Mirror of Embers (Book 1)

t h i r t y - t h r e e

But hurting him and his subjects will be an act of treason and Moriella will go to war with Llyria. If I take her, I will have to force my country into war.

And I'd do it. However selfish that would make me—I don't care. I would do it a thousand times over, if it meant keeping her alive and safe.

Landon has been forcing me back, trying to distract me with work. Well, more like a plan. A plan to get her out, and her friends, which, I am not too excited about. But I have to, I dragged them into this, I have to help them leave. I'll kill Minette if it comes to it. Rid Ember of that debt and set everyone free.

But it is hard to pay attention when all I feel inside of me is nothing. That bond between us has gone dark. I can feel her there, but it's weak. She isn't in pain, but it doesn't seem as though she is healthy either. It makes me sick to my stomach thinking about what he's doing to them. What he's doing to my mate. My strong, beautiful, wonderful mate. I want to thunder through these halls and burst through his studies. I want to squeeze my hands around his neck, I want to watch the light and life leave the King's eyes. I want to drag his limp body back through the halls, trailing his blood and innards down the corridors, until I enter his throne room. Throw him on his massive marble throne and stain it with his blood. That thought is the only thing holding my sanity in place.

Landon stops pacing, his midnight hair is overgrown, and, in his eyes, he pushes it away, irritated, and braces his hands on his hips. The General taking over, his face is hard, set in a scowl that demands violence. A scowl that demands death.

He has been freaking out, too. Landon thinks of Ember as his best friend, even though that spot was reserved for someone else. Someone who was taken from her. I doubt she'll ever let anyone take that title again. No one will be able to fill his shoes.

But Landon wants her back, wants her safe and with us. We have been drowning ourselves in battle plans, that we have barely talked to each other. It has been this.

This distorted version of us. Our friendship. We are too lost in our own minds to talk to each other. Too blinded by fear, guilt, and anger, that we can't articulate anything of value to one another.

"What if she is no longer in the castle?" Landon asks, sorting through the thoughts and ideas running a muck through his mind. "What if the King has taken her and Faune out of the castle. Taken them where no one would find them."

I exhale through my nose. We have been through all this already. Every thought, every idea, every explanation, of what is happening.

"She's here," I tell him. "I can feel it through the bond. She's here. She's close."

Landon curses, not at all caring about the child sitting next to me. She has been trying to help as well. Asking to help come up with ideas—it is incredibly sweet.

Clementine does not even blink at the foul words that come out of Landon's mouth. All the death threats he's swinging through the room. I have the urge to clamp her ears with my hands and block out all the negativities. A child ought to be in a healthy environment . . . right? That is what I would assume would be tolerated in a family home. Then again, this is not a family home. It is a jungle full of vipers, cradling a kitten in the middle of the darkness.

"He has no right—no right to lock us in here!" Landon booms, his voice turning low and hoarse. He is going to explode, his fist is clenched, his shadows skitter around him. I keep myself as still and calm as possible, he needs to vent. He needs to explode.

He turns his furious dark gaze on me. "You never should have let her go," he grinds out. "If you had plucked up some fucking courage and told her that day that you knew—knew there was something in both of you. Even if you did not know if it was the mating bond or the Allurement you still should have said something. You were a coward, Kamolinn. And all of this," he says, waving his arm all around us. "Is your fucking fault. She could die. Do you realize that? Do you realize that King Adrian could kill your mate at any second?"