FOR HER, HE WILL SET EVERY KINGDOM ON FIRE.
Kyron LeFur never wanted to be king. He may have united a torn people and ended a bloody war, but none of that matters without his queen. She sacrificed her crown for him, and now he will stop at nothing t...
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"Fuck," I hiss, guiding Raelle behind me and sending Terro and Greer a silent demand. They don't even question it, moving closer to my parah. My head tips back as I assess the abomination before me.
It's as if the Statera mended together the head of a wolf with sharp tusks jutting up from its lower jaw and the body of a tiger. Its jointed fingers are tipped with needlepoint claws. Tucked close to its body are massive brown-black wings that will have no problem keeping it airborne. The creature is like something out of the stories Abrum told me as a child. The kind of stories that kept me awake at night.
"You took what's mine."
I stumble back at Zek's growling voice. It is alarming to hear him talk in this form...unnatural. The tusks muffle his words, but his meaning is loud and clear. He believes my parah is his, like a pretty trinket he can snatch up and keep in his pocket.
Raelle belongs to no one, not me, not this kingdom, and definitely not Zek. She is hers and hers alone. I will fight until my final breath to keep it that way.
"Raelle is not yours, just like the Cyffreds weren't my mother's to give," I say, raising my voice so the monster hears me.
"The treaty was bound, and you broke it!" Zek roars, spit spraying from his maw.
I relax my shoulders and slide into that careless façade that served me well during my time as general. The four of us are in no position to battle Zek in this new form or combat the shifters who remain standing. We are so fragile compared to them, so small, and they know it. They circle us, ready to pounce on their king's command.
It has been some time since I found myself without a plan. The unknown makes me feel helpless, leading me to lean into stall tactics to buy some time.
Tapping my finger against my lip, I stroll the length of the schoolhouse steps. "Did I break the treaty? Raelle and Ulric had already escaped their prison when I found them. I just happened to be there to give them a ride home. And before you say it, any act of war you think I committed on your land was in self-defense. We were not the aggressors, just a rescue team."
Zek snorts and his blue eyes hone in on me. "You're twisting the truth!"
"Am I? Or did I just work within the loopholes you and my mother left in the treaty? It was my mother you came to terms with, after all. She was notorious for leaving gaps that were advantageous to her. Can you blame me for bending them to my purpose?"
He snarls in response, and I keep poking with one precisely aimed word after another. "But you...you've disregarded the treaty," I say, spreading my arms out toward the destruction he has brought to my city. "I wonder what the Statera's punishment is for that. Do you think it will be your crown?"
The monster's nostrils flare and a feral rumble passes through his bared teeth.
"Did I hit a nerve?" I click my tongue and shake a finger at him. "It doesn't feel so great when someone backstabs you with a tiny technicality, does it? It's a violation of trust and an abuse of power..." My display of arrogance slips as a conversation from earlier replays in my head. I hear Rowan's questions so clearly: What are the chances of using the stone to conquer the Allaji? Can you make their ability to shift dormant? Raelle's answer now sends shivers down my spine. They are following the orders of their king. Even though what they are doing is morally wrong, they're under his sovereignty. To strip them of their gift could be considered an abuse of our power.
