Page 74 of A Reign of Roses
“I grew up in one of the worst slums in the realm.”
Kane raised a brow. “Celeste?”
“The one and only,” Hart said with a smirk. “Lost my parents to harvesters at six. Lost my sister to a pox a few years later.” Nausea swamped me at the thought, and Kane’s grip tightened on my ankle. If those tragedies still broke his heart at all, Hart didn’t let it permeate his casual demeanor. Maybe that aggressive playfulness was as much a shield as the ward around his encampment.
“Somewhere between that and stopping a Celestian woman from smothering her toddler rather than fail to feed him, I figured nothing could be more impossible than making it as long as I already had. Somebody had to put an end to your father. Why not me?”
Kane’s gaze was grim with understanding. “Where do you expend the majority of your manpower?”
“Valery and her coven keep us dissenters safe, and we focus on destroying his battalions and outposts in steady increments.”
“The outposts,” Kane considered, leaning forward. “That makes a big difference?”
Hart unleashed that crooked grin once more. “Huge.”
“He can’t pay his mercenaries, power Solaris, or fuel his army without the stolen lighte.” It was the first Valery had spoken, her voice low and reedy. I searched her face for any hint of emotion and only found cold, unwavering resolve, eyes trained on her rebel king.
But it was Kane who grinned this time. A small smile, but those dimples and curve of his full lips still quickened the pulse in my veins. “Arwen destroyed Lazarus’s entire repository. Engulfed half the castle in firelighte.”
Hart leapt from his perch on the sideboard. “Well, shit—we’ve been waiting for an opportunity like this.”
“And,” I added, my voice still raw, “I think he might already be weakened.”
“How so?”
I cut my eyes to Kane, who gave me a subtle nod.
“I’m not sure,” I admitted to both of them. “But he can’t seem to regenerate lighte as quickly, or hold on to his power quite as long. He seems to need to infuse some of the harvested lighte into his own body just to maintain his power.” I swallowed acid. “He prefers my own, since I’m full-blooded.”
“Magnificent.” The corner of Hart’s mouth ticked up with malicious glee. “Theall-powerful, true Faeking of Lumera is a sniveling lighte addict.”
Kane couldn’t help a sly answering grin of his own. “I think it hasmore to do with the purged land. I can ask the researchers back in Willowridge to look into it further, but my assumption is that by destroying the natural balance of lighte in Lumera, he’s weakened himself.”
“And the more lighte he needs…” Hart said.
Kane finished his thought. “The worse he’ll get.”
Hart turned to Valery. “This is…fan-fucking-tastic.”
Valery only raised an incredulous brow. Not a big talker, that one.
“But that means he has reason to take Evendell sooner than later,” Kane added. “He’ll need fresh land to begin again.”
“Valery.” Hart motioned to his witch. “Ready the others. We’ll fly for Solaris tonight.”
“Done.” Valery spun with grace and made for the door.
My heart only leapt in my throat.Tonight?
“No.” Kane released his hold on me and stood from the bed. “No attacks tonight.”
Hart’s brows lifted but Valery halted in her steps. That was the strange thing about Kane. No matter where he was, who he was with—friend or foe or stranger—he was always the commanding authority in the room.
“We must work together,” Kane said. “You need Onyx’s army to defeat him. You need us.” Kane motioned to himself and to me. I didn’t feel very violent and powerful under the covers of this thin, dusty bed, but I nodded anyway.
Hart only snorted. “You’re going to cross the channel with thousands of men?”
Kane shook his head. “We’ll use our witch. She’s the one that sent us to you.”
