Page 247 of The Queen’s Shadow

My heart was beating so hard I felt like it might explode.

No, no, no, no. Not again. I couldn’t lose her again. She couldn’t be gone.

I heard a snide chuckle and whipped around to find Anaya leaning against a tree, tossing one of her throwing blades in the air and catching it again.

“Probably for the best. She didn’t belong here anyway.”

Suddenly, I knew what had happened. I lost seconds and in a blink I was crushing Anaya against the tree by the throat. She gave me a vicious smile, the firelight dancing in her eyes. I inhaled through my nose, and just like I knew there would be, I found Kasha’s scent on her.

“WHERE IS SHE!?” I roared, and for a second, I saw a flash of fear in Anaya’s face. It was gone as quick as it came, and she sneered at me.

“Like I’m going to tell you.”

I ripped my shadowstone dagger out of my boot and slammed it into her side. She didn’t react the first time, but another stab in the stomach and one in the chest finally gave me the reaction I was looking for.

“I can do this all night, Anaya. I will fucking tie you down and skin you alive, over and over again until it stops growning back. Do. Not. Fuck. With. Me.” I snarled into her face, and she finally cowered, a trickle of blood sliding down the corner of her mouth.

“Where. Is. My. MATE?!” I roared and her eyes widened, everyone behind me gasped, but I could barely hear them. All I could hear was my own heartbeat and my blood rushing through my ears. I pressed my hand so hard against her throat I heard her neck crack.

“I don’t know. I told her…to….run” She choked against my hand. Rage exploded through me.

“You will fucking die for this.” I promised her, before slamming my blade into her temple. She collapsed immediately and I kicked her unconscious body in another bout of rage and frustration.

She would heal, but it would take a while… And when she woke up, I would make sure she was fucking sorry she ever fucking looked at Kasha.

I tossed Anaya’s unconscious body to Aiden.

“Tie her up. I’ll be back.” I snapped and took off into the jungle.

She couldn’t have gone far. The jungle was treacherous and difficult to travel through. Especially if you couldn’t see in the dark. I would find her, and bring her home, and I would make Anaya fucking pay.

Kieran

Success. Finally.

Nearly thirty-five daemons had given their lives to my experiment, but I had finally figured out how to remove the power core and hold it within the soulforge.

The trick had been to kill the daemon first, and then use the magick of the soulforge to harvest their souls before they could slip off to wherever it was souls went after death.

“What are you going to do with the bodies?” Trenton asked thoughtfully, looking down at the lifeless form of the female who had unwillingly donated her power to my cause. She had been a fiery little female. She hadn’t been very powerful, but she had still tried to put up a fight.

I frowned at the female’s corpse, her magick glowing on and off inside the dark crystal. I could almost see little glowing palms against the dark stone, as if she were desperately trying to break free and get back to her cold body.

“I was going to dispose of it, but I suppose you bring up a good point, it would be a waste of material.”

“I wonder if there’s a way to reanimate the bodies? That way we could run a casualty-free war. Fight our war with the dead bodies of our enemies and preserve the blood of magick folk? Sounds like a win-win to me.” Trenton mused, and I gave him an approving smirk.

“Brilliant. I will add that to the list of things to explore. Next, we need the shadowstone. I will need to sever the bond before I kill her.” I mused aloud, referring to Ash Nevra. My bond to Ash Nevra had been useful, and offered me access to her neverending well of power, but she was largely in control of how much I was allowed to take. It also put me at risk. If she were to die, I would die with her. I would need to free myself of her, before ending her.

“We should have access to the blades soon. In the meantime, have you conducted any experiments on bonded pairs? What happens if you kill one, and trap their soul? Does the bonded still die?” Trenton wondered.

He scratched his chin as he approached the large, throbbing crystal. “If the soul lives on within the soulforge, it stands to reason that they are technically still alive and the bonds would not die. Perhaps you could kill her now, trap her in there and then use your bond to siphon her magick into your body.”

“The thought has certainly crossed my mind.” I mused. “I have just been having a hard time getting my hands on a bonded pair. Outside of myself and Ash Nevra, the only other bonded pair I have come across is Raven and that panther shifter she has bound to her. My sources say he is not currently with her.”

Trenton gave me a dazzling smile. “One of my casters brought in a bonded pair last night, actually.” We had taken to calling our Syndicate followers ‘casters.’ It was easier than worrying about whatever title their native country used to identify them. Much more efficient.

I raised an eyebrow at him. “Really? Fascinating.”