Page 182 of The Blade in the Ashes
I nodded. “Youwillcome back.”
This would differ from last time. She had her powers now, and they were stronger than ever before. She was going to get her Godly weapon and return to me, not choose to stay there.
I would not lose her.
“You need to be a king,” she whispered against me, pressing a kiss to the corner of my mouth.
“And you need to be a Goddess,” I agreed, even as my heart felt as if it were splitting in two.
Still, this would be different. This was a decision we were both making. This was not a separation forced upon us, but a shared choice we were equally making as rulers of our people.
I needed to go lead my army, just as much as I needed to trust that she could protect herself.
Behind me, the air shifted, a rush of blinding light and magic surging to life. The roar of battle sounded out from the portal she opened. Over my shoulder, her eyes flicked to it and back, that momentary fear in her face enough to tell me that we were running out of time. There would be no drawn out goodbyes. I needed to leave now.
Ayanna cleared her throat once before bowing her head at Thea. “Upon your leave?”
“Go,” Thea ordered, and Ayanna quickly jumped through the portal, still clutching that book to her chest.
“Is that an order for me, too?” I joked half-heartedly.
She gave me a lopsided grin, her fingers playing with the hair at the nape of my neck. “Would you listen if it were?”
I sighed, humor fading away as I kissed her again, savoring her taste, her smell,her.“I am, and always have been, yours to command, Theadora.”
My words sent a shudder racing through her, and for a single moment we stared at each other.
But then, with one final press of her lips to mine, she backed away, a second portal opening behind her.
“Save our friends,” she ordered.
“Come back to me,” I echoed. “I love you.”
Thea’s face lit up, happiness briefly bursting through the terror and urgency. I memorized that grin, held it close to me as my skin began rippling and preparing to shift into my beast form.
“And I you,” she promised.
And then we each stepped through our portals—her being whisked away to the remains of the castle and me soaring into the chaos of war.
Chapter Fifty-Five
Thea
Istepped through the portal and onto the bridge just as a gust of oncoming spring air blew my hair back from my shoulders. The sun was just beginning to set as my feet landed down along the pale-grey limestone, sending tendrils of pink, orange, and magenta beams across the sky. Behind me, I could hear indistinct sounds of life from the village below, but otherwise it was quiet.
Hyrax’s forces weren’t here.
Still, I looked around me, searching for any threats as my nose wrinkled immediately against the chalky scent that hung in the air.
From the remains of the castle.
Ash was everywhere—scattered along the ground, still hanging in the air from the wind blowing through it. Charred beams and scaffolding still stood in some places, while other areas had been cleared out to prepare for repairs.
The realization that the castle was fully destroyed took my breath away.
It was a corpse of the majesty that had once stood upon that hilltop. A corpse that I had been responsible for killing.
But there was no time to worry about that now. Not when my friends’ lives depended on me finding that weapon and returning to them.
