Meyaah Liessa.

CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO

The army of bones held still as soil continued falling. They waited for orders.

They waited for me.

Their Queen.

“Protect what is mine. Destroy the crimson soldiers,” I hissed, eather pounding into each word as my will poured into my army. “Destroy the crimson draken and those who came from the sea, then return to your rest.”

All across the field and into the forest, the army swept forward, and dragons rose into the air, their bones creaking and grinding together. Their roars were deeper, more guttural, sending a wounded Diaval fleeing toward the eastern mountains.

The screams that came brought a smile to my face as I rose, essence crackling from my fingertips. Across the field, a wave of red was falling into the grass, littering the ground.

A flash of crimson-and-gold snagged my attention. My gaze shot to the ruins of the Temple. I caught a fleeting glimpse of Kolis’s silhouette right before he slipped through the half-crumbling archway of the old Temple.

I walked forward, a burst of eather rushing through me as Diaval dove through the thick clouds, releasing a stream of fire that pounded the field, igniting everything in its path, killing both crimson and black soldiers alike.

Rage exploded in my gut. My vision narrowed on the draken, the realm fading into a red haze of fury. Instinct took over, and I inhaled, pulling eather from the realm. All across the field, tiny silvery dots appeared and pulsed. They raced toward me in a flash, joining the crackling essence gathering around my palm as I stepped forward. Thrusting out my hand, a spinning, crackling stream of silver-and-gold eather erupted from my palm. The raw Primal power slammed into the pretty-haired fucker’s underside.

The funnel of fire evaporated, and Diaval let out a whine of pain. His wings flapped wildly, and the eather swept over his body before fading out. He veered sharply, his horned head swinging toward me. An outline appeared through the clouds, twice the size of Nektas, beginning to swirl and thin.

Diaval hovered in the air, letting out a roar that shook the trees.

Smirking, I lifted an arm and extended my middle finger. The wings of a bone dragon scattered the dark clouds.

Diaval twisted in midair, but the bone dragon was fast, tearing its claws into the draken’s back. I only winced a little at his scream of pain. My attention shifted back to the Temple. I shadowstepped to the archway.

In the shadowy interior, a crimson god stood before me. He was tall and slender, with hair as blond as mine and eyes the color of citrine. He smiled at me, and it was like Kolis’s. Fake. Cold.

“Who are you?” I asked.

The god bowed slightly. “Varus.”

“Oh. You.”

He straightened, the smile turning smug. “You’ve heard of me?”

“Barely.”

Varus frowned.

I shot forward and gripped the god by the throat, then turned, throwing him through an opening between the pillars. His shout of surprise faded as he plummeted to the field below. The army of bones would take care of him.

Footsteps echoed through the entire Temple. Within seconds, the decaying halls were filled with Kolis’s soldiers.

One smirked, withdrawing a dull white sword. “You shouldn’t have come alone.”

“She didn’t,” came a deep voice behind me, his fresh citrus scent sweeping over me.

I smiled, and the god’s grin faded.

“Was that just Varus?” Ash asked, handing me one of his swords. “Being thrown out of here?”

“It was.”

He chuckled, his hand grazing my hip as he stepped forward. I thought I smelled the faint scent of his blood, but it was passing. “I assume there’s a reason you’re here.”

“Kolis.” I looked to my right when the gods charged. “He’s playing hide and seek. Are you injured?”

“Of course, the coward is. And no, I’m not injured,” he said. “By the way, there are a whole lot of dead people doing a whole lot of killing out there.”

“Good.”

The soldiers surrounded us, and my grip tightened around my sword, the blade an extension of my will. Breathe in. They attacked at once. There was no time to think or feel fear in the chaos of blades. Hold. Blood sprayed the failing walls as I sliced through one god and then another. I fell into the madness, barely feeling the bone-shaking blows, my sword clashing with others. I no longer felt the echoes of death, or maybe it was just so constant that I had finally tuned it out. Breathe out. Back-to-back with me, Ash fought with deadly precision, his movements lethal. Hold. I cut down a god, cleaving his body in two, and stepped over the mess—

A blow connected with my jaw, knocking my head back. Stunned, I stumbled into one of the pillars. Tiny fissures appeared in the stone, and a metallic wetness filled my mouth.

Ash spun with a snarl, shooting forward. He caught the fist and shattered each bone with one squeeze. The god howled, dropping to his knees.

“That wasn’t nice.” I pushed forward, spitting out a mouthful of blood as I drove the sword through the god’s throat.

Ash released him, letting him fall back, then turned toward me, his features hard.

“I’m okay,” I said at once, stretching out my jaw to ease the throbbing there. When I turned to kick a god back into the sword Ash held, I saw that the side of his tunic was torn, and the ragged edges were soaked, darkening the material. Two gods raced at us, weapons raised, and concern immediately flooded me. “You lied! You are injured.”

“I didn’t lie, liessa.” With a swift turn, he struck with both swords, cutting down the gods simultaneously. “I was injured. Briefly.”

“You bled,” I growled, spinning toward a goddess in crimson. I ducked beneath her swinging blade, feeling the rush of air signaling the narrow miss. Rising behind her, I caught her loose, dark hair and jerked her head back, plunging my sword through her back. Shimmery blood sprayed the faded walls. “How did it happen?”

“I was distracted.” His sword sliced through leather and bone as I dropped to my hands and knees to avoid the sweep of a sword. “By a certain wife who decided to go onto the battlefield.”

Pressing my lips together, I rocked back on my knees and kicked out, sweeping the god’s legs out from under him. “Sorry.”

“Uh-huh.” He bowed, driving his sword down through the chest of the god I’d knocked down. Thick lashes lifted. Eyes streaked with silver met mine. “The next time you do something like that,”—he yanked the blade free—“I’m going to spank you.”

My skin flushing hotly, I spun, shoving the sword back. A strangled grunt told me my aim was on point. “Was that supposed to be a threat of punishment?” I darted to the side, slamming my elbow into a crimson god’s stomach. “If so,”—my blade pierced armor and tissue—“it’s getting the absolute opposite response.”

“I know.” His voice was a sensual growl as he turned, throwing a shadowstone sword. It caught a god in the head. “I can taste your arousal, liessa.”

I started to respond when I spotted Kolis at the end of the hall, ducking under another archway. Another dozen crimson-garbed gods poured out.

“This is getting really annoying,” I muttered. I had no idea what game he was playing, but I was also so very done with him.

As I slid under a wild swing, I pictured Thierran in my mind and summoned him. I trusted that he would keep a low profile until we had Kolis cornered.

Ash and I carved a path through the Temple hall, leaving a grotesque carpet of bodies behind. More soldiers loomed ahead, just another wave crashing toward us. But we were the rock that would break them apart.

As we neared the archway, the air crackled around us. I spun, letting out a shout of warning.