Page 52 of Dark Prince's Captive

“Just a few more,” the queen croaks out, nearly crumbling to her knees.

“Vitai,” the king says, his voice as sharp as a whip.“Get your mother inside.”

“Now, Gaia,” Aruan growls.“I can’t leave the hall undefended to portal Elsie myself.Get her out of here.I’ve got this.”

Which answers my earlier question.Aruan can indeed create a portal.

The Phaelix leading the group looks toward the window.Below, an army of lizards advances up the trail toward the waterfall, marching like one man.Grinning, he lifts his face.That’s what he was waiting for.

Oh, shit.

A scream catches in my throat as the Phaelix storm us, but they don’t make it two steps before, with harrowing shrieks, the lot of them melt into goo.

In the meantime, the guards are fighting the Phaelix on the ground.The lizards force their way forward with vicious swipes of their knives.When a Phaelix hooks his blade around a guard’s arm and chops it off clean above the elbow, I understand why their knives are so strangely shaped.I pinch my eyes shut, willing myself to unsee the gruesome scene.

A weight slams into my chest, nearly stealing my breath.My eyes fly open with a gasp.Aruan, who’s still protecting me with his body, has stepped back and crashed into me.With my eyes tightly shut, I wasn’t following his lead.He’s slowly but surely walking me backward toward the hallway.

Caught off guard by the chilling screams of their disintegrating compatriots, the Phaelix on the ground have paused uncertainly, their bulging eyes trained on the palace.A few brave ones lift their sickle-like knives and charge the guards again, but in a second, the whole army of lizards is fizzling and bubbling.

Holy cow.

They’ve all been vaporized.The smell is disgusting.It stinks like rotten fish.I swallow hard, almost retching at the stench.

The guards are splattered with green glob.The ground is covered in the sticky mess.And just when I think it’s over, another wave of Phaelix rush through the waterfall.

They’re either brave or very fucking stupid, because like their buddies, they’re melted on the spot.

At this point, I’m observing everything with detached fascination.It feels too unreal, more like a movie than reality.

“Three strokes west of the sun,” Kian says.

Aruan turns his gaze in that direction.As Kian predicted, the Phaelix attack from a different angle on the ground.And then, poof.They’re all liquefied.

The enormity of Aruan’s power hits me then.If it hadn’t truly sunk in before, it’s staring me straight in the eyes now—and it’s terrifying.Kian uses his mind-reading ability to announce from which direction the enemy will be targeting while Gaia and her mother create portals to bring in more guards.Some of the guards must have powers of their own because I saw one hurling Phaelix through the air without laying a hand on them while another set them on fire by simply looking at them.I’m not sure what the king’s role in all this is, as he’s given up on the waterfall, but it’s clear that the guards’ main purpose is to keep the enemy at bay long enough for Aruan to vaporize them as they attack from all sides.

It’s almost too easy.

The Phaelix don’t stand a chance.

Finally, there’s a slump in the constant charging.The king uses the opportunity to drag the queen from the Great Hall as she seems set on ignoring his order to retreat.Vitai rushes toward us, saying something about getting the wounded guards to safety.

Gaia stops opening portals and grabs my hand.Aruan is still holding my other hand.When the reassuring grip of his fingers loosens around mine, I cling to him, a part of me unwilling and inexplicably incapable of letting him go.

“No,” I say as he releases me with a soft, reassuring smile.

I don’t want to leave him.

Of all the things I’ve never wanted to do in my life, including dying, abandoning him now is at the top of that list.

I can’t explain it.

There’s no logical reason.

All I know is that it’s as if my soul is being torn in two when Gaia drags me away and pulls me through the purple lights.

I stumble, yanking my hand from hers, when we land in front of Aruan’s quarters.“Wait, Aruan?—”

“My brother can handle himself,” she says in a stern manner.“You saw it yourself.”

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