“I’m going to destroy Veses,” I promised, each word hissed with heat and vengeance. “I will lay waste to every guard.” Power swelled inside me, pulsing through every vein. The floor trembled beneath me, cracking tile. “I will bring what remains of her draken to the ground.” My left arm snapped out, catching a guard. I turned my head toward him. The hand I had around his throat shone the color of the sun. His eyes widened with fear. “And I will lay waste to her Court.”

The sword slipped from his grip. “Please—”

A rumble came from the back of my throat, and I felt my nailbeds sting. My fingernails started to lengthen. I squeezed, tearing into his throat. Blood poured down his chest and splattered off the floor. His head rolled back and then fell as his body crumpled.

“Breathe.” Ash was at my side. “Breathe through the anger.”

I looked down at him—wait. Down at him?

“You’re levitating again,” he said, his silvery gaze full of heat. “And you’re burning as brightly as the sun. It’s fucking making my dick hard.”

I blinked.

“But you’re also close to shifting.” He turned as shadowy eather rose, stabbing through the head of a guard. “You cannot shift, liessa.”

The babes.

I dropped, landing on my feet. The quick reminder eased the rage pummeling through me just enough for me to pull in some semblance of control. I’d been this close to…

To fucking snapping.

I will not lay waste to her Court, I reminded myself. Kill her? Yes. Yes, I was going to do that for sure.

“You good?” Ash had a shadowstone sword in hand again, presumably taken from a fallen guard. He deflected a blow.

“Yes.”

He struck the man down. “Then let’s finish this.”

We moved in unison like dancers swept up in a melody of violence. The winding hallways of the palace became our stage, every turn a potential ambush, every shadow a hiding place for death as guards kept coming at us. But Ash and I were two halves of a single deadly entity.

“Left,” he called out, and I trusted the instruction implicitly. My turn was sharp, just in time to parry a wild swing aimed at my head. With a twist and a thrust, I reminded myself that hesitation was a luxury I could not afford.

Up ahead, guards waited in front of the double doors.

Ash tossed his sword aside as he moved forward. One of the guards got jerked up and away from the door, her body twisting and writhing. Another exploded into a fine shimmery dust. Ash threw out his arm, stopping me a second before draken fire burned through the ceiling and the remaining guards, leaving smoking piles of shadowstone and, well…stuff I wasn’t going to look too closely at.

Ash lowered his arm, and I raised mine. My eyes narrowed on the doors. I blew them off their hinges. I caught a glimpse of Veses in her diamond dress just as one of the doors smacked into her.

Ash laughed.

Sheathing the dagger, I shot forward. The door lifted from Veses, smashing into the curtained bed. She rose, brushing dust off her glittering gown.

I was on her in a heartbeat, driving my knee into her stomach as I caught her arms, pinning them to the floor. I smiled down at her. “I told you I’d be seeing you again soon.”

Her eather-soaked eyes stared daggers at me. “I thought you were trying to be a better person,” she sneered.

“I was.” I rose, grabbing a fistful of those ringlets as I dragged her to her feet. “As in the past tense.”

“Or more like you were never better,” she snarled.

“Yeah, maybe you’re right.”

Her eyes widened a fraction with surprise.

Smiling, I threw her to the side. Veses screamed as strands of her hair snapped. She crashed into the mirrors, shattering them.

Shaking the hair off my fingers, I walked to her as she stood. Eather poured into her veins, and her flesh thinned. She glanced at where Ash stood just inside the chamber, arms crossed and leaning casually against the wall. “Do you let her fight your battles now, Ash?”

My brows shot up. Did she just use that name?

“Only when I’d rather cut off my arms than have my skin touch yours,” he replied.

Her lip curled. “There was a time—”

My fist slammed into her jaw, knocking her head back. She staggered, catching herself.

She slowly lifted her head. Blood poured from her mouth. “That wasn’t necessary.”

“Your lipstick is smeared,” I said.

She frowned, lifting her hand to wipe at her cheek and mouth as she turned to look at herself in one of the still-intact mirrors. “My lipstick is fine—”

I grabbed her hair with both hands this time, pulling her down so fast and hard her feet kicked into the mirror.

Veses grunted. “I’m getting really tired of you touching my hair,” she snapped, rising onto her elbows. Essence rippled over her. “You’ve made whatever point you’re trying to make. Congratulations. You’ve killed some guards and draken and destroyed my palace. You’re such a big, bad Primal now.”

“You think we’re here to just make a point?” I asked. “What do you think we’ll do after we’ve made it?”

“Leave and gloat while I crawl back to Kolis to tell him how powerful you are?” She shrugged a shoulder. “Honestly, I don’t give a fuck. You won’t beat loyalty into me.”

A laugh escaped me as understanding dawned.

The corners of her mouth turned down. “What is so funny, Seraphena?”

“Other than you?”

She rolled her eyes.

“You know, I expected you to run. I was surprised you didn’t.” I stared down at her. “I thought you were smarter than this.”

“She’s not,” Ash remarked.

Veses started to turn her head toward Ash.

I snapped forward, straddling her. I grabbed her chin, forcing her attention back to me. “Don’t look at him.”

“You that insecure?” she spat.

I laughed at her. “You stayed because you really thought we were here to prove some kind of meaningless point?”

She raised her brows at me.

Then I truly understood. “That is why you haven’t truly tried to defend yourself.” Part of me couldn’t believe it. “You think…”

“She does think you’re better than her. Better than Kolis and his loyalists,” Ash said. “And she’s correct, but she came to the wrong conclusion on what that means for her.”

He was right.

The way she went completely still beneath me said we were both correct. Her next words further confirmed it. “You’re not going to kill me,” she said, her lips twisted in a smug smile. “You had your chance before and you didn’t. And you won’t after what happened to Embris.” She let her head fall back. “You haven’t Ascended anyone to take my place. I would’ve felt it. I know you won’t allow what happened after Embris to repeat.”

I lowered my head until we were inches apart. “I didn’t Ascend another to take your place because I will.”

The smile slowly slipped from her face.

“I’m going to kill you, Veses.”

Her lips parted. “No.”

“No?”

“You wouldn’t.” Her gaze darted to Ash. “She won’t.”

Ash smiled. “She is.”

Her wide gaze fixed on me. “Then I was wrong. You’re no better. You’re not just or fair—”

“Clearly, you have no idea who you’re speaking to. He’s the inherently just and fair one.” I nodded in Ash’s direction. “I’m the one who has to work at it.”

“Work at it?”

“Yes. But you?” I tapped my fingers off her cheek as essence swelled in me—in her. “You’re not worth the effort.”

Pure, stark terror bled from her and choked the air.

I leaned in, my lips brushing the curve of her ear. “There is no room for forgiveness and fairness. I’m the reaction to your past actions. I am the consequence.” Tendrils of eather rose from the floor. Strands of pure energy swirled around us. “You should be grateful, Veses.”

“Really?” she gasped.

“A part of me wanted to make your death last for years—for the length of the deal you made with my husband. I wanted you to feel every painful, choking second of desperation and humiliation. I wanted to witness your pleas turning to silent screams of hopelessness. And gods…” I laughed again, the sound throaty and twisted. “That does sound like a good idea.”