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Arianna tried to quiet her rage and focus on the task ahead. She’d reveal herself to the villagers as soon as her father and Raevina led their forces onto the platform. She didn’t want to scare the citizens by having a small military force appear out of thin air in front of their ramshackle gates.

She tried to take a steadying breath. They would only be gone for a little while. Her father would signal her once they had the half-breeds out, then Arianna would rush to their aid.

It would take at least another thirty minutes for Raevina to sift through the warriors and either recruit them to her side or knock them out. She’d make a decision based upon numbers; after that Saoirse and Avalon would strike.

Then Arianna’s real job began.

Arianna knew warriors from both sides would be brought to her and she’d be expected to heal them enough that they could rejoin the fray. If those who opposed her rule didn’t change their minds by the time they got to her, Arianna was to put them in irons.

She hated the idea, yet it was the only way. Not everyone would turn against Niall, whether from fear or loyalty. Five hundred years was a long time to rule. Many trusted him or feared him enough that they would never question his rule.

A light drizzle started again and Arianna sighed. More rain. Then the wind shifted and a horrid stench hit her delicate senses so hard she gagged and almost lost her meager breakfast.

She knew that smell. She’d never forget it. It conjured images of blistered hands and mangled bodies dumped into too shallow graves.

Arianna leapt from her horse and those who’d been riding alongside her followed along with four Móirín guards. Zylah and Ellie covered their noses, and Gavin had turned so pale Arianna wondered if the male might faint.

They moved east, their footsteps fast as the distance increased between her and the army at her back. No one dared speak, if only to avoid giving themselves away.

Her feet faltered as they rounded the corner of the homes and her eyes absorbed the carnage splayed across the ground.

Rion tried to turn her away, but Arianna pushed past him.

Bile rose in her throat as Arianna beheld the mounds of bodies just outside the village’s perimeter. Scavengers were tearing through the carcasses and flies buzzed in the air, feasting on the long dead half-breeds. Their limbs were contorted at awkward angles and it didn’t take long for Arianna to understand why.

They hadn’t just died. No, they’d been thrown off the edge of the city while they were still alive. She could tell from the scorch marks on the earth and the greenery that lay broken and dead. Some had tried to stop their fall but their magic hadn’t been strong enough.

No one spoke. Her father surveyed the scene as if he’d seen similar brutality before. Talon and Rion had gone unearthly still. Saoirse looked ready to rip someone in half. Zylah and Ellie were already crying and Raevina clenched her jaw in response, her gaze locked on the invisible city above. Gavin vomited but no one even passed him a glance.

Arianna’s feet carried her forward. She wasn’t sure why she tried to approach them. Maybe she hoped there was still something to be done, some way her magic might intervene and reverse the clock, but Rion’s gentle hand took her upper arm and pulled her against his chest. She didn’t resist this time.

Niall had done this. He’d murdered them, then let them rot as if half-breeds weren’t worthy of a proper burial. They were garbage to him and he was using their deaths to send her a message. Niall wanted her afraid so she would return as his obedient puppet.

But fear was the last thing on her mind.

The scent of rot and decay filled Arianna’s mouth with every breath and a rising wave built in her chest.

They’d made a plan, but she wasn’t hiding. Not from him.

“Arianna?” Rion’s voice was gentle, yet she could sense the storm brewing beneath his skin. It was a fury that mirrored her own.

Her breath clouded in the air and frost gathered at her feet, forming tiny, jagged spears that crunched beneath her boots. She didn’t even try to rein it in. Arianna was burning up from the inside as the ancient creature prowled its cage.

Free me, free me, free me, it seemed to say.

Arianna turned to Gavin. Her voice didn’t sound like her own when she said, “Take us up.”

Gavin retreated a step. He looked between Rion and Avalon as if waiting for their balks of protest. Both kept silent. “But—I thought the plan was to—”

Arianna stepped and Gavin retreated again. “Take. Us. Up.”

Seconds later, Gavin was working the nearest platform, lifting them high into the air and toward the city. She’d burn it to the ground along with anyone who wished to stand with that monster.

The wind violently whipped at her tight braid, pulling tendrils of hair loose that stung every time they hit her face. Ellie had put it up for her that morning. She wore the same clothes she’d rescued Rion in and had just as many knives strapped across her chest alongside the twin blades Talon had gifted her. The rest of them were dressed in a similar fashion, ready to take on the world at her command.

She just wanted a glimpse. If Niall waited for her at the city’s edge, then she’d send her father to gather their army and put an end to him once and for all.

No one questioned her shift in plans and part of her wondered if they could sense the mounting typhoon building in her core. She was going to kill Niall for this. Kill him, then leave his body out for the crows. She was done pretending everyone could change. Some people were just monsters and deserved to be put down.