Page 176 of Queen of the Crimson Throne

Someone was screaming.

Tears tracked down my cheeks. Or was it sweat? I couldn’t tell. I couldn’t feel anything. My entire body was numb.

My sister was gone.

I slammed my fists against the wooden floor and the room shook around me.

This feeling—this bone-crushing feeling. The excruciating pain that ripped through my chest. It was familiar. That thought alone could have sent me to my knees if I wasn’t already there. The last time I had felt like this—the last time I felt like this was the night of the vampire attack. When I realized they were dead.

Magic exploded from my palms as the pain rushed through me. Pain. That’s all I felt. Soul-crushing excruciating pain.

“Lennox!”

My chest heaved violently. I was unaware of what was happening around me.

“Lennox,” came a calm voice.

Arms wrapped in flames enveloped me. Legs coming on either side of me as I was pulled against a strong body.

Hands searched for mine, forcing me to relax my hands from fists to intertwine with theirs. Flames lick up our hands, our arms.

Our entire bodies were encapsulated in flames.

“I’m here.” Luka held me to him. “I’m here, Lennox. I’ve got you.” Sweat dripped down his brow onto my shoulder. “I need you to breathe.” I couldn’t.

“Yes, you can. Breathe in.”

My body shook as I tried to get air into my lungs. “Good. Try again. Breathe in.” He brought our intertwined hands to my chest. Placing one set on my heart and the other on my stomach.

“Feel as you breathe. Try again.” I took another breath, getting more air in my lungs this time.

I don’t know how long we sat like that. Each time I breathed my flames grew smaller until my heart leveled out and the last of my flames flickered out.

The floor beneath us was scorched, as were parts of the sheets falling from the bed.

“Can you get up?” Luka stood and offered a hand to me. When I was standing in front of him he wrapped his arms around me.

“She’s gone,” I choked out. “They took her.” There was no stopping the tears now that they flowed. The sobs wracked my body violently. My legs wobbled beneath me. If Luka wasn’t holding me up, I was certain I would have fallen back to the ground in a heap of tears.

“I know.” He ran a hand down my hair. “We’ll get her back. I promise.”

“You can’t promise that,” I choked out.

“I might not be able to promise it, but I will try my damnedest, Lennox. You know that.” He took a step back, holding my face in my hands as he looked at me. “I’ve got you.” The look on his face—the sincerity and determination written in his expression—Luka. I still had Luka. No matter what happened, I still had him. I was not alone. I closed my eyes and pressed my head against his chest.

“We’ll find her.” He placed a kiss on my forehead. “We’ll find her.”

That was the last thing I remembered before I slipped into the darkness.

66

LUKA

I stood, carrying a sleeping Lennox in my arms.

I wasn’t sure if she was sleeping or if she had passed out from the stress of the last day, but either way, I was glad she was resting. I knew the moment she woke we’d be on our way to get the journal from the Galtains.

She’d be upset with me for even letting her sleep, but she needed it. I knew she wouldn’t rest until Kara was back safely in her arms.

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