Page 58 of Creatures of War

King Laskis toed the wing, and I scrambled, grabbing it and holding it close to me, as I glared at him. I knew it was too late, but holding that piece of Zilon was enough to make me feel I was protecting him, even though it was only a piece of his wing, and he was already hurt. The damage was already done.

But I couldn’t let anyone do more to this precious part of him. It was illogical, but it was enough to rouse the fury in me.

“You are disgusting,” I said, my throat hurting, my voice coming out rough. “Disgusting and no king. I don’t care if you fooled those guards behind you. You are nothing but a sick man high on power.”

The king laughed. “There’s that feistiness I’m growing fond of. Maybe I am high off power, but it doesn’t change the situation. I am in a position to end this suffering, but it is up to you when and how soon I do. I can destroy those dragons, or you can join my side.”

“I thought I was someone who needed to be killed. That I was too dangerous.”

The king snorted. “Narratives are what we twist them to be.” He said it so dismissively that it took me a moment to realize what he’d said. “You are a rare creature, Rayna. I need to do what I need to do to ensure that power is mine.” He turned and walked out of my cell. “I will be back in a couple of days, and I’d like to hear your final decision. Think about it carefully. Or that wing won’t be the only piece you’ll be seeing.”

He left me there, cradling a piece of Zilon.

His laughter echoed off the walls, surrounding me, mocking me. I curled back in the corner, holding that small piece of wing and cried.

‘Zilon. Please. Answer me.’

Chapter Thirty-Five

I was dozing between nightmares that never went away. I kept seeing Zilon wingless, bleeding, and blaming me for not helping him. To the left of him was a pile of wings torn up, all in colors of green, red, and blue. All pieces of my guys. Then beyond that was a smaller but bloodier pile of body parts, and while I refused to look closely, I knew it was of the guys. I knew it included parts of even Zilon. And they were standing before me, blaming me, and reminding me of how much of a failure I was.

“Rayna.”

I jerked away, whacking my head against the wall.

“Rayna,” a soft whisper. I blinked through the pain and saw Aylia there was a torch.

“You’re okay.” I gasped and jumped at her, hugging her close.

“I’m okay.”

“I thought you got buried. I tried to find you, but there was too much rubble, and the guards were coming. I had to run. I’m so sorry.” I didn’t realize how much guilt had built up inside of me until I saw her.

She was my only friend, and I truly had believed I’d lost her in that explosion.

“I’m okay, Rayna.” She pulled away from me. The torch gave enough light to see how exhausted she looked. There was a bandage on her temple, and dark bruising under her eyes said she wasn’t.

“What happened?” I asked, reaching out gently and touching the bandage.

She grabbed my hand with her free one and squeezed it. “I’m really okay. They pulled me out of the rubble and healed me. I’m sorry it took me so long to get here, but we don’t have much time. We need to leave now, before they get here.”

“Who gets here? What’s going on?”

Aylia got to her feet, pulling me to mine. My legs shook from not being used for so long. “We really need to go.” She pulled me toward the door.

“How did you get here? How did you get the door opened?” I asked.

Aylia tossed a sad smile my way. “I’m really good at not being seen. I snuck down here. The guards are trash at this time of night, so it was easy to swipe the key, but we really need to get going before they get here.”

My heart thundered. The king? He was coming? Did he have more pieces of my mates?

I let her lead me out of my cell. Instead of going right toward the exit I knew about, we went left. Aylia didn’t say anything until we went to the end of the hallway, and she did something to the wall. A door slid open, reminding me of the passageway to the library.

Once it slid closed behind us, she lit another torch that was on the wall and passed it to me. Then, she said, “This whole place is full of secret passageways. It took me a moment to find the maps your mates had, but once I got it, I was able to figure out the best route out of here. I’m getting you out of here. Your mate is waiting for you.”

“You’re bringing me to the guys?” I asked.

Aylia pulled me into a hug. “I am so sorry I’m so late. I wish I could have helped you sooner.”