Page 223 of The Revered and the Pariah

Arianna didn’t take her eyes off the city as they drew closer. Six guards peered over the edge, their weapons already drawn. She drew the twin blades at her back, then heard steel sing through the air as the others prepared themselves.

Gavin’s fear burned her nose, but she ignored it. So long as the male carried them into the city. He could flee afterward and she wouldn’t brand him a coward.

Arianna growled and her magic erupted in a swirling storm of ice and snow. The guards stepped back and she leapt from the platform before Gavin had settled it into place.

Their gazes were . . . shocked, unsure as they beheld their queen and the raw magic circling her body. It begged her to tear them apart and make them pay for what they’d done. She leashed it. Soon, she promised. Soon.

Five flicked their gazes to a male at their front. The leader, then.

“You have three choices,” Arianna said, her voice lethal. “Kneel, step aside, or fall where you stand.” They looked between one another again, but the commander hadn’t moved, as if transfixed.

“He told us you weren’t coming back.” Not a challenge or defiance. Still, her anger wouldn’t abate.

“A mistake on your informant’s part.”

Arianna stepped and ice crackled across the stone path. The male quickly lowered to one knee and held his sword out as an offering. “My blade is yours, my Lady.”

She scented the air, searching for a lie or a sign of any glamours. But this male wasn’t from Pádraigín. His magic came from Brónach.

Another sank to the ground, followed by another. Only one remained upright.

“Traitors,” he snarled. “Niall was right, you’re all miserable traitors.”

“Lower your weapon,” the male’s commander urged without turning. “Don’t let the Regent confuse you.”

“He is the rightful king, you coward.” One flicker of magic was all it took for Rion to move. Her mate had crossed the space before she could blink. He twisted the male’s weapon from his grasp with his bare hands and a sharp crack had the offender screaming as his shoulder dislocated.

Rion’s magic crawled from beneath his clothes and wrapped around the male’s throat to silence him. He fell still, but Arianna could still hear his heart beat.

“Spare him,” the commander begged. “Please. He’s my cousin. He’s just young and confused. He hasn’t even had his shift yet.”

Rion watched her, waiting for the command.

“Bind him,” Arianna ordered. Raevina obeyed.

The commander bowed his head. “Thank you, my Lady.”

Arianna looked down the familiar streets. Familiar, yet different. The gems no longer sparkled and the gold she’d seen lining cracks and crevices no longer existed. The flowers weren’t all in bloom and some of the homes carried rust along their metal railings.

The perfection had all been part of Niall’s glamour. Her anger simmered and the beast beneath her skin rubbed against its cage. She wanted Niall and she wanted him now.

“There are others in the city who will fight for you,” the male said.

There it was, the information they’d hoped for. Arianna glanced toward the city’s edge. She couldn’t get the image of the half-breeds out of her mind. How afraid had they been at the end?

“How many?” Rion asked. Her mate’s magic circled him like a great serpent, wild and untamable. He also kept his distance, but something about the ancient magic strumming through her veins staved off her fear. Maybe it would eradicate it entirely.

“Enough to make a difference if you intend to stand against the Regent.”

“Tell us everything you know,” Talon demanded.

“He claims the new queen is young and idealistic, but that her ideas would lead to our ruination and eventual downfall. He’s used the fear of the past to sway some, but many are reluctant.”

“And where do you stand?” Avalon asked.

The male paled, seeming to realize who stood before him. He bowed his head again. “She is our queen. What are we fighting for if not her ideals?”

Arianna scented the air again. No lie. “Raevina.” The female stepped forward, her shoulders squared as she awaited Arianna’s command. “Accompany these five and gather those who will stand with us.”

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