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Six months had passed since that fateful day Kazimir had tried to kill Izidora, and my mate remained lost in the void between worlds, not quite living, but not quite dying. Every morning that she did not wake with me, another piece of my heart broke, turning to ash and blowing away on the breeze. The need to drain Kazimir of every drop of blood, torture him in every sadistic, demented way until he begged for death, was a constant roar in the back of my mind, never slaked by the pain I inflicted on myself or others.
The wood-paneled office in Ryza Citadel had become my personal prison, and as I sat through another parade of people who needed something from me, I couldn’t help but wish Izidora had taken me into that void with her. At least then I wouldn’t feel this utter emptiness where the other half of my soul should be. Even now, I found myself reaching down our bond to speak with her when I triumphed or when I was frustrated with someone – which was far too often given how thin my patience had worn.
What would our world look like when she finally woke?
My chair creaked as I shifted my weight, resting my temple on my fisted hand as Rares began a long-winded explanationof his recent experiments. Zuriel was notably absent from the meeting, given that it was his day to watch over my mate while she slumbered. He and Gozzak, one of the Demons that had been captured with him, had been overseeing Rares as he continued his work. I didn’t trust the old Mage not to try some underhanded or sneaky shit while I was preoccupied with Izidora’s condition. He might be sworn to obey and defend the Iron Crown, but I’d experienced enough of his twisted words to know better.
By the dark circles bruising all our eyes, the whole Iron Realm knew none of us slept well, too focused on the rise and fall of Izidora’s chest, the fluttering of lashes that too often turned out to be nothing but still offered a semblance of hope.
I cut Rares off, wanting him to get straight to the point. “So have you figured out how to prevent Kazimir’s binding magic from blocking access to ours, or not?”
The gnarled hands wrung themselves as he hesitated to answer. Not that I could blame him – I’d lost my temper more than once when he appeared in my office without a solution. We needed to work around that obstacle, given that was what rendered Izidora incapable of defending herself. “Not exactly. This time I had more progress. I think if I could just see it in action–”
My fists banged into the desk, and I was on my feet in an instant. “I am not risking anyone’s life for your observations. Try another way.”
“There is no way to know for certain unless we have someone with binding magic to use,” he protested, shrinking back into his chair.
I cocked my head to the side. “And you cannot find such a person on another continent? Or you aren’t able to recreate it yourself?”
“My attempts at recreating it have failed so far, you know this. As for the other continents… well, a person with binding magic tends to keep themselves hidden. The Fates don’t often gift it, and madness is a common side effect of it. As we’ve seen.”
Gozzak cleared his throat, his red eyes darting between the two of us. “If I may, I served under General Rapp, who possessed this magic, in the Great War between the Angels and Demons. He was a touch crazy, yes, but the madness of which you speak only affects those with Goddess-gifted magic. Demon magic is Fates-gifted.”
The Demon looked as if he wanted to say something else. “Go on,” I encouraged.
“During the war, the Goddess often gifted counter magic to ensure that whatever the Fates offered us, the Angels could manage, at least in part. I never saw anything that could nullify General Rapp’s magic, but I saw plenty of magics in equal and opposite power to it. Perhaps that is the better route to take, rather than blocking it,” he offered.
I slunk back into my chair, mulling over what Gozzak had said. Then I scrutinized the man who had a hand in creating me with a little less irritation. “Work with Gozzak in creating counters for it or new inventions that would make a substantial impact should our magic be locked down.”
The old Mage’s dark eyes brightened for a moment, and that toothy grin I despised flashed across his face. I was giving him what he wanted, but stopping Kazimir was more important than stopping Rares’s twisted experiments.
I swiveled in my chair, gazing out at the summer sun casting its rays over the stone buildings spanning Radence, the capital of the Iron Realm. Well, not only the Iron Realm – not anymore.
I had kept my promise to Izidora and united the realms, not that they needed much convincing once they heard what Kazimir had done. When Izidora woke, she’d be the empress of theÉszaki Empire, consisting of the Iron, Crystal, and Day Realms. I’d allowed the other monarchs to keep their titles and positions, needing them to watch over their realms while I managed my own. The continent was too vast for one person to oversee all operations, and I’d quickly learned the importance of delegating and snap decision-making.
At least the deluge of work kept me mostly distracted from the unending pain. I’d taken to numbing my emotions just to get through the day, lest I be consumed by my thirst for vengeance and make a rash decision as I drowned in despair.
Izidora would wake. I just had to keep believing it.
I’d also offered the other monarchs access to all the innovation the Iron Realm had achieved, and Iron Fae and Félvér spread across the realms installing lifts, hot springs, tracks, and more – free of charge, of course, a gift from the new,generousemperor. The tracks beneath the Agrenak Mountains that divided our continent remained a closely guarded secret, however. The last thing I wanted was for the Night Realm to discover them and use them against us.
“What of the other endeavor?” I finally asked Rares.
“I have succeeded in pushing the full shift.”
Whipping around, I dropped my hand away from my face and narrowed my eyes upon Rares’s self-important grin. “How?”
“A potion finally did the trick. The Félvér who cannot already complete a full shift will need to drink it one hour prior to the change. It should remain effective for a few hours at least. We’ll need to continue testing to be sure of the exact timing, and it will likely differ for each type of breeding. The Dragons will need a higher dose more often than the Wolves, for example.”
A slow, sadistic smile pulled my lips as that victory sunk in. None of the Félvér with Dragon Shifter heritage had more than wings, claws, and horns – myself included – and being able toshift into a Dragon? That would be fucking incredible. “I’d like to test this potion on myself as soon as possible.”
“I will prepare another batch. It takes time to brew. I’ll also be needing more ingredients,” he added.
“Buy whatever you need and start brewing as many batches as you can. We’ll need a stockpile for what’s ahead,” I commanded, my thoughts drifting again to soaring among the skies as a fully shifted Dragon – a dream I’d had since I was a child and yet never thought possible.
