Page 139 of A Kingdom of Fire and Fury
“Don’t do this,” I pleaded, trying to ignore the nerves in my hand screaming. “We’ll be thrown into another war. So many people will lose their life.”
The woman’s expression flickered. “It’s what must be done.”
The green dragon nipped at Hesperos, guarding the skies until the woman and her dragon were an even safer distance away. Then they both took off toward Andova. Hesperos didn’t follow.Kieran.My pulse raced. I glanced down at the trees. Fire still raged across the forest.‘Where are you? Are you okay?’
I wanted to cry. We lost the eggs and failed the mission. Luther wouldn’t just be pissed, he’d hurt Clara. I knew he would.
‘Umara caught me. What’s going on?’But I could feel Kieran’s worry. No doubt he already knew, but he needed me to confirm it.
I didn’t want to say it. Bile threatened to escape my lips.‘They got the dragon eggs.’And it was too late to go after them. They were flying toward the border—toKing Tancred. To make matters worse, two gryphons were headed straight at us.‘Do you have any power left over?’
‘No.’
Hesperos flew down to where Kieran lay, growling until I got off him. I went to Kieran’s side, grimacing at the blood staining his shirt.‘Are you okay? Answer honestly.’If he died…
‘It hurts like hell, but I’m okay.’He stood up and grimaced.‘We need to get to Luther and send in reinforcements. Ben’s at the border and can hold them off. But we need Gareth. I won’t last in a fight as I am right now.’His eyes narrowed as he took in my injury.‘Your hand.’
‘Gareth can heal it. Let’s go.’
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Luther went deathly silent. I’d never been scared of him, but now? Now my heart pounded in my eardrums and an icy chill shot down my spine. We stood in the middle of one of Aurelia’s personal castles in Treave. As expected, it practically screamed wealth, but none of that mattered. Not when we had to return to Luther empty handed and with terrible news.
‘I’ll protect you,’Kieran said through the bond.
‘You can’t. You won’t.’Not if it contrasted against his goals.
Luther clenched his jaw and narrowed his eyes at Kieran. “Come here.”
‘We can run.’I thought desperately at Kieran as he made his way toward Luther. Like he had done last time, Kieran kept his chin high and his expression neutral. In this moment, I forgot my anger. Because right now, it didn’t matter. Not when Luther wanted a whipping boy to take his anger out on. I had to fight the urge to grab his hand. Alarm bells went off in my mind. I’d seen how Luther took his anger out on us, and now he had a legit reason to. Because of us, Andova had the dragon eggs.The Mother help us.
‘He won’t kill us. He needs us to win the war.’
That wasn’t reassuring at all. I watched Kieran step toward his doom with my heart in my throat. Even though I was pissed, I didn’t want to leave him at Luther’s mercy.
Luther stood up from his throne, his expression perfectly blank as he stared down at Kieran.Crack!Kieran’s head whipped to the side. The sound echoed across the room.
‘Kieran!’
‘Don’t say anything.’Kieran snapped. He didn’t touch his cheek, didn’t flinch, didn’t argue. Instead, he met Luther’s glare head on with a neutral expression.
I glanced around at the room. The guards scattered around the room watched with intentionally blank expressions. Luther’s nostrils flared with anger and Aurelia sat in her seat beside Luther, her face the picture of detached arrogance. But underneath both of their rage was a glimmer of fear.
“If we weren’t in the middle of godsdamn war, I’d have your head,” Luther hissed and grabbed Kieran’s arm. Golden energy transferred between them. “There. You have all my energy. Shadow travel to Gareth. Have him heal you and fly to the border at once. I don’t care if you have to enter Andova to stop them. Youwillget those eggs back or die trying.” He shoved Kieran away.
‘Be careful,’Kieran whispered in my mind.
Because of course he couldn’t stay. Because I would never be at the top of his priority list. Because he was afucking liar who only saw me as a tool.
‘You’re not being fair. These eggs can—’
‘Destroy the country as we know it. Yes, I fucking know. Now go.’The worst part was, I couldn’t bask in my anger. We needed to settle this first. My feelings came second. Shadows curled around Kieran, and he vanished.
“Aurelia, fly to the border.. Ben is holding them off, but he can’t outlast two dragons. Keep them at bay until reinforcements arrive.”
Aurelia’s jaw flexed. She inclined her head and stalked out of the castle.
Once she was gone, Luther looked at me and narrowed his eyes. That was the only warning I had before his fist collided against my cheek, sending me flying to the ground. I gasped for breath, blood spilling from my mouth. My cheek throbbed.Ow.I stared at my blood staining the marble floor.Prick.
