Page 81 of Black Crown

Draedyn flapped his wings overhead, the massive Drae shifting in the air to land on the platform in his coarse tunic. The afternoon sun bathed the entire courtyard in golden hues, but the prisoners paled.

Mily shook so hard as Draedyn approached that she appeared to be having a seizure. She fell to her knees before him, her head bowed.

My heart pounded with dread as my mind reeled with confusion. I watched my father disembowel her this morning. How was she still alive? And whole?

Draedyn’s angular features didn’t change. He wasn’t smiling or frowning, but his narrowed eyes gleamed. He brought his arm back as if he was about to slap the queen, but his digits shifted as he moved, and the razor-sharp talon sliced through her neck. Her eyes widened and mouth opened as her head fell to the platform’s edge and bounced into the crowd.

Tyrrik had looked up then because I saw Draedyn smile and bring his talon to his lips.

My stomach heaved again, and I begged my mate,No more.

Tyrrik broke my connection to his memories just as Draedyn approached Marb.I’m sorry.

Was it that fast for all of them?

No.He forced Kamini to heal Marb and Dilowa several times before he finally ended it for them.

Draedyn must’ve had Kamini heal Mily, too. My heart ached for my Phaetyn friend.I’m not sure I can tell Lani.

Don’t.It’s not your trauma to share.Lani isn’t ignorant of Draedyn’s cruelty.

I wasn’t so sure, but I wasn’t going to worry about it right now. A weight tugged at my heart and pressed on my shoulders. They’d all been alive this morning. So much could change in the blink of an eye.What if we don’t win, Tyrrik?

We’d gone into Azule anticipating their allegiance for the final battle against Draedyn. First the weird party, and then Draedyn’s presence and waking in the closet. Kamini and Kamoi had been with him, and I didn’t pay enough attention to defending myself. Now, the Azule kingdom had a different ruler, set on the throne by Draedyn, and more than half of the group we’d gone with was dead.We should have never entered that place.

My throat was tight with sadness and bitterness choking me. I’d had a bad feeling from the get go. The Azulis’ insanity, Dyter’s disappearance. Why hadn’t I listened to my instincts and never gone inside? Or forced everyone to leave when we all saw what the people of the Azule kingdom were like? People of that level of baseness, so comfortable in Draedyn’s realm, couldn’t be trusted.

It’s not your fault, Ryn.

He was flying over a freakin’ ocean and reassuring me.

I could have done more, I said.I should’ve done more.

You are doing more.

I didn’t reply. He had a point, and that made me feel marginally better. But then Boyra’s words reared in my memory, telling me I was only doing more to try and lessen the guilt I had for killing more people. I forced the doubt away; I had a job to do. Feeling guilty was a luxury I didn’t have time for. The army should be close.I’ll work on this end.

Tyrrik mentallytsked.Good, and I need to focus on the boats.

Okay, I’m going to drop my shield so I can find Lani. Are you ready?

I love you, Ryn.

I love you too.Words failed me except those that were honest. I wanted to laugh, to somehow make a joke. I’d always joked, even in the dungeons of Verald, but my humor had apparently fled.

I took a deep breath, double checked my Phaetyn veil, and then relaxed the blue bands of my Drae shield from around my mind.

The sun dipped below the horizon, the sky’s hue deepening from cerulean to indigo. My Drae vision was still fine, but my anxiety increased every time the shade in the sky darkened. Normally, I loved the night. Back when I lived in Verald, I went through a romantic phase where I believed the darkness called to me like a lover. Now, I was fairly certain most of those emotions were my Drae transformation building within me. I still liked the darkness, a lot even, especially if it meant I got to be in bed with my mate. But flying in the night sky with Draedyn on the loose made my Drae skin crawl. Even with my Phaetyn veil firmly in place.

A roar from behind me shattered my thought, cutting through my attention to Tyrrik. Fear spiked through my spine, raising the hairs on the back of my neck. My heart raced, but I didn’t even have time to turn before a heavy weight crashed into me.

Sharp talons pierced my scales, and I shrieked in pain.

Tyrrik!

My mind blanked for a moment amidst my panic. Then I was reaching for the azure bands of my Drae power. I pulled them close, tossing them in loops around my mind. Faster, faster. I needed my shield; I knew what this was . . .

An explosion of emerald detonated in my mind. My chin dropped, and I blinked to clear the blurriness from my eyes. I pumped my wings, weaving in the sky as I grabbed for the threads of my power, but the lapis lazuli strands evaporated faster than I could grab them. Every time I snagged a bit of my power, deep-green ropes wound around the blue and pulled them away, swallowing them whole.