Page 62 of Lies That Blemish
‘I don’t want to argue. I know you hate Maxim, but it’s for Victory,’I told her.
She nodded. ‘I’ll fly you, though I doubt he will let me stay.’
She understood, of course she did. I grasped her neck, hugging her tightly, and then turned to face Kohen, who stood like a stone, eyes wide.
“I’ll figure this out,” he said, as if in a dream. “I just need to have a vision that shows me the way.”
I nodded, “Okay,” I told him because now he needed my comfort.
“Don’t lose hope. I’ll come for you,” he said.
“Okay,” I repeated, lying through my teeth and clinging to him once more.
I needed to get out of here. I needed to get to Victory and make sure she wasn’t hurt.
“Kohen, get my people out of here. If Maxim has hurt my sister, I’ll rip his throat out with my teeth, and then he’ll level Amersea.”
Fear flashed across Kohen’s face as if that was exactly what he was afraid of. “I will. I’ll get everyone out, but it will take a few days. You have to keep the peace until then.”
Keep the peace? That bastard had my sister.
“No promises,” I told him. “And if your visions are wrong and I do have access to my power around him, I’ll make him cut his own throat,” I growled.
Kohen just stayed silent as if he knew that wasn’t possible.
I didn’t care. I’d reached the angry portion of this reality.
The woman whom we loved as a mother was on her deathbed, my innocent sister had been brutally kidnapped, and I was being forced into an arranged marriage.
All at the hands of Maxim Vlek.
If there was a way, I would make this bastard pay.
I slipped my leg onto Liana and peered at Kohen one last time. “I’m grateful for the time we had.” My throat pinched withemotion. “For as long as I live, I’ll wish we had more. Thank you for being gracious to me and my people. Goodbye, Kohen.”
Liana kicked off the ground, and Kohen fell to his knees, punching the earth and screaming into the sky.
It was the cry of a broken man, helpless to do anything for a woman he loved. At that moment, I accepted my fate. I knew he was so distraught because he’d probably seen a hundred different versions of this play out, each one keeping me from him.
But that’s how life was sometimes. Sometimes we had to make do with the cards we were dealt and not the ones we wanted.
Chapter 20
Aisling
As I flewover the wall, I saw my men stationed there peer up at me in confusion, waving their arms as if to tell me to stop. But I pressed on, ignoring their cries.
I had to hope that Kohen would be able to somehow evacuate my people. That Elaine would live. That my sisters would be okay. That the admirals and my people would obey my command. It was for their own good. I knew not all would choose to leave their homes and go to Imbria, but I hoped Kohen could be convincing enough to save as many as he could.
The right side of the wall was in a crumbled heap of stone.
‘They’re everywhere,’Liana breathed.
I peered up to see what she was talking about and gasped. Small dots in the sky, riders of flying Talanagi, were positioned every hundred feet or so across the Luskin sky. They held spears, bolt shooters, and swords, and they all looked my way, tracking Liana and me as if they were expecting me.
Kohen was right. Maxim had been planning this. There was no way out.
‘I feel like I’ve failed you,’Liana said as she flew past a male rider on a black-feathered griffin. He allowed me to fly past without a flinch. They’d clearly been given instructions.
