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Turned out, my goal was true. It was the destination I had wrong.

“Who are you?” she asked.

“Carcerem’s guardian,” I stated, firm in my belief.

“Who are you?”

From deep in my psyche, I shouted my answer, “Victor Custodis, the lost king of Carcerem. Prophesied heir to the throne.”

“Welcome home, child.” Her response was warm and inviting.

Water flowed over me, sweeping me up. I rose higher. Higher. Once more, my lungs burned. My temples pounded. I kicked my legs, swimming with all my strength until…

Bubbles erupted. I broke through the surface, flung my head back, and roared at the ceiling. Energy infused every molecule of my being. I glanced down at my body. Every inch of my flesh glowed with vitality, with power, with purpose.

I emerged—reborn.

Chapter Thirty-Six

VICTOR

I stormedinto Queen Elowen’s throne room. Unconscious guards littered the path behind me. “Drazen! Kronk!” I bellowed. “Where are they?”

Dirt and grime clung to my tattered clothing. Fatigue dragged at my every step. I’d exhausted three horses on my headlong dash to Copia. Eager to reunite with my allies, I hadn’t eaten or slept in two days. The blossoming energy at my center snapped and snarled. Newly awakened, it was an irritated toddler lashing out.

Yet another pair of armored soldiers dared to step into my path, swords raised. I knocked them away with a flick of my fingers. A bolt of golden magic flung their bodies several feet, slamming them into a wall. What I’d intended as a shove manifested as a battering ram. No matter. A battering ram was perfect for what I had planned.

The queen sat on her throne at the base of her sacred arbor. At my unruly entrance, she arched a brow. “Is all this violence truly necessary?”

I offered her the respect of a jerky bow. “Apologies, your highness, but I’ve no time for pleasantries.” And for once, little self-control. “Idris has Runa.”

“Yes, I know.” She sighed, her calm demeanor out of place for such dire circumstances.

“You know?” I said with a flash of fangs. “Then where are Kronk and Drazen? We need to retrieve her.”

“You’re too late.” She folded her hands in her lap. Her composure resembled my own, back in the mortal world. How annoying I must have been.

“Late?”

“You’ve been gone for several spans.”

“Hardly,” I said. “Idris captured Runa just yesterday.”

“Time passes differently in the Empyrean temple. When Drazen and Kronk learned of the attack and discovered Runa’s capture, they left immediately. Together, they made a plan to sneak into Slyborn Castle to rescue their sister, believing you’d abandoned her and struck out on your own.”

An assumption I could hardly blame them for.

“And?” I prompted, perched on a razor’s edge.

“They failed, of course,” she huffed.

“Those two never did function well without their sister’s leadership.” Idiots. “And what have you heard about Runa?”

“My spies tell me Idris made her his consort.”

Red coated my vision. A high-pitched siren squealed in my ears.

Idris had my mate. Had he touched her? Bent her to his will? Force her into his bed? If he’d laid even a finger on her, I’d cut him apart with a dull knife. Feed his diseased flesh to his duskcats while he watched.