Page 62 of Ember and Eclipse
“I swear on every divine that I will kill you.”
Asear smiled cruelly. “I don’t think so, Rel. And you’ll never be free again. You won’t eat, drink, orbreathewithout my permission.” Asear leaned in and pressed his mouth to hers in a hard kiss to seal her fate. “I’ve conquered nations, and I’ll conquer you,” he whispered against her lips.
She let out a feral growl, straining to reach him, but the hold on her was too tight.
Straightening, Asear motioned to the men who held her, not sparing her another glance.
Devdan was several paces in front of her, already down the temple stairs and being led to more Lunae who hadn’t entered the holy place. She wanted to know his plan because one thing she knew for certain was that she wouldneverbe owned again.Even if the only liberation she had was death.
The Lunae wrenched her again, and they began descending the temple stairs. She couldn’t see over Asear in front of her, but she heard the scuffle.
Curses and snarls took up, and Asear moved out of the way to finally give her a clear line of sight. Devdan was surrounded. He was fighting them off, even as they grabbed his limbs, attempting to restrain him while still landing punishing blows.
They were going to tear him apart.
And he was going to let them.
A spark ran through her. Hope flared and then extinguished in a second. Her magic couldn’t work with witchsilver.
The fight became increasingly violent as one of the Lunae hit him in the face, breaking skin and splattering blood. Though one had him in a bear hug, he kicked the other off, sending him careening away.
She felt it before she saw it, and the curse from her captor let her know.
Her magic.
As if sensing it, Devdan met her gaze. For a heartbeat, he looked in awe of her, and then he smiled. “Wildfire.”
He disappeared beneath the other Lunae, some shifting into wolves as they dragged him down.
“Put more witchsilver on her!” the Imperator yelled. But when the two Lunae left behind only stepped hesitantly toward her, he came for her instead.
Something fractured inside of her. Familiar and heated, a thousand suns seeking out destruction.
She let Asear get close, his arrogance blinding him to the extent of what she was capable of.
The magic rippled, expanding from the center of her chest outward until, unable to be contained within her, it sparked and burst through the collar, sending the coils of witchsilver spiraling away.
She was aware of the Lunae trying to intercept her, but it was too late. The Imperator halted his approach, uncertainty dancing across his features. The exact moment that his confidence turned fully into fear, she smiled. She lunged and threw her arms around him in a fatal embrace.
He had no time to respond. Emerald tendrils wrapped and flared around them. “I am my own empire. I cannot be conquered,” she hissed.
His scream was a magic of its own. His burning a funeral pyre for everything he took from her. She willed her essence to burn hotter still. He struggled in her grip, his sobs and shouts full of all the pain and torment he had ever caused her. The smell of his burning flesh and hair should have made her sick, but she reveled in it. His flesh melted against her, his blood boiling and evaporating. His bones collapsed, incinerated. And she didn’t let go until he was nothing but ash—smeared against her, floating to the ground, trailing the temple stairs, catching in the wind like a banner of vengeance.
And still, she burned. The temple behind her withstood her essence, standing as a witness to her power. She was destruction and vengeance. Wildfire and catastrophe.
The goddess of retribution.
She tipped her head back and roared, the sound coming from ancient and dark places within her. Her magic grew even still, and the Lunae around her attempted to avoid her firestorm. But whips of magic reached for them and the moment it touched them, they were set ablaze in dazzling green flames.
Even their screams were devoured.
Chapter XXXVII
Theairwaspainfullycold as it traveled over her naked form. The scorched earth and blackened marble steps sent dark rivulets of smoke all around her. She looked down at herself with a distinct feeling of being outside of her body. Her unmarred skin was covered in ash. The emerald was still at her throat, the fenty vines crisped but otherwise intact. She had no logical explanation of how it survived, and her clothing hadn’t.
She stumbled down the remaining stairs. The field before her was drenched in blood, and a dead Lunae nearby was surrounded by a pool of crimson. Devdan had led the others off, away from her, so that she could have a chance to get away.
And yet, it was all for naught.
