Page 92 of Of Beasts & Vengeance

If anything, I wish I could bring him back to kill him all over again.

But he’s gone now, and that’s enough. It will have to be.

Chapter Sixty-Five

Einar

The counteragent works quickly, though my vision still blurs in and out. At least the wolves are gone.

Before Gunnar regains consciousness, I cross over to where Zaina is kneeling by Khijhana and settle my cloak around her shoulders. She gets to her feet with the same lethal grace she has had on display since she disposed of the alchemist.

Her golden eyes flicker up to me through heavy lashes, and any relief I have that she is alive is replaced with fury and terror.

“Did he?” I glance down, unsure how to finish my question.

“I’m not a child anymore,” she says. “If he had tried, I would have killed him. Well, sooner than I did, anyway.”

I take in the sight of her, splattered with blood that is not entirely her own, not so much as flinching from the shards of glass still embedded in her skin. One shackle still hangs from her wrist like she’s forgotten it’s there.

“I don’t doubt it,” I tell her truthfully.

Once Gunnar is cognizant enough to be trusted on a hestrinn, I gesture to the stairs. Zaina pauses only long enough to pluck up the gold and emerald dagger she discarded, then she and Khijhana follow me up the path.

The first thing I notice as we round the corner into the main room is the sight of my axe still resting in Odger. I have the irrational thought that I should shield Zaina from the view of me removing it when she comes to stand beside me.

“Not just for woodcutting, then?” Her tone is so casual, she could be commenting on the weather, and her expression doesn’t so much as twitch.

The corner of my mouth pulls up. “It does have its uses,” I respond drily.

Though I hate that her life has been so filled with violence that this doesn’t faze her, I can’t deny a certain amount of relief as well. The Jokithans are warriors, so taking a bride from another land was always a risk.

This is not the first man I have executed as King, and it will not be the last. Not everyone can understand that.

But Zaina is fierce and powerful enough to stand unflinchingly at my side and do what needs to be done. Plans begin to form in the back of my mind, solidifying an idea I’ve had for a while now. First, though...

“Let’s go home.” Zaina speaks my thought aloud, stretching out her arm toward me.

Home.Did she mean to say that? Her gaze bores into mine, and I almost chuckle. Of course, she did. Zaina is nothing if not intentional.

I take her hand in mine, noting the way they fit perfectly together. Even if we are both stained with the blood of our enemies.

Chapter Sixty-Six

Zaina

The ride home to the castle is heavy with the implications of what just took place and the weight of everything to come.

The stinging cold bites against my legs as we ride, but I think only of the precious seconds passing us by, each one reminding me that my time with Einar is drawing to an end.

I wrap his cloak more tightly around me and lean back into his warmth. His breathing is even, but his heart beats frantically, and I wonder if he is thinking the same thing I am.

This has to end. All of it.

Shehas to end.

It’s well into the night when we reach the stables. Gunnar helps to clear the way while I sneak back into the castle with Einar.

It should be a relief, knowing that the world has been rid of one of its most vile occupants. As hard as it is to acknowledge, though, he wasn’t the source of evil. Hell, he isn’t even the worst person I have encountered in my relatively short life.

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