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My control snapped, and my hand whipped out. Runes appeared beneath him, binding him to this room. He could no longer leave until I allowed it, and if he had anything to do with Logan’s disappearance, I would lock him away for eons. The lights flickered, drawing everyone’s attention to me, but my rage echoed in the sky. Not in this room.
“I promise, my liege, I am merely here to help,” Roccurem said. He stepped closer, but not by much.
“Help?” I scoffed, a bitter laugh escaping me. “Similar to what you did when I had her, and you unleashed the dream eaters on us? That sort of help? You are a traitor and liar, and I will not tolerate it.” I rubbed a hand across my face wearily. “Why have you ignored me? I tried to summon you after the dream eaters, and you blocked me. You keep secrets that could help me save her. You—”
“Your judgment of me and my intentions are not misguided, but the chemical imbalance in your brain when it comes to her overrides your logic, god king. Anyone in this room can feel the waves of power wafting off of you, begging to claim what’s yours. She is an integral element for what is to come, as are you. I am merely a vessel from the ones far older and far larger than you.”
“Where is she?”
“I cannot speak of that.”
All the windows burst simultaneously, allowing the wailing wind to enter. It raged, tossing the contents of the room. Papers and small objects spun into miniature tornadoes. Thick clouds rolled outside, lightning flashing and thunder cracking the sky.
Energy pulsed, shooting through me, and lightning flared in the room, tickling my hands, arms, and soul.
“Samkiel,” Vincent warned. But it was too late.
Tendrils of electricity licked across my face and coalesced in my eyes right before darkness blanketed the city, every light for miles bursting.
“Where is she?” I thundered, my voice matching the pitch of the growing storm outside.
“I cannot say.”
The ground shook, a quake forming deep within Onuna—a fissure in the world. The floor burned beneath my feet, turning the carpet black. Car alarms blared outside, and buildings swayed. I didn’t remember moving, but my hand gripped his throat, and I lifted him high into the air. The runes on the floor faded, and Roccurem’s form wavered, smoky stardust dancing off his body in tendrils.
“Godsdammit, Roccurem, tell me!” I did not care that my voice shook or that the tornadoes that spun from my power forced everyone to seek shelter. A natural disaster, a force of nature, was what my father’s guards would whisper of me, and now I understood why. Electricity jumped from my knuckles to his skin, blisters forming where it touched. They healed, but I knew they hurt all the same.
All six of his eyes opened, white and staring at me. “I cannot. No matter what you threaten or how you torture me. It must happen this way, or there will be no future for you or anyone. I forewarned you. Her choice must be her own. The path she determines shapes the world, and you nor I can intervene.”
“Why?” I bit out. “Because fate dictates it?”
“You are right where you need to be, god king. I only apologize for what else you will lose.”
Blind rage hit my gut at his threat, and the world shook. I adjusted to keep my balance and finally noticed what I was doing. I willed my power back, afraid I had caused a natural disaster that I could not fix, but Onuna still spun. The tornadoes died, and the shaking stopped. The silence that followed was nearly deafening. I took one breath, then another, pulling every bit of my destructive nature back into myself. The clouds dissipated, and the rising sun burnished the room. Everyone stood, looking at me with wide eyes.
I released Roccurem.
“Roccurem, if she dies….” I swallowed the growing lump in my throat and tried not to sound quite as foreboding as I felt.
Roccurem’s head jerked back as if something far away from this world had screamed his name. His form bent, his body melting into a swirling mass of energy and stardust. He stepped back, the darkness pulsing and his voice resonating all around us. “And the world will shudder.”
My chest heaved, and my hands shook, his words hovering in the air. I reached for his retreating form but stopped when my instincts flared in alarm. Something was coming. A current anchored in my skin like a thread in the universe snapped taught. It yanked, and I looked up in the direction of the pull. The beginning vortex of a portal formed in the ceiling, flames defining the circumference. Screeches raged above, resonating through space and time. Adrenaline surged into my system, and I had a split second to realize what was happening before the Irvikuva exploded from the portal. They poured into the room in a flurry of red eyes, wings, and claws.
The Hand summoned ablazed weapons as one, bright lines flaring to life on their skin. After centuries of working together, they did not need a command from me. Cameron cut the head off the Irvikuva stupid enough to target him with one powerful swipe. Imogen leaped and flew through the air to cut two of the beasts in half. Xavier threw the circular blades he carried, gore showering us like rain before they returned to his hands.
I summoned my blade amidst the chaos, but Logan fell at my feet before I could enter the fray. My heart skipped a beat as Neverra landed on top of his bloodied and bruised body with a grunt. Neither looked at me, their eyes wide and transfixed, locked on the portal. I looked up, feeling her before I saw her.
Dianna.
I dropped my sword and rushed forward, catching her falling form. Her body jerked at the landing, her hair spilling across her shocked face. She was filthy, covered in bruises and cuts, some still open and bleeding. The scent of her blood made me feral. She was battered, dirty, and pale, so pale.
“You caught me?”
It was a whispered question as if she couldn’t believe it.
“Always.”
I looked up at the closing portal, aching to get through and finish this. Only the weight of her in my arms kept me grounded. Crimson eyes stared back, focused on her with wrathful hunger.
