Page 155 of A War of Three Kings

I glance back at my people. “Do what you must.”

Cyprien smiles at me wickedly, while Drake cracks his neck from side to side.

I step into the charging crowd, flicking those nearest back with localized torrents of air and flinging them into walls. Thewindows along the far side of the corridor shatter, and dozens of tree branches reach in from the gardens beyond. They snag incensed humans and drag them back outside. I recognize the threads of Cyprien and Drake’s magic in them. The clack of a crossbow tells me that Caitlin is still right at my back, as eager as I am to get to Keira.

Suddenly, the corridor is quiet.

Klara releases her grip on a huge man, even by my standards, and he groans as he drops to the ground, the very life nearly sucked out of him, dark veins webbing across his skin from her reverse healing magic.

We race toward the grand doors of the throne room at the far end of the corridor, with the indistinct roar of the distant mob on our heels. More will be here soon. Silvan reaches the doors first and tries to yank them open.

They rattle in their frames, but don’t part.

“Barricaded,” he grumbles as he places his palms against the wood and thrusts an intense pulse of air magic into it.The doors shake and splinters fly off them, but it isn’t enough.

Caitlin pushes Silvan aside and puts her hand to the door. Fire erupts from it in dancing tongues, the flames quickly spreading across the entire surface. A rush of heat assaults my face and exposed arms.

I back away from her, swinging my attention to the corridor behind us. The crashing of hundreds of boots on marble echoes down the passage, accompanied by the manic shouts of frenzied people. The rest of the mob is near, but they are not on us yet.

“Hurry!” Caitlin yells.I whip back to her. Falling embers rain around her, and the doors have been reduced to cinders. The tips of her hair are fiery whipcords to match, and her ears are pointed.

I am the first to step through the smoky shroud of the doorway, my feet crunching on charcoal. There are two dozenguards in neat rows before the thrones. They shake as they stare at me with wide eyes. One even drops his spear.

I know what I must look like to them, with all my glamour dropped: horns, black streaks across my face, inky fingers tipped with long claws. Then the other fae line up beside me.

Cyprien’s eyes are completely black, with no whites at all. Elongated fangs and tusks peek through his lips and his blackened claws match my own.

Drake’s skin has turned a brighter shade of red, and an exoskeleton of near-transparent scales covers it. The humans look as though they will faint at the sight of our primal forms.

Behind them stands the mad king, on the dais before the thrones. He has a blade in his hand and holds the tip beneath Keira’s jaw. His other arm is wrapped around her waist, forcing her in front of him, using her body as a shield.

The sight of them breaks something within me. My sanity. My tight reins on the beast within. It makes me utterly feral.

I want to level this room.

This palace.

This city.

To destroy everyone in it to get to the woman I love.

Rage burns within me like the hottest fire, until it is all I know. I pull up my magic from its deepest well, ready to serve out death and destruction on a large scale, but something pulses within Keira and drags me back to her.

A glowing aura surrounds her body, so bright it is almost blinding, and she is an ethereal beauty within it. Every feature is absolute perfection, because it belongs to her. There is a tether between us, pulling and sucking my very soul toward her, like a fierce riptide.

Keira’s doe eyes widen as they land on me, and her rosebud lips part with shock as that aura stretches out a thick band, flying out of her chest and slamming right into mine. My entirebeing feels like it stumbles back multiple paces, struck hard with powerful magic, but my body stays exactly where it is.

A sudden, deep connection blooms between our souls, and I canfeelher fear in its rawest form. The cold prickle of sweat across her skin. The way her body trembles and her heart beats erratically as if it were in my own chest.

Keira fears forme. For Caitlin.

But there is also relief flooding through her as hope is born in her heart. When our gazes lock, a rich, decadent wave of velvety warmth rolls from her to me, as her chest brims with love in its purest form. It is a song in harmony with my own.

Only a single moment has passed, but it feels like an eternity. No one else reacts, because they cannot feel what has happened between us, but a tear rolls down Keira’s cheek and a huge grin splits my lips. I step forward, swinging my sword in arcs, preparing to carve a path to her.

Let them leave,Keira pleads, her voice loud and strong in my head, like it has never been before.These guards never laid a finger on me. They have always been loyal to the entire royal family.

I pause, then address them. “Get out of my way if you want to live. The palace is overrun by the mob and the rest of the royal guard has fled. I only need the mad king.” I point to Finan with my sword and he recoils. “Leave now, and I will not harm you. Stay and you will die.”

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