Espen and I were both shoved to the side as Diora pushed through, her eyes lighting up when they landed on Vena.
She crossed the room quickly, and threw her arms around Vena without a moment’s pause. Namir’s gaze was furious, shadows dancing violently off his skin as he glared at his brother, who was only a few inches away from his pregnant mate.
“What happened? Why are you here?” Diora looked from Vena to Laith, and her eyes narrowed.
She tried to tug Vena away from him, but his hands landed firmly on his woman’s hips.
“They’re together,” I told Diora. “Fated like the rest of us, I suppose.”
Vena nodded lightly, giving Diora a quick smile. “I’m perfectly fine.”
Diora didn’t look convinced, but took a few steps back—right into Namir’s arms. His shadows slid around both of them, moving like liquid over their skin.
“Laith is going to give Espen his magic,” Vena said, her gaze lifting to meet that of the man whose arms were around me.
“I’ll believe that when I see it,” Namir growled.
He was going to cause problems if he wasn’t careful.
“You’ll see it, brother,” Laith growled.
The room was tense as the Dark King closed his eyes, and the air flooded with magic.
The room darkened, and through the light radiating off me and Espen, I saw Laith’s grip tighten on Vena.
She turned in his arms, wrapping them around his neck and pressing her chest to his. He held her tightly, and the heat in the room vanished as the air grew thicker and thicker as the darkness swelled and expanded.
I heard a snarl behind me, and spun around to see Espen’s eyes closed tightly, his light fading as the darkness began to sink into his skin.
His light seemed to be reaching for it, the throne’s magic seemingly eager to become one again.
The last of the darkness disappeared into Espen’s body, and I caught the man as he stumbled a bit. His hand smacked the wall as he held himself up for a minute, his eyes still shut tightly and his jaw clenched.
A long, tense moment passed, and then another did too.
“Fuck,” Espen finally said, his voice strangled and his eyes wild when he finally opened them. “Your magic is shit, Laith.”
“We agree on that,” the king growled back.
When I looked over my shoulder, Vena was holding him up, too. I knew firsthand how painful it was to live without your own magic in your veins, and empathy flooded me.
“We’ll need to mate now, so his magic can belong to both of us.” Vena’s eyes caught mine again, her gaze warm and determined. “Do you have a room we can take?”
“Of course. Any one on this floor.” I nodded toward the door.
“Thank you.” She gave me a small, soft smile before she and Laith slowly made their way out of the room.
“Can’t say I saw that coming,” Namir growled. “Ready for mine too?”
“No.” Espen’s voice was harsh. “I doubt I can control even this much magic.”
“It’ll be much easier after you’re mated.” Namir’s eyes shut. “Don’t wait long.”
Dammit.
I pushed Espen a bit, so his back hit the wall, then braced myself against his front as Namir’s shadows consumed us. All I could see was the swirling darkness for a moment, until Espen’s light and darkness began reaching toward him, stretching and beckoning the last of the throne’s magic.
A moment later, all of the magic vanished into Espen’s body.