A group of lifeless forms stumbled forward, jaws slack, eyes vacant. They fell upon Angels in white, ripping at flesh and not flinching when the same was done to them. Blood sprayed in her direction, and yet, when she looked down, none of it stained her bare arms.

Shaking her head, she pressed onward, searching for any sign of her cousin blessed with the power of Calling. A roar shattered the air off to her left, and she raced in that direction, hoping, praying, that it wasn’t one of pain from him.

Skidding onto the main thoroughfare, she finally found him.

Onyx spiraled in a raging inferno, engulfing anyone within a dozen feet of him in the furious frenzy. His bronze blade flashed in the flits of light breaking through the canopies of the massive trees. With a sharp whistle, it cut through the air and into the neck of an Angel kneeling before him, trapped in the inky tendrils of his power.

The head hit the ground with a sickening thud. More Angels thrashed against their binds, and she realized then just how much power her cousin was wielding at once. Tentatively, she stepped forward again, trying to gain a better view.

That was when she saw the Zahal kneeling, his ice blue eyes glaring up with an eternity of hatred and his teeth clenched in righteous anger. The Halálhívó bent, snarling in his face. Still, he did not falter. Then, the blade arced through the air again, cleaving his head from his shoulders too.

The shadows ceased swirling as the Halálhívó collected the severed heads. Fisting their white hair, he raised them high and let out another roar. Even his cousin quaked in its wrath.

Then, he stomped down the central thoroughfare, his gaze pinned directly on the royal palace. She rushed to match his furious strides, dodging wave after wave of white-haired Angels prostrating themselves and pleading for mercy.

He halted at the base of the stairs, still hoisting the two heads high. With the way he gripped their hair, she saw that one had an H carved into his forehead. Instantly, she recalled him as the male who had ignited the spark that set this whole war ablaze.

“Korona Ioath, your people are defeated. You have no army left to defend you. Emerge from your marble walls and surrender if you wish to live.”

With a gasp, the High Priestess shot upright, startling her faithful watching over her. They dropped their clasped hands and raced to her side, dozens of questions tumbling from their lips. Blinking forcefully, the High Priestess attempted to ground herself in the present as the remnants of her vision bled away.

She didn’t know when this battle would come. Only that it would—because the Fates only revealed truths that had not yet been born to her.

But she couldn’t help the smile that rose to her lips.

“What is it, High Priestess?” the second pressed. She flattened the back of her hand to her leader’s forehead, checking for a temperature.

The High Priestess swatted her hand away. Slowly, she eased herself upright, the world spinning. Exhaustion weighed heavily on her bones, and yet she’d never felt so giddy, so exuberant, not in the years since she and her cousins had taken power.

“Find the Kral and inform him that I must speak to him at once. Here, in the temple,” she instructed the third. The prophecies took an enormous toll on her, and she needed to record what she had seen immediately, so she could rest properly after. “You, get me parchment and ink.”

The first hurried away, returning with both a moment later. “What did you see?” Her tone brimmed with breathless wonder. After all, the visions of the High Priestess were legendary. And to bear witness to one? Divine. Holy. Sacred.

The High Priestess accepted the materials, hands trembling with excitement. “I saw the Halálhívó win the war.” She paused, remnants of the revelation slipping away like smoke between her fingers. Yet a foreboding dread curled in her gut, bitter and biting, even if she could not place its origin. “But the cost…”

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29

After days of interrogating my soldiers, I was no closer to an answer as to who had attacked Assyria and Kiira. All the sentries were found dead, stuffed in a supply closet. Cold had slithered in my gut at the sight. Only more questions raised like battle banners after.

The assassin had maroon eyes, and yet he hadn’t called upon his secondary power once. I didn’t know him. Neither did the Kral’s Guard when I questioned them.

All the mystery made it impossible to rule out Xannirin’s involvement. My cousin had kept to himself, rarely appearing at mealtimes. And when I went to his room, he refused to answer the door.

I had half a mind to break it down and force him to speak to me.

Why would he come after my mate? And Kiira?

Sure, he was furious about the whole situation. But he knew that Assyria’s death would cripple me. And he wanted to win this war as much as the rest of us.

With the voices in the back of my head whispering that I couldn’t keep my mate safe, and the memories that haunted me as I entered the training ring, I needed a fucking break from this place.

The final day of the week dawned, bringing with it a brilliant sun that hadn’t shone since my cousins’ arrival. This was the only day with ample free time, and most of the soldiers went into Fured for their few precious hours. The markets and taverns were a respite from strict regimen, and the townspeople were always ready to welcome the soldiers and their coin.

I had other plans for Assyria. Her shoulder had set correctly, and after a few days of herbs from the healer, it was nearly as it had been before. The cut on her cheek had vanished. It was almost as if the attack had never happened.

Almost.

Even now, with her hair fanned across the pillow, a fierce protectiveness rose in me. Killing that fucker once was not enough to abate my anger.

Yet Assyria did not relent on any training she could do, attending twice daily with the females. It was as if the fire that had always burned inside her had swelled into a raging inferno. Her constant fervency heated my blood in the best way, and more than anything I wanted to sink my cock into her and lose myself for eternity.

The waking bell echoed through the keep, its peal deep and clear. With grumbled protest, she rolled over onto my chest, absently tracing one of the snakes wrapped around a tree tattooed there. “Do we have to get up? Everything hurts.”

“You got an extra hour of sleep,” I pointed out, my thumb stroking the bare skin of her shoulder.

She tilted her head up to look at me, eyes narrowed. “Did I?”

“The gong sounds one hour later today than all the others,” I told her.

“But we went to sleep later than normal too,” she argued with a huff. “So it nets me zero extra sleep. I think tomorrow when that damned thing wakes me up, I’m going to bury my head in the pillows and pretend I don’t exist.”

A laugh rumbled in my chest. “You have been training very hard. But I can’t let you break the rules.”

“Ugh,” she replied, flattening herself across my large frame. “What’s the benefit of being mated to you then?”

Gripping her hips, I slid her down my body to settle over my hardness. “This.”

“Males,” she sighed, rolling herself off me.

I snatched her back before she could go too far. “And what would you know of that, little imposter? Did you forget you belong to me?”

“First, I don’t belong to you,” she said, stabbing her finger above my heart. “I am my own person and I do things because I want to do them.”