Page 173 of Vicious Is My Throne

Where time and ancient memory meet, the lines of gold lead to defeat

To end the dark, the world to cure, a broken heart, intentions pure.”

None of that helped—especially not the bit about the weapon—and if I failed, I’d led the men I loved to their deaths, and nothing, not even a hundred more lifetimes, would atone for my failure.

“The slave who wanted to free the realm. Did you keep your promises, Anaria? Or did you fail everyone you promised to save?” His voice echoed from somewhere deep inside that hulking body, and like before, Corvus’s smooth, cajoling voice made me want to fall to my knees, made me want to vomit.

I did no such thing.

My darklings flowed out and wound around my ankles, writhing in a gleaming mass at my feet. The delicate web from the keystones was keeping Corvus contained, those flares of darkness expanding but shrinking back before they touched the light.

But out of the corner of my eye, Raziel’s arms shook, sweat glistening on his face, his hair matted to his forehead. Hurry, Anaria.

Fear shivered down my spine, that deep well inside me stirring to life, but I smoothed over the choppy surface. Not yet. Not quite yet. I needed to get much, much closer.

“Why have you returned?” Apparently not one to be ignored, Corvus tried again. “Did you decide to take me up on my offer?”

I kept moving, forcing myself closer, forcing my frozen lips into a smile. “I gave your sister back the magic. Every last drop except for what is wild in the world. Let me guess, she didn’t share with you?”

Finally, I stepped onto that glowing silver mark.

The floor rumbled, then a burst of light shot along the golden rings, igniting each symbol beneath our feet. Corvus didn’t notice, focused wholly on me, the stench of rot growing stronger, his shadows curling outward as he crept closer, frighteningly close to that web of light.

I gripped the weapon tighter—the star in the center igniting—trying to see where to stab him.

But there was no target. No heart, no face, nothing but writhing black.

“You lie.” His anger clanged through the cave, enough fury to bring this mountain down around us. “She did no such thing.”

“Why would I lie? I don’t have a single drop of Fae magic inside me,” I told him honestly, my darklings clinging to me like glue as he halted a few feet away, those dark shadows constantly spearing, testing the strength of his fragile prison.

He’s too powerful. We’re running out of strength, Raz said. We’ll drop the cage and feed everything we have into you, Anaria. Into the weapon. You’ll have to move quickly.

The light from the keystones flickered. Tristan’s head hung low, his body glossed with sweat. Zorander’s arms shook, a faint mist rising from his shoulders.

Remember me. Help us.

I sent out a frantic plea to the universe as I fell into a crouch, settling my weight onto my haunches, the golden symbols pulsing with power like stars glowing in the sky. I know I promised to save you. I know I’ve failed. But I’m still fighting, we’re all still fighting. Will you fight with us?

No answer.

Help me rid this world of Corvus and Gelvira. Help me build a better world where there are no more wars. No more senseless death.

“If you are calling to the wild magic, it will not answer. Not if you gave everything back to my sister. You were a fool to come here and think you could kill me with…that.”

Corvus might not have eyes, but I felt his mocking gaze settle on the weapon I held in front of me. The one we’d pinned all our faith on, the one that was supposed to save us.

Now, Raziel ordered. The weblike prison faded then fell, the star in the center of the blade igniting bright enough to turn the entire cave into a relief of stark shadow and light.

I lunged forward, feet braced on the floor, eyes half closed against that brilliance.

“Anaria.” Zorander’s scream was amplified a hundred times over as Corvus lashed out, a whip of pure power cutting toward me like a battle-axe. I swore the air groaned around me as I ducked, that dark wind lifting my hair as shadows hissed overhead.

He’d missed me.

But the knife…

Light flashed like a dying star as his darkness cleaved the blood-forged blade in half.

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