Page 27 of Queen of the Wicked
“Thought you might want another pair of eyes,” he says, gaze fixed on her.
No resentment. No rivalry. No jealousy. Only a quiet understanding that this girl—this woman—is the reason we’re here at all. The reason we haven’t destroyed each other.
Adelasia moves between us, striking and spinning, throwing bursts of dark energy at various targets in the courtyard. A bench. A tree. The marble columns surrounding the courtyard. Kaius corrects her breathing. I catch her when her focus slips. We both push her, demand more, but never once let her fall.
Something new is blooming here. Between all three of us.
Her focus slips once more, but before I have a chance to help, her body coils with a strange tension and the room explodes with magic.
I feel myself flung backward like a ragdoll, slamming into Kaius midair. He curses. We crash to the floor in a heap of limbs, my wings tangled under Kaius, who groans as my elbow lands in his ribs. Adelasia topples over us both, her body limp and panting from the effort.
Silence.
Then, she laughs. Soft, breathless, surprised.
I glance over. She’s sprawled across my chest, hair a tangled halo, and for the first time in what feels like ages… she’s smiling.
I can’t help it. I laugh too. So hard my ribs ache. And then Kaius follows. Magic still crackles in the air, but it’s no longer ominous. It’s alive. Electric.
“What happened there?” Kaius asks, amused but swallowing his laughter to regain his composure.
“Sorry…I got too confident,” Adelasia says, smiling sheepishly.
“Confidence,” I hum, brushing a strand of hair from her cheek, “is how all the best disasters begin.”
She shifts to look between us, her body still curled on the floor. “Then I suppose the three of us are doomed.”
And somehow, that doesn’t sound so tragic anymore.
Twenty-Four
Adelasia
There’s something off in the air as we stand up from the pile we landed in.
It isn’t the magic this time. It’s not the way the rot pulses beneath my skin or how the shadows cling to the walls of my mind like moss. No, this is different. This is…beyond any of us.
Rowan and Kaius stand, their backs unnaturally straight, Rowan’s wings folded too tightly. Kaius hasn’t looked me in the eye once. They search the skies as if they can hear voices that I can’t.
I cross the gravel toward them, sweat still clinging to my skin from our training. It’s only when I’m nearly between them that Rowan glances my way.
It’s the kind of look that makes your stomach sink.
“What is it?”
Their silence confirms what I already suspect.
Kaius finally speaks. “The Priestesses. They’re warning us.”
“I didn’t hear them,” I say. “What did they say?”
Kaius steps toward me protectively and wraps an arm around my waist. He looks up at the sky where a half-moon shines bright above our heads. “That under the full moon is where this ends.”
He doesn’t need to say more. I know what he means. The Well. The place where this all began. The place I’ve been trying so hard to forget.
Rowan steps closer to. “You’re strong enough now to make the journey.”
I swallow hard. My tongue feels thick. “But what if I’m not?”
