Page 132 of Savage Is My Kingdom

“From what little I know about your brother, he believed in this cause. Believed in the Oracle enough to devote a hundred years of his life to seeing this plan through.” I didn’t even know if Tavion was breathing, his eyes had gone so dark I saw myself reflected in them.

“His death was an accident, but I’m still responsible.Me.If I could go back in time and change what happened, I would. But I can’t. What I can do is try to see this through in Julian’s stead. See it through until the Fae king is dead, the kingdoms are united and the war ended. That’s what Julian wanted, and now…I guess it’s what I want, too.”

“Put her the fuck down, Montgomery.”

For a moment, I thought Tavion wouldn’t. That he’d ignore Zor and toss me out the window, or scream in my face or…something. I’d never seen anger like this, so deep and eternal I wasn’t sure Tavion had full control over himself.

But he set me on my feet, almost too gently, as if he knew how close to the edge he was.

“Don’t pretend you knowanythingabout Julian.” He said flatly. “And you don’t know anything about me.” His lips curled up, revealing sharp, lethal teeth. “Wife.”

“Get out.” Zor told him, and when I was brave enough to look away from Tavion, I shivered at the sight of Zor, knives in both hands, the expression on his face sending a clear message. Or I will cut you down where you stand.

“I’m done here.”

* * *

We watched him leave,then I jerked my head at Zor. “Either get out of my room or turn around and give me some privacy, I don’t care which.”

He hesitated, but when I undid the first button on my ruined dress, he whirled, retreating until he was against the wall. “What in the hell happened today, Anaria?” Zor sheathed both knives as I stripped the dress off, kicked it away and grabbed my leathers off the table.

“Ember is dead.” Zor half turned, then stopped himself. “She found Torin’s note, knows all our secrets and has sent a message to Solok. We have a couple hours before the messenger reaches Tempeste.”

I rechecked the iron bands, tied my hair back, gagging from the reek of decay. “If Solok gets that information, Torin is dead.” I sat on the edge of the bed, pulled on my boots. “If that information gets back to the Shadow King, we are all dead. You can turn around now.”

Zoe faced me and I squeezed my hands together to stop them from shaking. “Take me to Tempeste. We have to intercept that messenger. There’s still time, Zor.”

“I can’t get you there, not that far. The Northern Road at best, but even that will take two hours.”

“A series of short jumps, then?” I suggested. “We could…”

“I can’t.” He stared bleakly through the window, brow furrowed. “If Raz didn’t have the collar, he could do it, but my magic isn’t that strong.” I paused at everything he just revealed.

“Raz’s magic is more powerful than yours?”

“Raz is more powerful than anyone I’ve ever seen, except for you, Anaria. That collar isn’t just a symbol of his betrayal, it’s a prison to keep him contained.” I blew out a long breath.

“Then we cut the collar off.”

“That’s a death sentence for Raziel.” Zor shook his head. ‘Believe me, if it wasn’t, I would have freed him long ago, but the king would kill him.”

I reached up and slipped one of the bands down to my wrist, then loosened the other. “Then tap into my magic, use this power to take us to Tempeste.” I didn’t know what was even possible, but this was our only chance. “This is the same as yours, right?”

“Not even close.” Zor muttered, but his eyes narrowed, as if he was considering the possibilities. I slid the other band off, until they hung loose around my wrists, the awful, roaring power still somewhat contained, as if the iron surrounded me in an invisible shield.

“Use my magic.” I stepped closer. “Or I will attempt to go there myself.” I couldn’t help my bitter smile. “And gods knows where I’ll end up if I do that.”

Zor snatched my jacket off the table. “Put this on.” Once I was covered, he reached for me tentatively, took a shuddering breath before he caught my wrist in a loose grip, his elegant fingers tan against my pale skin.

He swallowed hard when his palm met my skin, then he went rigid as my magic flowed into him. For a long moment we stood like that, almost touching, his chest rising and falling, his head bowed against the onslaught, his breath washing over my face.

He smelled like a building storm, ozone and lightning, power vibrating through his lithe, muscled body as he absorbed my magic, adjusted to the weight of the magic with a deep groan.

That’s what he’d sound like when he came.The thought blew into my head and erased everything else, everything except his scent and the delicious heat coming off him. That quickly, I was aroused, and this was definitelynot the time.

“Stop it, Anaria.” He muttered between grit teeth.

“Sorry.” I tried to get myself under control, but magic and need tangled together, and I had a bad feeling all of this was being fed directly into Zor. “This is…unexpected.”

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