A Kingdom of Venom and Vows (Stars and Shadows #3)(28)

“My mate is none of your concern.” He stepped closer to me, and I was acutely aware of everyone’s eyes on us. “She is mine just as you are.”

She is mine. I stared up at him in surprise. Was his mate still alive?

Gavril’s magic crawled against my skin like a plague, trying to consume my own. I could hear it whispering to me, telling me that any magic I held was no match for him.

But it was wrong.

Blistering heat and fire burned my fingers, and I dropped the bouquet of flowers at my side. “You will never take from me again.”

“That’s enough.” Queen Kaida stepped down from her dais that had the perfect view of where we were to wed, and her harsh face was laced with anger. “You are to marry my son.” She looked pointedly at the priest. “Please continue.”

“There is no need.” My voice was a harsh command, and the magic pulsing through my body felt like a great beast begging to be set free. “There is no magic that could make me marry him.” I took a step toward the prince, and he did the same. “No magic could bind me to you.”

I took another step forward, and the crystals of my dress weighed me down. Gavril’s magic came near me, and the burning inside my stomach became unbearable. It was a roaring flame, the fire flooding my veins and causing my ears to ring.

“You belong to me.” His voice was harsh and hot. “You will always belong to me.”

My magic shot out from my hands without my control and into Gavril. I didn’t stop until it poured out of me, casting the entire palace in my dark magic. I felt Gavril’s magic tug against my own, but it snapped beneath my will. I watched as the crowned prince landed on his ass before me, and I tried not to smile as the strangers he had invited to our wedding began to scream.

Blood dripped from his nose, but he quickly wiped it away as he climbed back to his feet. He stormed toward me, and the prince’s hand gripped my arm like a vise, and my skin burned from the magic in his fingers. The prince’s eyes were a swirl of red, and the magic was so thick that it became suffocating.

The guests cried out in alarm, and the music stopped. Guards poured from the doors, and I could hear everyone scrambling to get out of the way.

“Get your hands off my mate.” Evren’s voice boomed through the garden, a demand to not be mistaken, as he stormed through the double doors with a blood-soaked sword in his hand. Sorin and Thalia both stood at his sides, the same vicious look in their eyes and bloodstains on their clothes.

My knees threatened to buckle, and tears clouded my eyes. Evren was here. He had come for me.

He was death and blood and power. All of it was wrapped up in a beautiful, dark package. He stared at me, and I watched as his face softened.

“Princess.” My name fell from his lips, and my chest ached with my longing for him.

“What are you doing here?” Queen Kaida moved to my side, and the softness on Evren’s face morphed into something they all should have feared.

“I was invited, remember?” Evren held the invitation they had sent to his kingdom between his fingers, and a small laugh bubbled up my throat.

Gavril’s hold tightened on me, and I cried out at the way his skin burned against mine. He pulled me to him until my body was shielding his own before he finally spoke. “Brother, I think we made an agreement the last time we spoke.”

“We did no such thing.” Evren stepped down the aisle, and Gavril’s magic poured from him.

Evren watched the red smoke carefully before his eyes met mine. Those dark, beautiful eyes of his caused a deep ache in my bones with how badly I missed them.

“You and Adara agreed for her to come back to your kingdom with you. Her debt has been paid.”

“She is mine, brother.” Gavril’s voice started out even but grew in volume, and Evren’s face darkened.

Gavril’s magic held power, but I could feel his body tremble against mine.

“I will only tell you once more to get your hands off my mate.” Evren’s voice was a low boom, like a warning of the storm that was to come.

“Son.” I heard the king from behind me, and it was the first time I noticed he was still there.

I turned my head to take in the man who had turned so easily on his own son. “Don’t you dare speak to him,” I hissed the words between my teeth, and he jolted back as if my words shocked him.

“I see you brought the other little Blood whore with you.”

I turned back to face the queen as her words found their mark, and I watched as she ran her gaze up and down Thalia.

My magic surged inside me, feral in its need, and I ripped myself out of Gavril’s hold. Air hit the spot he had just been touching, and the pain was almost unbearable. I reached for Gavril’s dagger at his side, and his magic shot out at me as if it meant to trap me in its mist. But I moved away quickly before it could dig its deathly talons into me.

I reached out for Queen Kaida, and even though my hand trembled around the dagger, there wasn’t a trace of doubt in my mind.

“Gavril!” she screamed out for her son, but it was too late. My hand and the pommel of the dagger collided with her jaw, and she dropped to her knees before me.

My magic swirled around us in a storm of my fury, and no one could touch us. Not Gavril as he tried to get to his mother or even Evren as he tried to get to me.

It was me and this woman who had played such an intricate role in almost every dark moment of my life.