Page 29 of The Princesses of Ruin
“Don’t worry, Kazimir won’t hesitate.”
Zane’s eyes fill with his magic, their glow highlighting his cheekbones and casting him as a dangerous creature. He looks back at the road, his lips pressed in a tight line.
“Alastair wouldn’t either,” I say.
“He would if it were Liliana.”
“She’s infected, too.”
“And you think he could kill her if it was necessary?” He speaks with venom I know isn’t directed at me but stings all the same.
“No. That’s why you need each other.”
He looks at me with shock and disgust. “We’renotgoing to be killing each other’s wives.”
I swallow down the fear that this new realization has sparked and steady my voice. “You most certainly will if Ashai attempts to possess me.”
Zane skids to a stop, grabbing the back of my neck roughly as he kisses me. The fear melts in the warmth of his affection, and I band my arms over his shoulders. He consumes me, pressing harder into the kiss as if he could crawl inside me like the dark goddess has.
He pulls back, panting as he presses his forehead to mine. “There is no power in this world, the nine hells, or even the Overworld, that can take you away from me while I still draw breath.”
The fear swoops back in, but I smile to hide it. “The gods might take that as a challenge.”
“Let them,” he growls, then kisses me again.
I indulge in him for another moment, letting all his strength seep into me. I nip his tongue playfully, and he breaks our kiss, pressing his lips to the hollow of my ear.
“If this were any other time, you would be bare-assed in that alley taking my cock so deep Nol’Ther would be summoned.”
I smile and nip his earlobe. “I look forward to when this time has passed.”
He vaults forward, pushing us back into motion at an ever-faster pace. The closer we get to the palace, the deeper the destruction. Buildings blown apart, stone seared black, and…bodies. Charred things contorted in fear and agony.
We did this.
You murdered your own citizens with indiscriminate recklessness. You are not fit to lead.
Shut up, cunt.
Dread fills the silence as we arrive at the palace.
The bodies here are crystalized in black, shimmering magic. A hundred of them stand vigil like stone guardians around the inner moat. Zane lifts a spindle and touches a statue that was once a man. His magic peels back before it brushes the surface, rejected entirely.
“It’s infused with her, shielded by her,” he says.
“Come to the field by the archive,”Alyse calls us.
We leave the sentries behind and move through the gardens. Gazebos are flattened and trees are upended. The grass is black, and nothing grows. The smell is beyond putrid, and I close off my nose to breathe through my mouth.
We clear the back of the building and see the horror Alyse had warned would be here.
Spiders and queen’s guard stand in concentric rings with their arms upraised, bodies surrendered to the towering statue of Ashai. The dark goddess is wrapped in the same blackened magic that turned the guards to stone at the front, and despite Lily’s best efforts to slice through it, the shield holds strong.
“She’s consumed their magic to cocoon herself,” Alastair says.
“How long will it last?” Zane asks as he sets me down.
Alastair shakes his head. “Unknown. I’ve never seen this.”
