Page 274 of The Queen’s Shadow

My everything.

He was here, and I could feel him again.

My entire body was quivering with anticipation as the cage slowly rose into the blinding light of the arena. Sand spilled down around me as I passed into the ring, and the crowd was chanting, ‘Kill your mate! Kill your mate!’

None of it mattered, because he was here. My gaze found him immediately. Suddenly, I was swimming in emerald, and I smiled, because green was my favorite fucking color.

The door to the cage swung open, and the roar of the crowd was so loud, I could feel their words vibrating in the marrow of my bones, but it wasn’t them that I heard.

It was Amon. Suddenly every beautiful thing he had ever said to me was playing through my mind.

‘You’re incredible, Raven.’

‘You are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.’

‘I’ve been waiting for you.’

‘I love you.’

Before I knew what I was doing, I was airborne, and flying directly for him. It wasn’t a conscious decision, it was simply the way things were meant to be.

We belonged together. We should never have been apart. We were two pieces of one whole and now we were back where we belonged.

He was flying toward me too, the closer we came to one another, the faster we flew.

My skin was raw, it was aching for him, I wanted to have every piece of him touching every single inch of me. I wanted it so badly I choked with the need to have his arms around me, his lips on mine…

He was in front of me now.

“Amon…” I gasped, reaching for him. He looked like he was going to be sick, and I wanted to take all his pain into myself and make sure he never, ever, had that look on his face again.

“Raven…”

Darkness gathered around him, billowing behind him in a cloudy wall of shadow. I noticed for the first time he was holding a sword. The darkness surrounded me, wrapping itself around my wrists and ankles, splaying me before him in the air. He drew back his blade, as he came forward, seemingly propelled by the shadows themselves.

“Kill me.” He rasped, moments before his darkness enveloped me.

Nytara

Word of my freedom had spread. The villa was swarming with guards. There were too many of them. I would never make it to the basement entrance. I would need to go through the sea caves.

I headed down the treacherous steps that led down the cliff to the ocean. The tide was coming in and the violent swell of the sea was quickly brewing hundred foot waves. The water crashed against the cliffside, making it nearly impossible to safely make it down without some form of water magick. The caves would not be as heavily guarded for this reason. Once the tide fully came in, the caves would be entirely submerged in water.

Thankfully, my magick was based in water, so I was able to make it down the steps, though slower than I would have if Conrad had been with me.

I finally made it into the caves, gripping Bond Breaker as tightly as I could. They were empty, thank The Origin. I rushed past the empty cells for the entrance to the colosseum that stood at the back.

“Hello, Nytara.”

I whipped around to find Trenton leaning against one of the sea cells. He flicked the flint of a lighter against his palm, igniting it.

My lip curled. “Shouldn’t you be up there providing your twisted commentary?” I asked dryly, tightening my grip even further on Bond Breaker. He shrugged.

“Believe me, I would much rather be watching the show than down here with you.”

“Don’t let me stop you,” I snapped, already wondering what the best way to remove his head would be. He rolled his eyes, and suddenly, my limbs began to feel sluggish and heavy. I turned to find that Niahmara had been hiding in the shadows. I snarled, and used my aura to feel for the sleepy strings of her magick. Niahmara and I were evenly matched as far as power levels went. If I focused, I should be able to keep her from putting me to sleep.

Trenton shot a ball of fire at me, forcing me to tuck and roll out of the way, and my concentration wavered. My eyelids began to feel heavy and I felt my grip loosen on Bond Breaker.