Page 145 of The Kingdom's Reckoning
Death, she knew, was a mercy—something she did not deserve but welcomed either way.
She took one final breath, allowing the air to fill her lungs.
She thought of Laurince, Rian, Kallie, and the others—the people who did not deserve this fate. The people who deserved to live and to live freely. She prayed to any of the gods who were listening to protect the ones she loved. To let this war end before they suffered the same fate as she did.
This was how it ended for her—death by cowardice and weakness.
A heavy weight knocked into her side, and she slammed her eyes shut.
She waited for the pain, for the torment, for the drakonis’ teeth to tear apart her skin. But it never came. All she felt was a slight pang in her spine where her back had smacked into something hard.
Someone said something unintelligible, and her brows bunched together.
Was the God of Death here?
She tried to peel her eyes open, but she was afraid to look the god in the eye.
Her body shook as someone grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled the gag from her mouth. "Gods, what were you going to do? Just sit there and let it trample you, Haze?"
Myra’s eyes sprang open.
Concern and anger swirled within Laurince’s dilated, red-streaked eyes. Sweat soaked his thick black hair, and pain still twisted his features. Yet he was here, with her.
"Laurince, you’re—" She struggled to speak, and her heart hammered in her chest. "I’m not dead?"
Laurince scoffed, then grimaced as a spout of pain warped his features. He shivered and said through gritted teeth, "Not yet, but you might be soon if you don’t snap out of it."
Laurince sat up and rolled his shoulders back, and Myra gasped.
With a shaking hand, she reached out. Her fingertips hovered over the violent red skin around his shoulder blades. His skin was twisted and so red that it appeared as if he had been burned.
"Laurince," Myra whispered.
"Not the"—he shuddered, and the muscles around his shoulders rippled—"time."
He snatched the flimsy collar and ripped it from his neck. Then he grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her up to her feet, the chains rattling on the floor. "This might hurt."
Before she could question him, Laurince bent down and tugged on the chains, snapping them as if they were made of twine.
Myra’s jaw dropped in shock. "How did you do that?"
"No time to explain." Laurince snatched her hand and dragged her behind a pew, the broken chains trailing behind her and scraping against the floorboards. He forced her down behind the seats and grabbed her shoulders, his grip almost bruising as he stared at her, his eyes bouncing across her face. "We’re getting out of here."
"But—" Myra looked around them.
Havoc reigned in the throne room. The screams hadn’t stopped and had only become more violent, more strained as the drakonises attacked.
"Stay down, got it?" Laurince pulled away, but Myra panicked. She grabbed his wrists, halting him.
"Where are you going?"
"I’m getting Rian. Then we’re getting out of here."
Before she could respond, Laurince stood, the long chain in hand. "Keep your head down, Haze," he directed before he took off.
Despite his instructions, she peeked her head over the top of the bench and found him running toward the dais. Blood stainedhis back, dripping from the protruding bones. Myra had no idea how he was even moving.
A shadow fell overhead, and her hair was swept across her face as a snarling drakonis swooped in. The beast screeched, its teeth dripping with saliva as it rushed toward Laurince. The captain slid beneath the animal’s head as it snapped its jaws, narrowly missing him. And though Laurince moved with speed, his movements were jerky, the pain of the serum still affecting him. Yet he pushed through it, his determination and adrenaline overcoming it.
