams into Riven, hurling him meters through the air. I watch with cold horror as he’s driven against the wall of a building, so hard it gives way and starts to crumble.

Blinding pain flares behind my ribs. All that talking had been only to stall. To buy us time. Buymetime. Riven charging with that sword against their magic—was to keep them focused on him instead of me.

Suddenly, there are screamseverywhere,bright as daylight, ripping me back to reality. I hadn’t realized where we landed. Now my eyes find the empty dais to my left. The crowd has scattered, retreated to the shadows, forming a semicircle around us.

Right as a breathtaking, tanned figure plummets from the sky, landing gracefully on her long, muscular legs right between the two Nefarians. She eases into a slight crouch, as if ready to jump at any moment. Her taloned hands are curled by her side, her two huge,leathery wings tucked in tight; her long, midnight-black hair dancing on a phantom wind.

Her purple eyes, brighter and much more aqueous than Riven’s, focus on me with lethal intention.

Nefarians.The word hisses through the crowd, the smell of fear tingeing the air.

I glance back to the collapsed building, and my heart threatens to fall apart.Let him be alive. Please. Let him be alive.I won’t allow any other option.

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