Page 214 of The Kingdom's Reckoning
Kallie screamed, the sound mangled beneath the metal.
"I got it."
Kallie nearly sobbed at her brother’s voice. Her body collapsed, and she instantly released the key. In her periphery, she saw another figure appear. Through her tear-stained eyes, she recognized Moris immediately as he kneeled behind Domitius' head.
Kallie tried to ask them how they got here so quickly, but she was not free of the mask yet.
As if reading her thoughts, Terin said, "Moris found me as soon as he saw him." He pointed to the dragon that was now ripping a guard near Graeson to shreds with its teeth.
With the nearest guards taken care of, the beast hovered above Graeson’s form as he grabbed another chain and yanked it from the posts driven into the ground. The end of the chain sprung, and Kallie flinched. But the second dragon didn’t stop there. He grabbed another chain, then another.
"Who the fuck is that anyway?" Moris asked, snapping manacles around Domitius’ wrists and ankles.
Graeson’s wing sprang free at the same time as the mask fell from Kallie’s face. She sucked in a sharp breath, the air cold in her lungs.
"Barinthian," Kallie exhaled. She had never seen Graeson’s father, but she knew intrinsically that this was the god Graeson despised.
"His father?" Terin asked.
Kallie nodded. "It has to be."
Graeson’s second wing sprang free. He shook, shedding the last of the chains. He leaned back, and Kallie saw his chest rise as he inhaled. The back of his throat lit up as he glared at the guards.
Kallie’s heart jumped in her lungs as she saw the fear shining in the soldiers’ eyes. She shouted at Graeson to stop.
Graeson swallowed the flame, snapping his attention toward her.
"What is it, Kals?" Terin reached for her, but Kallie stepped away, holding him off.
She closed her eyes, feeling her power running through her veins. The answer had been there the entire time.
It wasn’t Moris who had stopped the mob from attacking him. He hadn’t prevented their soldiers from killing each other when Rian and the others had arrived last night. She had.
Kallie had barely tapped into her power.
As it flowed through her, she finally understood why Kage had sought her ability. He didn’t steal Kallie to just control a few lords, but entire armies.
Perhaps it was because she had accepted the bond, or maybe it was because she had stopped fighting herself. Either way, it didn’t matter why. All that mattered was that she could end this.
She could stop the bloodshed, here and now.
She reached for the soldiers and mentally grabbed them. Feeling their hearts beating, she squeezed, bending their will.
Domitius' hold on them snapped like a branch.
As Barinthian was about to exhale, ignoring her request to wait, the soldiers collapsed.
When Kallie looked up, her gaze instantly met Graeson’s. For a split second, she thought she would see something akin to fear shining back at her. Instead, there was only adoration. As if he knew she had the power in her all along.
"What just—" Terin gaped at the sight of the fallen soldiers. He turned to her. "Kallie, did you?—"
"Let me see that," Kallie said, interrupting him and pointing to the mask.
Still in shock, Terin gave her the mask.
"Take his helmet off," she told Moris.
Moris grabbed the bull helmet by its horns. When Moris pried the helmet off, Kallie’s heart dropped to her stomach as Domitius’ face showed in the sunlight.
