Total pages in book: 247
Estimated words: 235897 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1179(@200wpm)___ 944(@250wpm)___ 786(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 235897 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1179(@200wpm)___ 944(@250wpm)___ 786(@300wpm)
NO.
“Keep me pinned? Or help him?” Marlis asks. “Choices, choices.”
Xaden is seconds away from that blade meeting his face, and gods only know if Dain is even breathing under that boot.
Rage devours me from the scalp down, storming through my veins in a surge of heat that sizzles the rain on my skin. I yank my dagger from her neck, flip it, and throw in one smooth motion.
My blade lodges in the fleshy part of Costa’s shoulder, and he bellows, his torso slackening for the one heartbeat Xaden needs to knock Costa’s blade loose. It skitters across the stone, and I immediately look away, replacing the thrown blade with another from my thigh and pressing its tip against Marlis’s neck in less than a second.
“Yield!” I demand, anger burning so deep it reaches my very bones. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Xaden throw a punch in Costa’s face, then yank my dagger from his opponent’s shoulder and bring it to his throat.
“No!” Marlis shouts, and the air charges in a way I’m all too familiar with.
We’re in danger out here.
“Fucking yield!” The heat within me snaps outward and breaks with my voice.
Lightning streaks downward and strikes to the left and right. Rock cracks. Thunder immediately follows, rattling the ground and leaving only the patter of rain and silence in its wake.
I startle but manage not to nick her neck.
“I yield,” Marlis whispers, her eyes wide beneath me. “I yield!” she shouts.
Costa’s head whips in our direction, and Xaden slams his fist into his jaw. The fighter topples to the side, completely unconscious.
“She…yields!” the commander yells, and guards rush in.
I remove my blade and crawl off Marlis, then stagger to my feet as lightning cracks in the distance. Palta steps away, and to my relief, Dain appears to be breathing as Cat and Aaric race toward him.
Rain streams down my face when I look upward, finding Andarna between Sgaeyl and Tairn on the wall, her scales rippling with alarming speed in various shades of black. “Are you all right?” I ask.
“I am…angry,” she says, her head swiveling in a serpentine manner as her front claws crack the edges of the wall’s masonry. “Their laws say one match, not three.”
“Was that you?” Xaden arrives at my side, and I busy myself with checking for injuries. He now has two cuts on his arms, one of which will definitely need to be sewn shut, and his jaw is already bruising. “The lightning. Was that you?” he repeats, lifting my chin between his thumb and forefinger and searching my eyes.
“No.” I shake my head. “I mean…” The heat. The anger. The snap. Weird. “Just coincidence.” Or Dunne. “There isn’t any magic here.”
“Right.” Two lines appear between his brows and his gaze sweeps over me, then catches on my arm. “Fuck, you’re cut.”
“No worse than you are,” I tell him as the rain lets up. “But I think she broke a rib.”
His eyes slide shut and he cups the nape of my neck, then presses a hard kiss to my forehead. “Thank you. That throw probably saved my life.”
“Good thing I didn’t miss, or I don’t think you’d be saying the same thing.” My arm trembles as I sheathe my dagger and his hand slips away.
“You never miss.” He glances over my head. “Looks like Aetos is going to need some stitches in that shoulder, but Aaric is bringing him around.”
“I said I’m fine!” Marlis shouts behind me.
“Yes, Your Majesty,” someone replies.
Oh no, no, no. My stomach lurches. Please tell me I did not just hold a blade to the Queen of Unnbriel’s throat.
I pivot slowly to face what I’m sure is about to be a squad of royal executioners. A row of guards waits a respectful distance behind Marlis, who stands a few feet away with her arms folded over her armor.
“Well?” she asks, her mouth pinched in annoyance. “Two out of three victories. You’ve earned your audience.”
My heart starts beating double time. “I didn’t know who you were.”
“You weren’t supposed to.” She cocks her head to the side. “Are you going to speak, or has this all been for nothing?”
“Aaric—” I glance toward our friends.
“I only speak with those who best me,” Marlis interrupts. “And you are wasting my time, Amarali.” She hurls the word at me like an insult.
Bolstering myself with a deep breath, I lift my chin. “We’ve come for two reasons. First, we’re seeking the seventh breed of dragon.”
Marlis narrows her eyes. “If there were such a thing, this isle hasn’t seen fire-breathers in centuries. I’m afraid you’ve come looking in vain. What’s your second purpose?”
It isn’t quite a crushing blow, considering I’d already suspected as much, but the sorrowful pulse of disappointment coming down the bond tells me Andarna doesn’t feel the same.
“Allies,” I tell Queen Marlis. “We’re in a war that might claim every life on the Continent, and we need allies.”