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Finally, Landers answered Varah’s question, his voice cutting into the tension with lethal precision. “I told you, you underestimated her.”

Dark clouds rolled over the sky on the tail of his words, suffocating the sun from pouring its light into the room as thunder clapped in the distance. Candlelight flickered against the stone walls, the fire no match for the storm that was coming.

Landers spoke again, taking a step toward Oryn as raw fear bled into his irises. “Tell me, Oryn, have you met my wife?”

Screams began to echo from somewhere in the House of High—a chorus of death inching toward us. Oryn’s gaze flashed to the exits of the throne room as Sovona and Varah slowly retreated, their eyes searching for the cause of the noise.

“N-no. I did not know you had taken a queen,” Oryn stuttered as another scream sounded right outside the corridor. The room filled with gasps, commotion breaking out as nobles scrambled to flee the hall. “Who is she?”

A smile dripping with death split Landers’s face, shadows pouring into the room as he answered. “Darkness.”

Chapter forty-seven

HYACINTH

ThepoundingofLanders’sheart reverberated through my own veins, a steady and relentless beat that forced my fear to calm.

Every ounce of pain that pulsed through his body flooded my soul as the towering glass windows of the House of High’s great hall exploded inward.

They would not lay another finger on my family. Not while I still had breath in my body.

I did not wait for the dragons to land, I did not wait for anything as I leapt from their back, hurtling toward the round below. The impact of my boots shook the very foundations of their fortress, shattering glass under my feet as I landed with a thunderous force. Darkness descended upon the surroundings as I blocked off all possible exits, screams piercing through the air like a chorus of terror. A dragon’s song filled the air at my back as I rolled my shoulders back, echoing throughout the realm like a call to arms—like awarning.

My body hummed with raw power, casting an ethereal glow that illuminated my path toward the dais. Magic radiated around me in pulsing waves, shadows twisted and parted with every step I took, like living creatures bowing in reverence as Ata and Landers came into view.

I could feel the others step through the broken windows, their magic ready but I didn’t look back.

All I could see was him.

My entire world condensed into a single figure standing before me.

Our gazes locked, and in that instant, a crushing weight lifted from my chest. My lungs greedily drank in air they had refused to take in without him. His piercing emerald eyes held so much pain, so muchpride, as they gazed back at me. My heart throbbed against the cry threatening to escape my lips at the sight of him.

It was more than just the sight of him—of them.

It was the sight of my home.

My gaze slipped to Ata and I choked back the gasp that raced up my throat. Her eyes held galaxies, as if she could see right into the very depths of my soul, exposing every thread that made me. A sob rolled from my chest as that beautiful, wicked smile spread across her lips.

She was okay.

She was okay.

“Take another step closer and he dies,” a shrill voice said, and my eyes turned to the sound. A silver-haired woman held a blade to Dukovich’s throat as two guards held him in place. Blood trickled from where the blade cut into his skin.

I didn’t have to move, didn’t have to speak, only think and the blade was sent flying across the room. From the corner of my eye, I could see a grin spread across Landers’s lips, feel his pride flaring underneath my breasts.

What little color stained the woman’s cheeks faded as I took another step closer. She shoved Dukovich forward and Ata caught him by the arm, steadying him as she turned to run. Shadows shot toward her, catching on her ankles—just like she had done to Ata—and pulled her feet out from under her.

“Leaving so soon?” I asked, the venom in my voice a surprise to my own ears. “We haven’t properly met yet.”

I dragged her body back toward me as Landers made his way to my side. He slipped his hand into mine, pulling it to his lips and pressing a kiss against its surface as his verdant gaze locked onto mine with a ferocity that ignited a storm under my skin.

“Oryn,” Landers said, his gaze still fixed on mine as a smirk danced at the corners of his lips. “Meet my wife.”

The woman in front of me stilled at the revelation, her eyes widening for a split second before wildly thrashing against my shadows. They tightened around her, pulling her body upright and forcing her to stand before me.

Andrues and Azeyer dragged the High Priest into the light, and panic flared over his face as his eyes locked on mine.