Page 168 of House of Embers
“Audria is…”
Wynter couldn’t finish the thought, even though she knew it to be the case. And Roake was raging, but who had killed her? Was he regretting his own actions?
As they angled toward him, Dozan put his hand on her shoulder. “Look.”
Wynter shot him a confused look, but she had been so focused on Roake, she hadn’t seen what he was doing. Pulling up rocks of every size and shape from the surrounding area. Hundreds, maybe thousands of rocks were now under his control. He’d brought them up and to him in his grief.
“Gods,” she hissed.
Because the next second, he released them.
Rocks were hurled across the battlefield, ripping through dragons’ wings, knocking into their exposed underbellies, pushing the riders off their backs. They were indiscriminate. Both friend and foe were caught in the cross fire. It was devastating to witness.
It was only with Dyta’s evasive movements that they managed to avoid the biggest rocks. Still, pebbles struck them by the dozen, leaving bruises and blood in their wake.
“He’s going to kill everyone,” Wynter cried as another rock hit her in the forehead.
“Not if we stop him.”
He was right.
Audria’s death had unhinged Roake. And he was going to makeeveryonepay for it. There was no reasoning with him. No bringing him back from the brink. He was already there. He’d completely lost it. If they didn’t stop him, he would use up his magic until it burned out…and take as many other people as he could with him in the process.
Dozan pulled her back against him and pressed a hurried kiss to her lips.
“I love you,” she whispered.
He smirked. “I love you too.”
Then Wynter ignored the pain in her hand and the pounding of her heart and made her final jump.
She landed on the back of Evien, directly behind where Roake held Audria’s lifeless body.
“She’s gone,” Wynter said.
Roake was frozen in place though. He didn’t even acknowledge her existence.
“And I’m sorry.”
Then she dragged her blade across his throat.
The rocks all fell at once back toward the earth. Screams fromthe city meant that they’d hit people who were out on the streets, but it was better than them killing all the dragons and riders in the skies.
“Take them down, Evien.” Wynter patted her back twice as she laid Roake down next to Audria.
In the stillness of the battle, Dyta flew to Evien’s side, and Wynter was easily able to leap back to her own dragon. The devastation of Roake’s assault had already been done. Both sides had seen casualties.
In the wake of his death, the Society line broke.
Chapter Sixty-One
The Truth
“Well, this is obnoxious,” Kerrigan said on a sigh.
The trap was familiar. It had been used by Bastian at the coup to hold the dragons back. He’d seized the ones in the aerie and then kept the council dragons out of the fight by caging them. He’d played the same trick on Kerrigan.
Fordham crossed his arms over his muscled chest and waited. She felt warmth down the bond and a whispered,“As if they could keep us.”
