Page 66 of Imprisoned By the Night King

She hesitated, so I stayed silent.

“And Vena will die if we don’t return to her homeland,” Laith cut in. “My magic is no longer enough to sustain her, and I can’t leave the court with part of its throne magic in my veins.”

Well, I supposed that made more sense.

“You’re dying?” My gaze jerked to Vena’s.

Her own remained steady. “Not if I get back home.”

My chest tightened.

Keeping her and Diora alive had always been my focus. And now…

Well, I couldn’t let her die. Even if that wasn’t a factor, if Laith was willing to give up his magic for even a few minutes of his life, we needed to take that opportunity and run with it.

“Espen and Namir are ending the lives of the men who ran our prison,” I told Vena, my eyes locked with hers.

Her eyes darkened. “You found them?”

I jerked my head in a nod.

“Where?” Laith’s growl was ferocious.

“Don’t tell him that,” Vena growled back.

I fought to keep my eyebrows from lifting.

Vena was the quiet one, the gentle one. She had sought peace, when Diora and I went looking for violence.

Yet with Laith, she was acting alive, and asserting herself, and taking control.

I fucking loved it.

“Espen will be back any minute. They’re done by now.”

As if right on time, I heard Namir’s and Espen’s laughs from the stairs.

Laith’s eyes narrowed in that direction, and I prepared myself to use my magic. But Vena stepped backward, until her shoulder blades met his chest, and his eyes softened.

His head dipped down, and his lips brushed her shoulder. Her head tilted back a bit, resting against him, and he pressed his lips to her cheek.

“Do you feel that?” Namir asked, far enough away that his voice was fairly quiet.

“Feel what?” Espen checked.

“Darkness.”

There was a moment’s pause, and then the castle flooded with heat.

Espen was in the doorway a moment later, shoving himself past me and blocking Laith and Vena from my sight completely.

“Don’t.” I stepped around my king, stopping him from doing something irreversible.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Espen snarled at his brother.

“Is Laith in there?” Diora murmured from behind us.

“Yes, and I am too,” Vena called out.