Page 34 of Crown of Betrayal and Blood (Dragons of Tirene #3)

Chapter Thirty-Four

On the way back from meeting with Eldor, I fill Agnar in on the details of my journey. It’s been a long few days, and all I want to do is be with Sterling. In the morning, Agnar will join us, and we’ll figure out some sort of a plan.

Once inside the palace, I slip past the guards, excited to finally get a chance to talk to Sterling. I have so much to share with him, including the fact that my maternal grandfather is alive and kicking.

I close the door behind me as I enter his private sitting room. The space is quiet and dark. Has Sterling gone to bed already? Did the guards tell him I’m back?

In this part of the palace, I don’t notice any ever-lights. My hand flicks out, and small flames spring to life at the wick of each candle lining the walls. As the light chases away shadows, I search for him, but Sterling’s not here.

Maybe he’s asleep. It’s got to be close to midnight at this point. A long day with the royal council on top of yesterday’s horrors probably wore him out.

Grabbing one of the candles, I cross the room and open the door to his bedchamber.

It’s just as dark and silent as the sitting room.

As quietly as possible, I tiptoe over to the big bed only to find it empty.

No crown prince dozing between the silky sheets.

He’s nowhere to be found.

“Sterling?” I peer at the door leading to the bathing chamber. “Are you in?—”

Strong arms latch around my waist from behind.

A surprised shriek tumbles from my mouth, and every muscle in my body tenses in preparation to attack…until the familiar scent of leather, soap, and a hint of spice envelops me.

“Ziva’s flames!” The tension seeps away, though my heart continues to pound as if it might gallop right out of my chest. “Are you trying to shorten my life? I’ve lost count of how many times you’ve snuck up on me and yanked me into dark caves or rooms. I’m starting to think it’s some sort of kink.”

Sterling pulls me into him and presses a lingering kiss to the side of my throat. “If memory serves, you always enjoyed what I did to you in those dark places.”

Tension returns to my body, this time for an entirely different reason. “Wicked man.”

His lips curve into a smile against my neck. “Is that a complaint, Duchess?”

“No.” I lean into him, reveling in his strength. “Never.”

“Thought as much.” His fingers splay around my waist, the other hand skimming its way down my stomach. “I missed you. Don’t ever stay gone so long again.”

“It was only a couple days.” I quiver when his hand drifts lower. “But I missed you too. Can’t say that I envy you being shut in with the royal council. The guards wouldn’t let me see you when I first got back a few hours ago.”

He freezes a moment before his hand resumes its trajectory and dips lower, stoking the flames of my desire. “The council. What a clusterfuck. But I won’t bore you with all those details tonight. Tell me about your trip.”

“It was good. Really good.” I twist in his arms until we’re chest to chest and gaze up at him. “But maybe we can talk later?”

That’s all the invitation he needs.

Sterling lowers his mouth to mine, claiming me with a voracious kiss that brims with pent-up desire.

As we devour each other, my body becomes liquid and my worries melt away. Thoughts of phoenixes, my grandfather, Leesa, drachen, and everything else disappear. Plenty of time to deal with that later. Right now, I want to lose myself in the man I love.

It’s so damn good to be home.

His grip tightens around me as I tunnel my fingers through his silky hair.

“Careful, or you’ll squeeze the life out of me,” I tease, pulling back a few inches to drink in the sight of him.

I can barely make out his features in the dim light, but what I do see takes my breath away. A dark lock of hair falls over his sculpted cheek, and the flames pick up the gold flecks in his eyes while turning the rest obsidian and shadowed.

My prince is fierce and rugged and more than a little terrifying.

He will always be the most beautiful man I’ve ever known.

Sterling smiles as the pressure around my waist and ribs increases. He lowers his head again, teeth scraping my throat over my pulse.

Someone is enthusiastic this evening.

I try to draw a full breath, but it catches in my throat. “Sterling?” In the stillness of the room, my wheezed chuckle comes out strained. “I kind of…need…air.”

His arms tighten even more, constricting like iron bands. My amusement fades, and the first wisps of fright flutter in my chest.

His teeth clamp down on my skin, biting hard.

“Ow! What are…you doing?” I push at his shoulders, struggling to wriggle free, but he’s so cold and immovable that I might as well be fighting against the statues that line the palace gardens.

The fear in my chest solidifies into full-fledged panic. Sterling has always been strong, but this? This seems unnatural.

He bites me again, his teeth sinking into my shoulder this time and causing me to jerk from the sharp pain. “Mmm.”

A cold, cruel laugh escapes him. Ice slithers down my spine as he grabs my arms and pins them at my sides.

“Stop!” Terror grips my heart and squeezes. “You’re…hurting…me.”

I claw at his wrists, digging my fingernails into his skin.

The harder I fight, the more apparent the truth becomes.

The man I love doesn’t revel in my pain and fear.

This man is a stranger.

Gods help me.

“Sterling, please.” The plea breaks from me, a last futile attempt to reach whatever part of him might still be there. With my last ounce of strength, I wrench my head back just far enough to meet his gaze.

What stares back at me resembles my prince, except those once expressive brown eyes are now black, hollow pits of malice.

An invisible boot stomps on my heart.

He’s been corrupted.

“No…” Dread solidifies the blood in my veins.

In the recesses of my mind, I sense the dragons stirring, their restlessness mirroring my own terror.

They can feel the fear snaking from me to them through our bond, a black tide threatening to sweep them away.

A new type of fear seizes me. If I don’t shut it down, one or more of them will come to my rescue, and if they discover what Sterling’s doing, they might kill him.

Out of sheer desperation, I call upon my dampening shield. I’m unable to completely block our connection, but I manage to slow the flood of emotions to a trickle. Hopefully, whatever distress they still sense will come across as a normal argument or similar trivial matter and nothing urgent.

I wrestle against his iron grip. “Why?”

Sighing like he’s bored, Sterling loosens his grip ever so slightly. “Because you didn’t drink the soup.”

Realization sinks in. “You…did that?”

“Yes. I’m a reasonable man.” His eyes sweep over me. Searching for what, I don’t know. “All you had to do was drink the soup, and the sedative would have made you take a little nap. By the time you woke up, I could have ensured you were invincible. Stronger and more powerful than you could ever imagine.”

I close my eyes and bite back a sob. How long has he been a slave to the drachen’s whims? Why didn’t I see the signs before? Has he been hiding the corruption, or fighting it only to finally give in?

Is the man I love still in there somewhere? Or is he gone forever?

“What are you going…to do to me?”

“Always so many questions.” His smile is a sharp blade that possesses all the warmth of a glacier. “Your meddling hastened my plans. Because of your little jaunt for phoenix tears, I had to adjust, to move pieces prematurely. Now more people will end up dying because you couldn’t just sit back and do what you were supposed to.”

I struggle to keep my expression neutral, but my heart races. Who is he planning to kill? Is Leesa still safely chained away? “What have you done?”

“Many things, but I’m afraid I can’t take all the credit.” He presses a kiss to my brow, his lips cold against my skin. “I do as I’m bidden.”

I do as I’m bidden.

The same words my sister uttered the night she murdered Blair.

“I’ve spent the day sending squads southward. Before long, Tirene’s forces will march to a different drum, one beat by the drachen.”

A cold dread wrenches my stomach at the thought of our entire military turned against us in the same way as Sterling and Leesa. Joined with the forces I saw marching toward Kamor. Our men, our dragons, all captive like that…

No, I won’t let that happen.

“Why would you do such a thing?” I try to twist my hips to the side, to get some distance between us, to get him off balance. Anything.

His well-trained body blocks my attempts with ease. I can’t shift his center of gravity and wrest free of his control. “Because it must be done.”

The acrid taste of bile invades my mouth.

The creature wearing Sterling’s skin slides his hand down around my throat and squeezes it tight. “I’d relish killing you, but you’re still useful to us.”

“Useful?” I rasp. “How?”

That cold, empty smile stretches across his face. “Answers will be revealed in due time. For now, you’re coming with me.”

The hells I am.

Fire magic pulses at my fingertips. “You really think the guards won’t come running as soon as I scream?”

“Such spirit.” His laugh is mirthless and hollow, not the warm, throaty one I know and love. The harsh noise crawls beneath my skin like hundreds of little spiders. “Admirable, but futile. No guards are going to rush in and save you. Humans cannot win alone. We are one mind. And we are spreading as planned. Your minds are small, contained to one body. You’re easy to separate. That is why you must join us. All of you. The world will know peace through bloodshed, body by body, kingdom by kingdom. We cannot be stopped this time.”

“That will never happen.” Help me, Ziva. “Where you find weakness, I see strength. Our diversity, our individuality, that’s what makes us resilient.”

“Let’s test that theory.”

Before I can blink, he slams my head into the wall.

My right temple crashes against stone. Stars explode in my vision, pain ricocheting through my skull.

Chirean roars with anger. In my mind or outside the palace, I can’t tell.

The door crashes open.

“Lark!” Agnar bursts in with his sword drawn. He marks my crumpled state, and horror twists his expression when he faces off with Sterling. “What have you done?”

The momentary relief that floods me dissipates, only to be replaced by fresh terror at the sight of Sterling retreating into the shadows near the curtains.

“You won this battle, Lark. But we will win the war.”

He steps through the window and disappears.

Agnar pauses, like he’s torn between checking on me and going after Sterling, before crouching by my side. He brushes the loose hair off my temple. “Are you okay? What happened?”

Pain, terror, and sorrow swell inside me, clogging my throat. I swallow multiple times before I can force the necessary words past the blockage.

“I’m fine. Go after him!” I gasp as agony sears through my body. “He’s been corrupted!”

I want to howl at the universe. Rage at the gods and demand they fix this.

I want to do anything but accept the truth.

My Sterling is gone, and unless Agnar finds him and brings him back and I quickly figure out how to use the phoenix tears to heal corruption, he may be lost to us for good.