Page 55 of Vicious Is My Throne

The bitter mountain air stung my windburned face, then a boom echoed from deep inside the palace. Tristan’s skin rippled, scales appearing where pale skin had been a moment before, his shoulders tightening into a rigid line. We crept through the open front doors, shivers raking down my spine, tension tightening my belly.

“Someone should have been waiting outside. Raz or Tavion,” Tristan murmured. “For sneaking off the way we did.”

“I’d take Tavion’s yelling right now over this silence.” I hung onto Tristan’s arm as we pushed down the empty hall, layering us in as much magic as I could manage.

Every painting in the main hall was ripped to shreds as if enormous talons had torn through the canvases. Priceless urns were shattered across the floor. Furniture and glass splintered. I scanned every dark nook and cranny, every room we passed.

No movement, nothing so much as breathed.

“Fuck. I have to get you out of here, Anaria.” Tristan stopped so suddenly I crashed into his back. “If the others are…” He gazed down the dark hall, his eyes hard. “I have to get you to safety.”

“I can’t leave them behind.” Every word was strained. “You know I can’t.”

The Oracle had warned me, hadn’t she? The bond between us was as much a liability as a boon. Strength and weakness and she would exploit both to her advantage.

Pale smoke trailed out of the doorway ahead of us. I peered over Tristan’s shoulder. Bexley’s experiments lay in ruins, vile green liquid eating a hole through the dining table, his books—what was left of them—piles of ash on the floor.

There was no rhyme nor reason to the wanton destruction.

Only blind rage could have created such a chaotic mess.

Tristan’s head cocked to the side, hazel eyes gleaming with fear. “Anaria. Please. Let me take you out of here.”

“We’d only lead her to the Keep where there are more targets. More casualties.” I chewed my lip, surveying the damage. Oh, the Oracle was pissed, alright. She’d spent weeks trapped inside her own head, and now that she was free, her retribution would be terrible.

I didn’t know why she’d waited, but I’d make sure her anger was only aimed toward me.

I grasped Tristan’s arm, turning my spine to steel.

“Listen to me.” His eyes begged me not to ask, but I dug my fingers into his skin. “I need you to promise me. Get the others out. Go somewhere she wouldn’t expect. Somewhere she’ll never find you.” Tristan grit his teeth, the sound like stones grinding. “She won’t kill me, Tristan, she still needs me. But she’ll hurt all of you to punish me, and that’s the only thing that would destroy me.”

“Don’t ask me to do this, Anaria,” Tristan begged, shaking beneath my hand. “Ask me to do anything, anything but leaving you behind.”

Fear turned to focus as I let him go and stepped away. “You know this is the only way we survive. Promise me, will you?”

“Fine. I promise I’ll get them out, but if you are in any danger?—”

I kissed him, my lips crashing into his so hard he groaned. “I can handle the Oracle. Pick your moment, and when it’s time, get them out. Be smart and take them somewhere she’ll never look.”

I sucked in a tear-stained breath. “When I can, I will find you. Do you hear me? I’ll find you, Tristan. And when I do, we will finish this together.”

Then I let him go.

20

RAZIEL

Crushed to my knees in the glass room suspended over the deep ravine, I lifted my eyes to track the Oracle’s slow saunter past the windows, her face turned away from us and toward the blighted forest.

Tavion and I were the baited hook, pinned like rats to the floor, unable to move.

All around us the Oracle’s rage rippled through the air, suffocating us as she paced back and forth in cold, calculating anger.

She wouldn’t be waiting much longer.

Tristan had sailed out of the clouds moments ago, little more than a shadow against the mist, my eyes too blurred from pain to tell if Anaria clung to his back.

But I knew Anaria would never leave us to face the Oracle alone.

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