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T hrough the darkness I stalked, sword in hand, Othura few a paces behind me. In the distance, the boom of artillery rattled the earth. The shouts of fighters and the screams of wounded men hung ghostly in the wind.

This was the Isle of Dorhane. No man’s land. A scorched and bomb-pocked landscape scarred by trenches and blackened by fire and spilt blood. It was a place where generations of people from two nations had gone to die, and I could feel their suffering hanging in the air like a mist. It was a terrible place. The worst place.

And yet I felt at home here now, the coldest thing in a barren landscape, the deadliest thing in a land of death.

The silver plane had been badly damaged when it flew this way. It must have crashed here somewhere. He must be here somewhere.

Kit. Charlie. The Silver Wraith.

This would be a fitting place for my lover and I to meet for the last time, I thought, squeezing the grip of my sword.

An image flashed through my mind. Mother dipping below the water, falling into darkness.

I’d lost so many people. I’d lost everything…

And I’d gained everything.

I was Irska.

I would be Queen.

The realization hit me like a wave of nausea: I would be Queen.

All the horrible duties and crushing responsibilities that came with the crown would be mine. It was a fate worse than death, a fate I never wanted.

Curse the one who orphaned me. Curse that betrayer. That deceiver.

And the worst part was, he’d made me love him.

Well. He’d felt the love of a princess. Now let him feel the wrath of a queen.

Steady, Othura urged. There are enemies all around.

As if to punctuate her words, a rattle of gunfire came from somewhere in the darkness of to our right, followed by more shouts and the concussions of explosions, their light flashing somewhere beyond the horizon. And yet I felt no fear. On I stalked, sword in hand. Through the smoke. Through the desolation. I would walk every inch of Dorhane if I had to. I would scour every hill and trench of no-man’s land. Plumb every puddle, turn over every skull.

I would find Charlie Inman. And I would kill him.

* * *

J. G. Gates here. I hope you enjoyed Dragons and Aces Book 1! You’ve reached the end of this book, but there’s still more to read.