Page 70 of Merciless Is My Crown

And as much as I had to win today, I hated what I’d done.

Hated taking a life, even this one.

So I forced myself to watch Vireena take her last, wheezing breath, to see the helpless horror in her eyes as she sank to her knees into a pool of her own black blood. Watched when her soul left her body and the majority of the coven heaved a collective sigh.

A few began to clap before the sound cut off.

Something heavy landed behind me, hard enough to send a shockwave through my bare feet. Reflexively, I sent a lash of magic backward, then yanked my shadows back at the last possible moment when Raziel rushed out of the darkness, his face twisted in panic.

His big hands cupped my cheeks, eyes searching mine. He didn’t say a thing, just tipped his head forward until our foreheads touched, his callouses rough on my tear-slicked cheeks.

Then Raz kissed my cheeks, my closed eyes, until every tear was gone, holding me like I was the most precious thing in the world before pressing his warm palms to my chest, sending a stream of healing magic through me.

I leaned into him, drinking in his never-ending strength, and allowed my head to flop limply against his chest. “You came.” I tried to stop sniffling. Couldn’t. “You came.”

“Of course I came. That ward is fucking miserable, I can tell you that.”

I winced at the healing magic he unleashed inside me, his power stitching me back together so fast the wind ripped out of my lungs. “You were badly hurt. You’ve lost too much blood,” he scolded softly. “Hang on, Anaria. Almost there,” he murmured, magic sliding over my carved-up arm and the wound on my torso before he stepped away.

“What…” His dark eyes scanned Vireena’s blood-splattered body in front of me, the snarling black wolf, and the imprisoned witches in the Arena, my mother right along with them.

His magic brushed up against mine and they danced together in a cloud of iridescent black that caught the moonlight so beautifully, the coven went silent, eyes staring up at the two of us.

“What in the fuck is going on? And where are Tristan and Tavion, because I am going to fucking kill them for leaving you.”

You would think knowing none of this was Tavion’s or Tristan’s fault would calm Raz down, but no, he was still as angry as before.

“I’m telling you; this was all Adele,” I muttered, nodding in gratitude to the young red-haired witch who carried my clothes over to me, laying the iron bands on top almost reverently. I didn’t bother putting those back on.

I still might burn this whole fucking place down.

I was still deciding, honestly.

My teeth chattered as I slid my feet inside the boots, the soles of my frozen feet stinging. I yanked my coat on, threw the hood up over my hair, and willed myself to warm up.

“She’s right, Raziel.” Dane had on borrowed boots and was wrapped in a rather foul-smelling cloak, but like me, he was grateful not to be freezing his arse off. “This whole thing was Adele’s doing, right down to that.”

All our eyes shifted over to the High Priestess, now covered in a cloak.

“Now I’m High Priestess,” I said, the words sounding surreal. “I suppose that’s how this works,” I tacked on, hoping somebody would tell me I was mistaken.

Nobody did.

“Should we let them out?” I scanned the witches in the Arena, my mother somewhere in there with them. “They’ll freeze to death if we leave them there and some of them were happy enough to see Vireena go.”

“There are bound to be loyalists.”

“Agreed.” I blew out a frosty breath in the cold night air. “But we don’t care about them.”

“We don’t?” Raziel’s brow wrinkled.

“We don’t,” I said firmly. “Because we’re not here to join the coven. I don’t care who’s in charge or who is at war with us, because once we get Tristan and Tavion free, we are leaving this fucking shitehole. We go back to Nightcairn and regroup.”

“Zorander won’t be here for gods know how long.” Raziel winced, as if he knew he was giving me the worst news ever. “So I suggest we come up with a plan in the meantime.”

“We let them freeze,” Dane said with no hesitation.

While I sort of agreed, that wasn’t really an option. “I say we let them go, but not until Tavion and Tristan are freed from…wherever they’re locked up. Find a witch, one who has keys to the prison, and they can go with Dane to get them out.”

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