Page 70 of Crown of Darkness
“What do we do?” Lucere asks.
“I told you what you needed to do last night,” Thiago replies. “The only way to defeat Adaia and Maren is for the three of us—Kyrian, you, and myself—to join—"
“Join what?” she demands. “Your war? Ravenal is finally free of my great-grandmother’s clutches! We haveyearsof rebuilding to do. There’s barely anything left of the kingdom as it is, and—”
“There won’t be anything of it left if you allow Adaia to march in and burn it.”
“You and your fucking wife will drag us all into ruin!” she suddenly hisses. “Did you ever think of that when you first claimed Iskvien as your wife? Did you even give a thought for anyone else when you told the world that you would burn it to ashes if any of us dared intercede with the marriage?”
“Anyone else? Or just you?”
“You will ruin us,” she says bitterly. “You will ruin us all, and for what?Her?”
Shadows lengthen as Thiago’s eyes darken. I recognize the set of his shoulders and the press of his mouth. There’s no sign of the charming suitor who won my heart for all those months, no sign of the careful prince who tries to rule his country with a fair and even hand. No, this is the predator. The dark prince they all whisper about.
Even my breath catches, because I’ve never seen the warlord who earned that reputation long ago fully unleashed. It’s like a glimpse of the male beneath the mask, and I don’tknowhim.
Not completely.
“Is it ruin to seek salvation in the only hope you have ever seen?” he asks in a gentle voice that holds an edge of malice.
The two of them stare at each other.
“You should thank her, you know.” Thiago takes a step toward her, eyes glittering darkly. “Because you know nothing of what I am capable of. You know nothing of the depths that call at me. There is only one thing that reminds me of who I am and what I wish to remain, and she’s standing right in fucking front of you.”
Kyrian steps between them, not as a threat, but as a warning that we need to keep a cool head here. “We’re playing directly into Adaia’s hands.”
I catch Thiago’s arm.
And our eyes meet.
“I can fight my own battles, thank you very much.”
“I’m aware of that,” he growls in my head.
“Then stop acting like—”
“Like what? Like I just saw my wife being dragged out of a fucking burning building? You said you would go nowhere without me.”
My eyes narrow. “Or Eris. Who was with me.”
His thin in return.
“Later,” I tell him. “You can chide me later.Right now,you’re threatening our allies.”
“What I have in mind has nothing to do with ‘chiding,’” he promises. But he turns to the prince and princess. “My apologies. I spoke out of turn. It’s not every day you see your wife nearly die.”
“She wasn’t the only one,” says Imerys, suddenly coughing. “And that’s enough, Luce. We’re only talking ourselves in circles.”
“Immy?” Corvin kneels next to his youngest sister as she continues coughing. “How are you feeling?”
“Like someone just burned half my fucking library.” There are tears in the corners of her eyes.
I keep seeing the library in my mind, going up in flames. Lucere and Thiago doused the worst of the fire, but so many of the books were burned.
Especially those on the level where Imerys and I were searching the other day.
Where something was watching us.
