Page 72 of Merciless Is My Crown

I dropped my magic walls around the Arena, then Tristan and Tavion separated out the witches we recognized as enemies—the guards who’d met us at the door, the ones who’d taken Tristan and Tavion to the dungeons. Dane sniffed a handful more who he said smelled aggressive, whatever that meant.

In the end, we filled ten prison cells and let the rest go free, then went to find somewhere safe for whatever remained of tonight.

Though I doubted we’d find anywhere in this cold, dank place that was truly safe.

I eyed all the endless stone, not so much as a cushion in sight.

Or comfortable.

27

ANARIA

Adele walked back to the fortress with the coven.

Not with us.

I made sure of that, ignoring the pleading looks my mother sent me every time I so much as glanced her way. Honestly, she was probably safer with the witches, given how Raziel shook with rage once he discovered her betrayal.

Some of that fury was directed at himself for not being here, but once he’d heard how deftly Adele had manipulated us and traded us all away to get what she’d wanted…Raziel made a good argument to lock my mother in the prison with our enemies.

I’d refused.

She should be grateful she’d sleep in a bed tonight and not the prison floor, but I didn’t—couldn’t—do that to her, even after what she’d done to us. She’d suffered long enough.

But Adele had made her choices.

She’d chosen her side and now she would live with the consequences.

But my stomach twisted every time her gaze landed on me. We’d be foolish to trust her again, but cutting her off like this was hard, and losing control over me would hurt worse than anything the king had ever done.

Because I was her only path to power.

We left Dane to lay out instructions to the coven while we searched the fortress for a room big enough for all of us and comfortable enough where we’d all fit. We found three surprisingly luxurious bedrooms in a far-off corner on the top floor of a turret that jutted straight out from the cliffs over a deep gorge.

Even when I stuck my head out the window, I couldn’t see the bottom.

Tristan lit a fire in each of our fireplaces while we divvied them up. Raziel and me in the center, Tristan to our right, Dane and Tavion to the left, though not one of us was fooled into thinking everyone but Dane wouldn’t end up in here with me.

I tested the soft mattress, running my fingers over the silken sheets and velvet blankets. The room was beautiful, actually reserved, perhaps, for special guests, though who the fuck would ever come here to visit?

“Easy to defend,” Tristan pointed out, pacing to the window and whistling when he saw how high we were. “No one’s getting up here without us knowing they’re coming.”

“That means we can easily be trapped and killed in an ambush. Or burned out,” Tavion countered. “There’s no way out except down. That’s a problem.”

Tristan’s eyes flashed golden red, his smile turning serpentine as he said, “Maybe for you, wolf.”

“Everything here is stone and Raziel and I can ward this corner of the building. Raz can carry us out one by one, and as Tristan so eloquently pointed out, he can fly if needed.” I pegged him with a sharp look. “Can you? Fly?”

He shrugged. “Don’t know. I haven’t tried in so long. I suppose it would come back to me.”

“We have a place to stay until Zor gets here. I am exhausted, and I don’t much care if this place burns down around us as long as I get some sleep.”

They divided up watches while Raziel wrapped a cloak of his magic around our rooms, insisting I’d been through too much and should wait until my magic replenished. But the strange thing was…I didn’t feel like my power was running low.

If anything, I felt revitalized.

Tavion and Tristan went to find something edible in this place, and while I was starving, I wasn’t hungry enough to eat something hideous like that eel Dane had caught.

---