Page 144 of A Cage of Crystal

Two animals dead.

Two animals reborn as one.

What did it mean that this Roizan had four faces? Animal parts from at least four different creatures? Had they all died at the same time, in the same battle, to create this abomination? Or had he created Roizan after Roizan, and pitted them against one another?

It didn’t matter.

Nothing mattered.

Dimetreus…was dead.

She’d known the creature that had emerged from the trees was a Roizan, even before she’d caught a clear glimpse. It had plodded toward her cliff, and she’d watched it with bated breath, inching closer and closer to the edge for a closer look. As soon as it had passed beneath where she stood, it paused, turning its monstrous face toward her. That was when she’d seen it. The faces. Her brother.

It had let out a bellowing roar then, one that had sent her stumbling back, clutching the nearest tree for stability. When next she dared look at the meadow, it was gone.

Gone.

Dimetreus was gone.

She heard another roar, this one from the other side of the meadow. The sound sent a shudder up her spine, a sensation so violent it sharpened her senses. Cut through her sorrow. Reminded her why she was here.

For Teryn.

If the Roizan was here, so was Morkai. So was Teryn.

She forced herself away from the tree and crawled back to the edge of the cliff. Fire leaped from a mangled tent, and the Roizan now circled a figure. Moonlight glinted off pale hair. Mareleau. The queen had fallen to her knees, eyes empty as the monster with her father’s face paced around her.

Cora’s heart stuttered at the sound of Teryn’s voice. It carried over the sound of crackling flames, but it was spoken with the sorcerer’s lilt. “Ah, you’ve found her. Very good.”

She squinted into the dark until she caught sight of Teryn’s body stalking toward Mareleau and the Roizan. Another figure trailed behind, steps uneven, hand clutched to his chest.

King Larylis.

Morkai held his hand open to the side, palm facing up. Cora leaned closer to the edge. She couldn’t see what he held, but she could guess. Now that Morkai had his Roizan, he could perform far more impressive feats of magic than he’d been able to without it. A ball of blood likely hovered over his hand, and based on how Larylis clutched his chest, it belonged to him.

Larylis doubled over and fell to his knees.

Mareleau let out a cry.

“Now,” Morkai said, “it’s time for us to come to an agreement.”

* * *

Mareleau didn’t knowwhat was worse: her father’s lifeless face used as a monster’s eyes or her husband’s peril. The beast rounded behind her, giving her a clear view of Larylis. His shoulder dripped red, a gash splitting his sleeve. His face was twisted in agony. The way his fingers clawed at his sternum suggested he was fighting some invisible internal affliction.

Rage built alongside her terror, and she shifted her attention to the man who stood before her. He stared down his nose at her, a strange red bead hovering an inch above his open palm. He showed no fear for the beast that circled her, no concern for the flames that steadily burned away more and more of her tent. Pain pierced her heart as she remembered the gift she’d unwrapped not long ago, the beautiful blanket her father had given her, a symbol of his forgiveness and affection, now lost forever to the flames.

“What are you doing, Teryn?” She spoke with a quaver, fueled by equal parts fear and rage.

“He isn’t Teryn,” Larylis said, voice weak, strangled between his teeth.

Teryn shifted to the side to assess him. An amused grin curled his lips. “No?”

“I don’t know how it’s possible,” Larylis said, “but you’re Morkai.”

The name echoed in Mareleau’s head. It belonged to the duke who’d orchestrated the battle at Centerpointe Rock. The one who’d cursed Cora to never bear children.

She stared at the man who wore Teryn’s face. It was impossible. Or it should have been. Aside from the graying hair, the pallor of his skin, and the overall signs of ill health, thiswasTeryn.

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