Page 157 of A War of Three Kings

Finan’s body collapses in on itself, decayed instantaneously into its most basic elemental components. Only his royal purple clothes and his spiked gold crown remain intact on a pile of earth.

Both my body and Keira’s shake from the rapid use of so much magic, but we don’t have time to fall into shock. For a single, horrible moment, everyone in the room stares at theremains of the mad king, then at Keira, collectively holding their breaths.

I have never felt more proud in my life.

Cyprien stalks over to us, breaking the tension and grabbing me by the arm. “If that is done, we need to leave. Now.”

I glower at the druid Murdoc. “We cannot flee the way we came. You will get us out of here.”

Murdoc swallows hard. “I know the royal escape route within the walls. It is not in the blueprints.”

“Lead the way,” I snap. Murdoc takes a single step toward the back of the dais, but I grab his arm and swing him back around to face me. “If you betray us, I will tear your head from your shoulders with my teeth.”

He pales, then moves a tapestry to reveal a hidden door that camouflages into the wall.

As our war party funnels into the inky darkness of the passageway beyond, a few members of the mob break through the barricade that is no longer being fed with magic. They wave clubs and axes speckled with blood, stopping to beckon more of their number.

I close the door behind us, andthe throne room fills with feral-eyed people, screaming war cries, smashing and stealing whatever they can get their hands on.

As the darkness swallows us, bodies crash into the other side of the door, trying to break it. I throw fortifying air wields before it, creating a barrier mere humans cannot penetrate. My other fae add their magic to mine, solidifying it. In the next heartbeat, we are running down tunnels heavy with dust and clotted with spiderwebs, with only a few fire orbs to light our way.

Keira’s breathing is labored, and I know it’s not from exhaustion. I keep a reassuring hand low on her back. Twice Diarmuid stumbles in the dark, until Caitlin curses at him to make less noise.

We take turn after turn, racing up a staircase and down another, until the passage leads out into the library. I sigh a long breath of relief when we find it empty of violent hordes.

We race through the aisles, with Murdoc and Diarmuid grabbing and pulling along whichever trembling, hiding academics we come across.

Cyprien reaches the portal first, and while he powers it up, the rest of us take up a defensive circle around him, facing each of the entrances to the library. I take the crossbow from my back and hand it to Keira, slipping a quiver over her shoulder, then I draw my sword.

The portal hums to life at our back the moment the bells start tolling. King Niall has taken the throne. More bells answer the call of the first until the entire city seems to ring with the low, brassy declaration. I take a moment to bask in the satisfaction of that achievement, with Keira here, safe at my side.

“He is finally out of my life.” Keira’s voice breaks, but I can feel the flood of relief that runs through her, uncoiling the tension in every muscle.

I place my hands on either side of her face and stare at her, brushing a tendril of hair from her cheek with my thumb. Those eyes sparkle as she looks up at me, and my entire soul is flooded with the love she feels for me.

This was our trial.

Keira is my mate.

I take her hand and lead her through the portal, back to safety.

Chapter 42

Keira

Istagger out of the portal, pulled along by Aldrin. Lightning seems to zap from the touch of his fingers around my wrist, all the way through me, curling around my very soul. It caresses every inch of my flesh in the most sensual way.

A haze sits over my brain.

I am lost in the nearness of him after so long apart. My eyes snag on the beautiful sharp angles of his face and the hard planes of his body. I need more. For him to be closer, with fewer clothes and barriers between us. I need him inside me.

Aldrin freezes and turns back to me, his amber eyes hooded and heated as they roam over my face, then dip to my ample cleavage on display. Lust rolls through me in hot waves that I cannot control, building and spiraling just from the way he looks at me.

I hook my fingers around the top of his breastplate, their tips brushing against the bare skin of his chest, ready to tear the thing from him. Aldrin’s hands wrap around my waist, and I gasp. The fabric of my dress is so thin, it is like it is not there at all—or maybe my flesh is over-sensitive.

I reach up on the tips of my toes as he leans down to me, yearning to taste his lips with a desperation I have never known before. My heart swells and swells until it is at risk of bursting.

“Keira.” Diarmuid’s voice penetrates the fog of my mind. “Have you even noticed where we are?”

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