Page 113 of When Storms Collide

“I see another warms your bed, now. And what about poor Corian? I thought he was your second hand,” I taunted.

The mention of what I had seen in my dream had her bristling. Her eyes, despite being endlessly inky black, were alight with a fire I had never seen before.

“Zachariah and Corian both have their uses,” she mused.

I scoffed at this. Leave it to Donika to not only use her soldiers to fight for her, but for her own pleasure. Everyonewas disposable to her, including her own family. People were merely pawns for her to move around the board as she saw fit.

“Enough of this,” I spat, taking my own step towards her.

She raised her brow at me in surprise.

“Little Stormshade, none of it will matter in the end. Your forces are being slaughtered on the battlefield below. You will join those numbers soon enough.” She shrugged, feigning nonchalance.

If I wasn’t paying close enough attention, I would have missed the slight shake in her hand as she raised her fingers to inspect her manicure, shadows swirling around her blackened fingertips.

“You’re right, Donika. None of it will matter… when you aredead.”

She giggled, and for one mere moment, she sounded very, very young. “You think you can kill me?”

I inclined my head as I watched her with narrowed eyes. “I know I can.”

I allowed my magic to spark through my fingers and the blade in my grasp illuminated with amethyst magic. Thunder cracked overhead so loudly the floorboards beneath us shook.

It was my turn to smile.

Donika’s gaze flitted away for a mere moment, but not before I could read the confusion in her expression. She had to know of the binding ceremony, with our own mother being bound. Hadn’t she ever wondered how Annelise had beenable to useandcontrol her own magic all these years without it swallowing her or betraying her?

Realization dawned in her gaze as her eyes darted towards the window.

She mustn’t have known I had found myself a binding partner in Nikolai. She had underestimated our connection to one another. Did she also know the stipulation of the binding, that if I died, Nikolai would too? And that the same was true in reverse? If she could only kill Nikolai—which might be easier for her—that would solve her ‘little Stormshade’ problem.

I stepped into her field of vision, blocking her view of the window beyond.

“It’s too late now.” As soon as the words were out of my mouth, she gave a soft nod, and one of the Noctani moved to leave the room.

Alastir raised his hand, an incantation spilling forth from his lips before anyone else could so much as blink. In a matter of seconds, a glimmering ocher barricade encapsulated the doorway, pulsing.

“No one leaves.” His voice was gruff when he spoke. “It ends here.”

Donika’s eyes sparked with recognition as she took him in for the first time.

“Alastir?” Her voice sounded… small.

Alastir set his jaw. He might be older, but he was one of the most powerful Shades in the realm. He was blessed by the Mother herself. Donika would have known him from when she was a soldier in Osiris’s army, training at the academy with Alastir daily.

His expression was sad as he took her in. There was so much history there, passing between them. Donika had killed Osiris, his oldest friend. And now Alastir would help to avenge his murder by killing his protégé.

The Noctani who had tried to leave the room banged uselessly against the magical barrier before turning towards us, letting a hiss escape her fanged mouth.

Donika raised her hand, signaling for her to quiet. To wait.

Just as a trained dog might, the Noctani settled into submission, quietly taking her place back by the wall.

The tension in the room was palpable. The hairs on my arms were raised as Donika smiled to herself. Whispered words escaped her lips. I wasn’t sure if they were a spell or a prayer. I wasn’t sure she even prayed to the Mother at all anymore.

With no other warning she raised her hand, and the Noctani surged forth.

Islipped Stormslayer free of its sheath on my thigh and wielded it with my non-dominant hand, Nik’s sword tightly gripped in the other. The first Noctani moved forward so quickly I could barely track her. The space in the room didn’t allow much room for us to outpace one another. That could be used to my advantage. Level the playing field. She snarled as she came at me, her fangs showing, dripping with saliva as she went straight for my neck.

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