Page 182 of A Kingdom of Shadow and Ash

His nose flared, his eyes narrowing—

Blood.

A single drop fell from her temple,from the wound where he had butchered her horns.

He grinned. Then blasted the tree apart.

Alina barely had time to scream. The force of the magic sent her plummeting, the air vanishing from her lungs the instant she struck the earth. Pain. Bright and searing.

Hagan was already moving towards her.

He crouched over her, voice deceptively gentle. ‘There you are.’

Her fingers dug into the earth.

As he reached for her, Alina threw the dirt into his face, her aim perfect, blinding him instantly. He roared in fury, hands clawing at his eyes.

She ran.

Her feet barely touched the ground as she burst through the last line of trees, emerging into the vast golden fields beyond.

Ahead, a camp.

Hessa was there, waving her arms, calling for the desert folk.

The ground shuddered beneath them as the creatures stirred, their great serpentine bodies rising, fangs gleaming in the moonlight.

Faster.

Alina did not stop. Not when she heard Hagan's magic explode behind her. Not when she saw the desert warriors rushing towards him, their serpents lunging, their hissing fangs snapping inches from his body.

She grabbed onto the rope hanging from the beast’s side and hauled herself up, her muscles burning, her dress tearing further as she scrambled onto the makeshift saddle.

Hessa leapt onto her own, their bodies instinctively shifting forward as the serpents coiled and lifted, their massive forms rising into the night, undulating across the earth withimpossible speed.

At the last second, Alina turned, locking eyes with the warlock below.

She let him see it—the promise in her gaze, the cold certainty of it.

The next time they met, it would not be her running.

It would be Hagan who begged for his life.

It has always been about love.

The love I have for Hadrian, and the one I have for my people.

I cannot save them both. But I shall die trying.

Tabitha Wysteria

Daku’s wings sliced through the ink-black sky, the great beast landing in a swirl of dust between the towering obsidian castle and the temple that had haunted Mal’s dreams in her absence.

Home.

And yet, she was no longer the same wyverian princess who had ridden away with murder burning in her heart, the weight of an ancient curse pressing against her ribs.

Now, she returned with uncertainty gnawing at her soul.

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