Page 59 of The Dragon Queen
I took an extra second to look at Barron, to savor the way he sobbed like a child.
“Wait.”
I looked up at the sound of her voice, a voice that was powerful enough to distract me from the revenge decades in the making, one that had played out better than I ever could have hoped.
Calista came before me in a different shirt because the medic had attended to her. She stood between me and the stakes, the kids still crying behind her. Her eyes flicked back and forth between mine—and it was the first time she truly looked afraid of me.
“I told you not to distract me.” She was unhurt and now a nuisance. “You said you wanted to watch. Now, watch.”
“Talon.” Her eyes continued to flick back and forth. “These children have done you no harm.”
“My wife never did anyone harm. Neither did my family. And neither did my daughter.” Calista wasn’t the woman I loved in that moment. She was just someone who stood in my way. Another soldier who wanted to fight me. Another obstacle.
“Killing these children won’t bring them back?—”
“I’m aware. Now, step aside.”
She gave a slight shake of her head. “This isn’t you?—”
“Trust me, it’s me,” I snapped. “I will burn every last one of them.” I felt my eyes widen with my commitment, my ruthlessness escaping in my words. “I begged and begged and fucking begged…”
“You do this in Vivian’s name,” she said. “Do you think she’d want you to kill children in her name? Would your father or mother or your siblings?” Her eyes continued to stare steadily into mine.
A twinge of guilt flooded me, a rush of humanity I didn’t want to feel. The rage had felt so good, so damn good, it made me forget how fucking devastated I was. I savored the ferocity with relish, and I didn’t want to lose it so soon.
“Barron did this to you. His sons conspired with him. They deserve this. They deserve to be burned the way they burned everyone you love. But spare the women and the children, the children who weren’t even alive when this happened.”
“My daughter was killed before she drew her first breath.” She was killed before she had the chance to live. “I didn’t even get tohold her in my arms…” I felt new tears flood my eyes that I tried so desperately to defeat.
Her eyes watered too.
“Barron’s sons have known the joy of fatherhood—a dream I will never know.”
“Not never?—”
“They don’t deserve to be fathers.” I breathed harder as I fought the broken dam behind my eyes. “They deserve to watch their children die the way I watched mine burn.”
She gave a slight shake of her head. “You’re right. You do deserve that. But you’re not Barron or Jairo or Kael. You’re better than them. I have seen your heart and know that it’s as pure as sun and snow.”
“After everything I’ve done to you…you can say that?” I couldn’t accept the praise when I didn’t deserve it.
Her eyes were locked on mine as she spoke. “Yes.” Her eyes remained wet with the shine of her tears. The dead banged their swords like drums. The fires continued to send smoke to the sky. “Please…”
I sucked in a breath between my gritted teeth, her words making my eyes clench shut as the painful memory swept over me. I fought with all my strength to be free of the binding around my wrists, of the hold of the soldiers, but there was nothing I could do to stop the horror that happened right before my eyes. Nothing could stop the screams she unleashed, the final memory I had of my wife. I knew how it felt to beg, to beg with every fiber of my being, and it hurt to hear those very words from her.
“Talon.” She reached for my arm.
I opened my eyes when I felt her touch.
“You’ve worked so hard to be here. You’ve crossed oceans and conquered kingdoms and befriended dragons. Take back the throne and avenge your family—but in a way that makes them proud. Your daughter may never have been born, but your wife was still a mother, and as a mother, she would not want this.”
Shame washed over me, picturing Vivian’s hazy appearance in my faded memory. I would always remember her spirit and her smile, but the rest of her features had become unclear through the passing years.
When Calista’s message had sunk in, she released my arm.
I turned to the dead who awaited my command. “Release them.”
Affection entered Calista’s gaze, fluffy pink clouds at sunset. She gave me a slight nod in approval before she stepped away.