Page 57 of A Reign of Malice
Aurora’s lips curl into something that might be a smile, but there’s no kindness in it. “That’s not my problem.” Hertone is bored, dismissive. “You asked for my help, and now it’s time to repay me. We leave now.”
“No.” My voice shakes, but I hold my ground. “I?—”
The floor shifts beneath my feet, the stone falling away like sand slipping through my fingers. My stomach lurches, Julian’s grip tightening on mine just as the world tilts and collapses in on itself.
And then we fall into an abyss.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
JULIAN
Aurora had said I needed to be “properly prepared.” I didn’t fully understand what that meant until her hands landed on me.
Her touch was cold and sharp, her energy sinking into my skin like barbed wire laced with starlight. I hated every second of it, hated the way her magic clung to my bones, reshaping me in ways I couldn’t see but felt deep in my marrow. I wasn’t sure I’d still be me by the time she was done.
But then the shield around us shattered, and I felt her.
Sloane.
The moment her scent hit me, the entire world narrowed to the space between us. The grime, the cold, the years of silence, all of it dissolved in the face of her. My mate. My salvation.
Holding her was like breathing after drowning, like sunlight after eternal darkness. My arms locked around her before I could think, my muscles trembling with the strain of holding on too tightly, afraid that if I loosened my grip even for a breath, she’d vanish like a cruel hallucination.My wolf howled inside me, fierce and eager, a chorus of pain and joy all tangled into one unbearable knot.
Her scent filled every hollow part of me, earth and storm, wildness and warmth. It wrapped around my heart, soothing wounds I hadn’t even realized were still bleeding.
My mate. My mate. My mate.
The words looped through my mind like a prayer, a lifeline keeping me tethered to reality.
Her body molded against mine, real and alive, and my knees nearly buckled beneath the intensity of it. After two centuries of nothing—no touch and no connection to the world above—this was everything. She was everything.
But there was no time to truly cherish it all.
The moment the castle disappears around us, Sloane’s quickening breath is the only sound I hear before the world fractures.
A kaleidoscope of colors bleed together, shimmering with liquid brilliance and folding in on themselves, like reality is caught between living and collapsing before we’re whole again.
The ground we arrive on—if it can even be called that—flickers beneath my bare feet, half solid, half mist, as though it can’t decide if it wants to exist at all. There’s a lightness here, like we’re standing on air, but every step feels weighted. Above us, there’s a pristine white palace floating effortlessly on a bed of clouds, its walls reflecting the endless horizon in perfect, yet unnatural, stillness.
The air is heavy, every breath scraping against my throat, thick with magic so potent I can taste it. Not the wild, untamed energy of wolves or the earth beneath our paws. No, this is pure power, ancient and indifferent, filled with secrets most supernaturals aren’t meant to know.
I tighten my hold on Sloane, pulling her closer withoutthought. Her heart slams against my chest, her fingers digging into my arms, almost as if she, too, is afraid I’ll vanish should she let go.
“I’ve got you,” I remind her, my voice rough from disuse and the storm of emotions clawing their way to the surface.
Her gaze snaps up to mine, and for a heartbeat, the entire realm fades. No gods. No traps. No threats looming just out of sight. There’s only us. The mate bond pulses between us, a living thread of heat binding me to her soul, a reminder that even after centuries of torment, we’ve still found our way to one another.
But then Aurora’s laugh slices through it all, shattering the fragile moment.
“Oh, how sweet,” she drawls, gliding ahead of us, her gown of liquid gold trailing through the air like smoke. “As much as I’d love to give you two all the time in the world to stare into each other’s eyes, I didn’t drag you here for a honeymoon.”
Sloane stiffens against me, her breath hot on my neck as she whispers, “I don’t care if she freed you, I hate her already.”
My chest rumbles with a low sound of agreement, but the truth is, it doesn’t matter. We’re in Aurora’s realm now. Whatever strength I’ve reclaimed, whatever power I’ve fought to regain since the moment I was freed from my chains, it means nothing here. We need to follow her, so we can hopefully get the hell out of here, and I can do what I swore—end my brother’s existence.
Footsteps scuff against the cloud-like surface behind us, and I turn to find four more people with us. I don’t know them, but Sloane doesn’t hesitate to catch me up.
She points at each one, speaking quietly. “That’s Isla with the pinkish hair, the man at her side is Asher. Estee is next toher with Theo. They’re the other kings and queens of Lunara and have been helping us.”
