Page 70 of The Stygian Crown

“Thank you for your love, your loyalty, and your service. Tell dad I said hello.”

Athar nodded. “He’d be proud, Logan. You’ve made both of us so proud.” Athar’s eyes drifted shut.

Kara bit her lip as tears leaked down her cheeks.

“Give your mother a chance. It’d do you both good. And tell Rohan he won this one.”

Athar did not go out of this world quietly, but with a great, shuddering breath that fluttered across his beard.

Magdalena broke down into sobs.

Logan pulled Athar’s black Stygian cloak around him, laid his sword on his chest, and crossed his arms over the pommel. One by one, the Stygians knelt and paid their respects to their quartermaster.

Chapter Sixteen

Their group camped in the Black Hills, not far from the hidden prison. They hadn’t been able to travel far. They needed to tend to the wounded, including the forty-odd women freed from Victus’s prison. They were in a poor state, heavily wounded in body or spirit both. Some of them still bore magic eaters they’d need help to remove. Jon and Faedra interviewed the women, asking after their families and where they lived so they might help them return home at long last. A few expressed interest in joining the Stygians if it meant an opportunity to draw more Sanguine blood. Others pledged their service to Namirah, drawn to the resurrected enchantress like moths to a flame.

The women who’d chosen to side with Victus rather than endure torture were pardoned, but they were not welcome to stay. They would make their way to other climes or perhaps join the Sanguines again, once their new leader emerged. A large faction of the Sanguine Riders were killed during the prison break, but the clan would still be a force to be reckoned with.

Who would take over with Victus gone was still up in the air. Many of the high-ranking officers had been there for Namirah’s resurrection. Kara wondered if Magdalena would make a play for power.

They did not find Salizar among the fallen bodies, and Kara feared he’d escaped in the chaos. Had he kept any of her magic eater for himself, or dedicated it all to the summoning? The last time she’d seen him, before all the chaos, he’d knelt at the edge of the ritual pit, reverence in his gaze. He was not done with Namirah.

Kara huddled in her and Logan’s tent alone, rubbing her hands together for warmth as her teeth chattered. She couldn’t stop shivering. Rahj and Serena sat by the fire outside, discussing how to collapse the prison with magic so it couldn’t be used again. The reason the hideout had been so difficult to locate had become clear when they’d emerged—the majority of the structure was buried underground, the entrance formed of sculpted earth that looked no different from the thousands of other hills that gave the Black Hills their name. There were also runes around the perimeter meant to obfuscate and confuse anyone seeking the place out.

Kara was tempted to peek outside the tent and look for Logan. Any time he was out of her sight, her chest grew tight and she felt short of breath. Like saving him had been a dream, or temporary, or Namirah would take it all back the moment she got the chance. Kara hadn’t recognized the improvised rune Namirah used on Logan, but she knew better than to trust the sorceress, blood relation or not.

The tent flap opened, and Logan ducked inside.

Kara released the breath she’d been holding.

“I’d thought to come warm up by your side, but you look like an icicle.” He shook out the roll of furs he carried and laid them down for them to curl up between.

“How do you feel?” Kara asked.

“Like I got in a fight with a bullmoose and lost.”

Logan wrapped around her, pulling her against him, and drew the fur up to her cheek.

Kara burrowed her face in his chest, hands diving beneath his shirt so she could feel his skin. She wanted to crawl inside him.

“What’s wrong? You were looking rather forlorn.”

“I’m scared. I thought I was going to lose you—Ididlose you. You were gone, Logan. I don’t know how she brought you back from the brink, and I’m afraid there’s going to be a consequence I haven’t thought of yet. I’m afraid it’s not going to last.”

“We’ll cross that road when we come to it. I can feel her magic inside me still. It’s…indescribable. Heady like summer wine and the elation of catching yourself just before you fall.”

“I’m not certain we can count her as an ally.”

“No, I daresay we can’t. She’s got an agenda and enough power to shake the kingdom. We’d be fools to trust her.”

Kara traced her hands down the sharp spikes curling behind Logan’s shoulders.

“Do you like them?”

“They’ll be good weapons, and I’m glad you’re healed. Though I imagine you’ll be punching holes in your bed sheets to begin with. How do you feel about them?”

“I’m just happy to be here. With you.”

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