Page 120 of Where Darkness Falls

The creature nods, raising its strange hands.

Immediately, there’s a shift in the air around us as the wards around the courtyard fall. Emyr and the others are standing near the entrance, watching it attentively. “Shall we?” King Tiernan asks, offering me his arm.

I hesitate for only a moment, afraid that I made the wrong choice.

If this is the only path to bring back my family, then so be it.

So I nod, curling my hand around King Tiernan’s bicep as we walk forward…

Sealing my fate with the Demon King of Zulgalros.

“High General, wait!”Maeva calls as she sprints behind me—attempting to keep up with my stride—as I march toward her chambers. I know she’s trying to maintain the level of decorum we agreed upon outside of the dome, but now isn’t the time to rehash what just happened.

“Not now, Maeva,” I growl.

What in all of Celestae is she thinking, agreeing to the quest for the bloody Crógemma?

Not only did she agree to this wild-goose chase, but she did so with the arrangement that I train her for two months in case of a skirmish. I also have to assist her in summoning her ability as she wills—not just as she feels threatened.

Two monthsto teach her to be as skilled as a bloody soldier that has trained for years!

The king is mental.

Maeva gasps behind me. “But?—”

“Enough!” I snarl, my shadows flaring behind me in warning.

My anger is coiled so tightly that I fear what my abilities will do if I unleash them. It slithers just beneath the surface, ready for my command.

It took every ounce of restraint to keep them in check during our “meeting” with the king and Domhnall. I clench my jaw at the reminder of seeing her hand wrapped around his bicep, her eyes dead of all light. However, the king’s domineering, victorious smile was almost too much as he whispered to her, as if she were his lover.

Everything within me snarls as I’ve internally claimed her for my own, but in that moment, I couldn’t do a blasted thing.

What did he do to my Rosey girl?

What a bloody mess all of this is.

I don’t want to hurt Maeva, but I’m furious with the situation she’s put herself in—as well as the Cadre, as we’re joining her on this suicidal quest.

Yes, it’s an order, but there’s no way, in all of Celestae, that we would’ve let Maeva journey to the bloody Abyss of Zulgalros alone.

My rage threatens to spill over the longer I ponder all of this, so I hasten my steps… again.

The rapid clicking of Maeva’s shoes against the marble grates on my nerves as she struggles to follow, but I refuse to slow my strides for her. The rest of the Cadre are close by, so I know they’ll remain beside her at all costs. They’ve learned it’s best not to converse with me when I’m like this; however, Maeva, being the stubborn woman she is, continues to call out to me. The sooner I get her back to her chamberssafely, the better, so I can cool off alone.

I hurl open the door,gesturing for her to enter.

“Will… you… allow… me… to… speak… for… one… bloody… second?!” she gasps out, trying to catch her breath.

“No,” I deadpan, gesturing again to the opening of her quarters.

She folds her arms over her chest, a storm churning in her eyes. “Well, I’m not entering until you do,” she snaps back.

Normally, I’d find this little display amusing; however, with my rage on the rise, it only riles me further.

“Rosey, go in the bloody room,” I warn.

She rolls her eyes. “Unless you’re going in there too, I’m staying right here,” she replies.