Page 136 of The Nymph Prince

I hadn’t the faintest idea where our souls went when we died. But as long as Alek was waiting for me there, I didn’t much care.

The final blow never came.

Ezra cried out in pain and I opened my eyes. Reif was beside me, one hand holding me back while the other held the dagger that was plunged into Ezra’s stomach.

Ezra’s eyes widened as his body convulsed and fell to the dirt.

“No!” Haman roared. He ran forward and knelt beside Ezra, cradling his head as he smoothed back my brother’s hair from his face. His blue eyes flashed to Reif. “You will pay with your life.”

Reif’s eyes widened when he saw Haman, but he didn’t hesitate before picking me up in one swoop and carrying me off. He wasn’t running from Haman out of fear. He was just getting me to safety until he could formulate a plan of attack.

Malik appeared next with Troy in his arms. Both looked exhausted and had blood on them. Troy winced and clutched a wound at his side.

“Troy?”

“I-I’m fine,” he said, releasing Malik so he could stand on his own once we were away from the temple. “It’s not deep.”

Malik watched him a moment before focusing on me.

“That was too close, my prince,” Malik said. He grabbed my face with both hands and intently looked me over. “Are you hurt?”

“No,” I answered. Able to move my arms and legs again felt odd, and I rolled my shoulders.

There was a lot I wanted to tell Malik: about the pain at seeing Haman in Alek’s body and the grief at hearing him speak of Alek’s wish for a family. I hadn’t known that’s what he’d wanted. I hadn’t known it was whatI’dwanted until now.

I’d discovered I had a brother and within the same hour, I’d watched him die. I shouldn’t be upset about that, but with the way he’d been raised I couldn’t place all the blame on him. He’d been misguided. Lost.

I knew Father would never kill his own children. As wicked as he might’ve been at times, that was a thing he’d never do. Ezra had been fed lies, and those lies had poisoned his mind.

“Prince Lorcan,” Reif said with a somewhat shaky tone. “That wasn’t our Alek I saw…was it?”

Our Alek.His words made my eyes water.

“No,” I answered, wishing the pain twisting in my chest would return to the numbness from before. “They killed Alek and used his body to bring Haman back from the dead.” My gaze drifted to the fighting, to the men and women locked in combat. “That’s not Alek anymore.”

Troy wrapped his arms around me and softly cried. “I’m sorry, Lor.”

“It isn’t the time for tears,” I said before kissing the side of his head. I checked his wound and was relieved to see it was as he said. Not that deep.

“The battle isn’t over yet,” Reif announced, following my line of sight and watching mages, humans, and merfolk continue their fight. “We have the numbers and are winning, but it means very little if the dark king lives. We have to...”

He stopped and looked at me.

“We have to kill Haman,” I finished for him.

All eyes focused on me.

“With the fall of their king, the remaining dark mages will lose morale,” I continued. I had to toss aside my grief once again. For my friends. For my men. “The biggest threat is Haman. He must be stopped, no matter the cost. Make him your target.”

“Yes, my prince.” Malik bowed his head.

“For Avalontis,” Reif said, sticking out his bloodied dagger.

“For Avalontis,” Malik and Troy echoed, adding their weapons to the circle.

I repeated the words as I added my own blade.

For Alek.