Page 56 of Queen of Legends and Lies (Dragons of Tirene #4)

Swallowing hard, I meet Xenon’s fervent gaze. “You would allow me on your land? To destroy Narc’s bones and prove you are not doing all this just on his whims?”

“Why, of course.” He flashes a gleeful grin, a manic light in his stormy gray eyes. “We must be willing to sacrifice everything for the greater good, must we not?”

Elation at tricking him into granting me permission so quickly swells inside me, though a thread of unease dims the excitement.

This was too easy.

Schooling my features, I rise to my feet. “Okay. I’ll join you.”

Xenon throws his head back and laughs. The wild, half-crazed sound bounces off the stone walls. Quick as a snake, he snarls and lunges forward until he’s mere inches from my face. “Not so fast.”

I don’t flinch. I was expecting this. “What are we waiting on?”

“Ah, Lark. Do you really think I want you there? It’s your blood I require, not your,” he wrinkles his nose like he smells something unpleasant, “leadership abilities.” Xenon circles me, voice soft and sibilant.

“Dragoncaller blood is very, very powerful. Able to reanimate a god, yes. But also capable of many other things. I think I’ll keep you alive. See just what your blood can do.”

Revulsion twists my gut when his true ambition becomes clear.

Like I suspected, he has no desire to join forces with me.

He only wants my blood to rebirth Narc and to experiment with its properties.

He’s going to throw me in a cell, chain me up, and harvest my blood.

Just like he did with the dragons. Like the Aclarians did to the phoenixes centuries ago.

The man’s even more depraved than I’d imagined.

“Regardless of what happens to me, you will never have control. Narc will.” Magic comes to life inside me, the warmth simmering in my veins. “You are nothing to him. And nothing to me.”

“Foolish girl! I will have that power, one way or another.” Xenon’s face contorts, spittle flying as he rages. “I’ll drain the blood from your body. And I’ll let your precious Knox live. Make him suffer the way I have suffered. He’ll wonder where you are, what’s happening. Whether you’re dead or?—”

I unleash my fire magic in a blistering wave, blasting him backward.

He cries out in pain and shock.

“You’ll have to best me first. And you’ve never managed that. Not even when you had an army of drachen at your back.”

Technically, I have the permission I came for. Now, I just need to get out of here while I’m still breathing. The easiest way to do that is to ensure Xenon isn’t alive to remain a threat.

Anger warps to loathing, distorting Xenon’s handsome face into something vile and ugly. “I will destroy you. I will send a thousand hordes of drachen after you. I will hunt you down, and you’ll regret ever being born.”

“You still don’t understand, do you? You don’t really control the drachen. Narc does. He just gives you the illusion of control.”

Xenon lets out an incomprehensible howl. His eyes bulge as he flings out his hands.

I steady myself, reaching for my own magic in anticipation. “I think now is the time, my friends.”

Sterling, Agnar, and Rafe shoot through the heavy door and appear beside me in seconds.

Xenon’s elemental magic surges as he uses air to rip stones free from his walls.

Sterling’s ice magic crackles through the air, freezing Xenon’s projectiles mid-flight. They shatter into glittering shards. Then he uses water to hurl the Aclarian king against the wall.

Agnar throws his arms up. Vines creep in through the window, wrapping around the evil ruler as Rafe’s winds begin to whip and swirl. He tears tapestries from the walls, sends furniture skidding and crashing.

And I didn’t even have to lift a finger.

My allies landed in Valonde before I did. And Rafe and Sterling merged their magic to bend the light, concealing their presence as they followed me inside.

Xenon never even sensed them.

The king staggers to his feet, eyes wide and wild. For the first time, genuine fear distorts his features, but apoplectic fury quickly follows. “You dare? You insignificant worms! I’ll bury you all!”

The floor heaves as Xenon summons his power, more violently than before. Cracks split the stone, racing toward us. The walls groan.

But we’re undaunted.

Water, earth, and wind combine in a maelstrom of unleashed magic, engulfing Xenon in an elemental cyclone that spins around his body. I add my flames to the mix, white-hot tendrils snaking through the churning vortex.

Xenon shrieks and wails in agony. There’s a final, terrible pulse of magic.

And then nothing.

Silence falls as the magical storm dissipates. We’ve reduced Xenon to a pile of fine, gray ash on a scorched patch of stone.

It’s over.

We’ve won this round.

Relief crashes through me, so intense I start to get lightheaded. I sway on my feet, suddenly exhausted. A strong arm wraps around my waist, steadying me, and I look up.

“Lark? Are you all right?” Sterling’s face is wrought with worry.

“I’m fine. Just…I can’t believe it’s over.”

Xenon’s gone. The man who stole me from my biological parents, whose order to kidnap me led to my birth father’s death when he tried to save me.

The reason my adoptive mother locked me away for my entire childhood.

The one who indirectly killed my mother and friend via the tainted eyril that corrupted my sister.

The evil monarch who imprisoned my dragons.

Sterling brushes a loosed strand of hair from my face, then crushes his mouth over mine. Despite our audience, I part my lips.

The kiss is desperate and raw and full of passion. Sliding a hand around my neck, Sterling draws me closer. He tugs on my braid to tilt my head back so he can deepen the kiss. When his tongue darts between my lips, I moan.

A throat clears.

Reluctantly, we pull apart. A glimpse at Rafe’s mortified face has me laughing.

“You’ll get used to it.” Agnar pats the council member on the back with a wry grin. “Just be grateful they’re fully clothed.”

I shoot my friend a half-hearted glare, unable to stop the smile tugging at my lips. With Xenon dead, we have one less obstacle in our way.

Now, we just have to destroy the bones of a dead god, along with his insidious soul-corrupting creation.

No pressure.