“No!” I tried to get to him, but the guards around me kept me in place.
Pain consumed me as I felt his suffering. It crawled deep under my skin and wrapped me in an agonizing grip.
Landers was dying. I could feel it by the way my heart shuddered and struggled to keep beating, by the way my lungs burned as they tried to draw in air. I was about to lose Landers.
Why? Why was this happening?
King Laskis leaned over Landers, and only my acute Divine hearing allowed me to pick up on his words. “Rayna is mine, boy. I will not allow others to continue tainting her. Consider this a mercy kill after providing me such important information.”
Landers’s wide, pain-filled gaze moved over to me, yet even his agony wasn’t enough to hide his regret and anguish as everything dawned on him. My foolish mate really had believed that Laskis would keep his word.
“Landers,” I sobbed out, trying to breathe through the pain.
King Laskis didn’t care about what he was putting us through. He stalked over to me and grabbed my arm, his touch rough, nearly breaking my arm as he pulled me to my feet.
“Don’t touch her!” Philit screamed, his voice filled with pain as he fought to get to his feet.
One of the guards stomped on his back to keep him down. Philit smashed down to the ground, a loud cracking coming from his head as it hit the marble floor.
“I will touch who I wish. This has gone on long enough, and I no longer have the patience to deal with you lot.” The king glanced at me before tossing me toward guards like I was a rag doll. I smashed into a hard chest, as strong arms wrapped around me tightly enough to keep me from moving. “Rayna, consider this your punishment. Maybe watching your so-called mates die before your eyes will be enough to put you in your place.”
King Laskis drew his sword and stalked toward Zilon. Zilon tried to move, but the guards quickly pinned him to the floor, not letting him move an inch.
“Leave them alone!” I shrieked, kicking hard while trying to break free.
“I think not.” The king raised his sword.
My eyesight blurred with tears as desperation consumed me. It was so hard to focus through Landers’s dying pain as I drew on my magic, needing to do anything I could to stop the dragon king. Zilon’s gaze moved from the king to me, and his heartbreak tasted so bitter, an emotion wanting to choke me.
‘Rayna…’Zilon started.
‘No!’I sent his way. I refused. I refused to watch my loved ones die.
As his sword came down to strike a defenseless Zilon, I tossed as much magic as I could toward them, praying to the goddess that it would work. I wasn’t sure what I’d intended. Maybe I wanted to zap down the king. Turn him into a crisp.
The air crackled with my lightning, the room growing scorching hot, as bright white light made it impossible to see. Thunder erupted in the room, the ground shaking from the impact. The guard’s grip around me loosened enough to throw myself forward. At some point, even the bindings on my hands were gone. Needing to make sure he was okay, I ran to Zilon.
I had to know that I’d struck in time.
He was still there, blinking yet confused at how all the guards around him were gone. As the room cleared of the light, I moved to position myself in front of him and also where I thought the king should be.
Everyone was blinking hard, uncovering their eyes as they tried to see, including the king. He now sat against a pillar, no longer looking as regal as his usual. The pillar had cracks in it, stretching up to the high ceilings. He had almost taken it out.
“You don’t get to touch them,” I said. “They aremine.”
King Laskis slowly climbed to his feet. The guards all around were wary, keeping their distance from us. Philit managed to join us, even though he was still bound and dripping blood. But my mate stood tall as he positioned himself slightly behind us, keeping Zilon from the king’s sight.
I turned to Philit and quickly released his bindings. The moment they were gone, I could sense him again, slipping naturally back into existence inside of me as he should have been all along.
I gasped in relief.
‘Landers?’I was almost too afraid to ask. I was still trying to understand what he’d done—how he could ever have done it—but there was no time for questions. Not now.
‘Barely breathing. We can’t drag this out,’Landers answered.
The dragon king needed to die. I turned back to him as Philit got Zilon up.
I gathered more magic, ready to pump Laskis so full of lightning, he’d explode.