Page 29 of Black Crown
My mind screamed, but I stepped toward the table where Lani and Kamini were hidden. My insides twisted, splintering, and my heart broke as I batted the table away and exposed Lani, an unconscious Kamini, and a half-dozen other cowering Phaetyn.
I flicked Lani away with a talon, mentally begging her forgiveness for what I was about to do. And then I plucked Kamini up.
Ryn!Tyrrik screamed my name, and I regained partial use of my vocal chords, releasing a strangled noise. I tried to break from the emperor’s hold, but I couldn’t respond to my mate. The brief reprieve was over, my voice was gone, my control was void. The only piece of Ryn left was my awareness, but I had no way to enact my will. Even the choice to do nothing had been ripped from me, I couldn’t access my Drae powers at all.
Lani screamed, and Kamini was still in her faint in my claw. I turned back to my father, carrying my friend to him.
You are everything I’d hoped you be. And because of that, I have left you with your mind as reward for pleasing me, daughter. Remember, I could have taken that, too, but I chose to be merciful.
Disgust surged from within, but I crossed the clearing toward the green Drae.
I’m coming,Tyrrik called to me.
I could feel him drawing near, and a tear slipped down my cheek.
Tyrrik, I managed to get through, jerking when Draedyn tried to take possession of me again. I stumbled, and poor Kamini slipped through my talons to the bloodied ground.
Don’t let him take her, Tyrrik threw at me.
Draedyn lunged forward, his claw scooping up the dirt beneath Kamini as he grabbed her.
I bellowed in outrage, and the alpha’s hold on me lessened as Tyrrik’s proximity gave me strength.Hurry!
Lani leapt from behind the toppled table, and I shifted to block her, immediately grasping the emperor’s mistake. He thought Kamini was the queen because she wore the crown.
Kamoi ran out from within the trees, several other Phaetyn with him, screaming as he raised his spear on behalf of his cousin.
Draedyn didn’t even flinch. He extended on his hind legs and, with his talon’s extended, severed the heads of two guards. He snatched up Kamoi and two other Phaetyn in his claw, Kamini dangling from his other. With another bellow, the emperor glanced my way.
I rule through fear, daughter. Always fear. But I believe there will be love for us after the fear has passed.
With a snap that had white lights exploding across my vision, he released me. His oily powers slipped away and allowed my blue Drae tendrils to reconnect with my mind.
My body shifted, and I dropped to my knees and screamed as he took off into the twilight sky.
* * *
“Ryn,”Tyrrik said hoarsely, crouching beside me to wrap me in his strong embrace.
Phaetyn still cried. The acrid scent of burning flesh filled my nostrils, but the chaos blurred around me as I sobbed into his chest, my shoulders shaking. “He made me give Kamini over. I couldn’t control myself, Tyrrik,” I wailed. The pitch of my voice grew, my words slipping together. “I-I couldn’t stop.”
“Ryn,” he said firmly. He pushed me back, and caught my chin, forcing me to meet his gaze.
My eyes widened, and I hovered on the edge of hysteria.
“I know what happened,” he said. “I felt it. It’snotyour fault.”
I tore my gaze from his, staring back at the ground. Pieces of broken dishes mixed with the food they’d once held, bits of napkin, a broken wine glass, dark fluid I wanted to think was lemonade littered the courtyard . . .It’s my fault.
No, my love, Tyrrik said, his voice unrelenting in my mind.It wasn’t your fault. It was mine.
He picked me up, my body shaking, and as he sped us into the Rose Castle in a blur, the putrid scent of smoke lessened. Setting me in a pile on the ground, he said aloud, “I’m going to get the Phaetyn together and find Lani.”
Relief, shame, and fear found me with his words. The Phaetyn needed a leader right now, someone to show them what to do in the wake of Draedyn’s attack. As the bridge between the races, that should be me—ideally, by Lani’s side. For all I knew, she was out there trying to do the job while I cowered in here. And yet, even knowing Tyrrik was needed elsewhere, I didn’t want him to leave. I choked on the words, forcing them out. “Hurry back.”
At least I had that much self-control.
“I’ll be back soon.” Tyrrik stroked my hair softly before disappearing outside once more.