Page 120 of The Stolen Throne
“If you two would only cooperate, it wouldn’t have to be this way,” the king’s voice calls from across the bridge. But then he appears out of nothing, standing before us, utterly casual in his stance. Like he’s taking a walk in a park.
Asshole.
The king raises his hands. Reven moves in front of me even as I brace.
With no warning, the moat explodes, water erupting in a massive wave. No…not the water. The sand from under the water shoots into the air, and I’m not the one controlling it. It swirls in a violent tornado, the sound of which makes it impossible to hear the screaming of any people still nearby as they run.
It happens so fast, I don’t realize what it is until Bene, growing rapidly to full-size Devourer form before our eyes, comes down on top of where the king was standing. I catch Eidolon’s look of shock before he disappears. The last thing I see is Bene roaring to the high heavens, a challenge loud enough to wake the dead, before darkness surrounds me in an instant, stealing my vision.
I can feel Reven’s hand wrapped around my arm. At least, I hope it’s him.
Then my vision clears and I’m standing with Reven and Hakan beside the portal in the Remirel Temple.
Reven is gone before I can blink.
“Halt!” A shout comes from behind me.
I don’t bother to look. Quinten is a smart man. So is Eidolon. I have no doubt he has soldiers positioned in this temple in case we tried to flee this way.
Bet that bastard didn’t see a goddess-damned Devourer coming.
Igniting my power, I push it into the portal in front of me. The carved dragon guarding the glass stares down as the image changes, and Hakan and I jump through to find Pella and Horus already waiting in the Queen’s Tower, both with weapons trained directly on the portal. Cain and Tziah are with them, also ready to fight.
I cut off the portal.
“Eidolon showed up,” I tell them. “Bene surprised him, but…”
How long could that surprise last, really? Reven, Vos, and Bene are still out there. I want to keep the portal open for them, but I can’t.
How in Nova did Eidolon know we were in Remirel? In the capital today of all days. I don’t think Istrella would have warned him, and we haven’t been back to Aryd. Is our spy problem closer than I thought? One of us? Except…Omma. Omma went back to Aryd, and I told her our plan.
Seven burning hells.
We watch the glass and wait. Our murky reflections stare back at us, serious and tight-lipped. I don’t realize I’m fisting and unfisting my hands until the movement catches my eye in the distorted reflection. I’m not the only one. Horus is fidgeting with his bow.
Pella takes to pacing behind us. “They should be here by now.”
Nothing happens.
Tziah comes up beside me, slipping one hand into mine and squeezing tight. All I can do is squeeze back and wait. I hate this. I hate not knowing. I hate anyone being in danger. I did this. I put them in this situation. This was all my idea.
Tziah taps her heart, then holds her hand toward the portal, and I think I know what she’s saying. They’ll make it out. They have to.
I would know, wouldn’t I? If something happened to Reven. I’d feel it in my scars, right? Except he’s been blocking me even harder since the night in the water garden. Still, I slide my free hand over the scar in my side, which flutters at my touch but nothing else.
I would know. The shadows would tell me.
The words loop in my head.
I can’t lose him. Or Vos. Or Bene. Any of them. Losing these people, these true friends, would devastate me. Losing Reven, even when he can’t be mine…I think that would end me.
My muscles bunch with every passing second, winding tighter and tighter until I might snap. Then the glass changes.
“Drop!” Vos shouts as he holds the portal open with one glowing hand on it, then starts coughing so hard, it takes me a second to comprehend what he said. But Tziah is faster and yanks me down by our joined hands right as arrows fly through the portal, barely missing us.
Soldiers are right behind Reven, who sprints through the temple rooms toward us. Bene is dog-size again, flying through the Remirel temple overhead but behind where the soldiers are. He bellows that horrible, ground-shaking challenge of a Devourer, and it’s enough to stop the soldiers dead in their tracks.
It buys us time.
