A Kingdom of Venom and Vows (Stars and Shadows #3)(70)

Only then did my hand lift.

And I couldn’t breathe as nothing happened. His body remained lifeless beneath me. Our magic hadn’t been enough. It wasn’t enough, and I pushed my fingers into my hair and pulled on the strands as a scream ripped from my throat as I pressed my other wrist harder against his mouth.

Evren’s chest rose with a deep breath and an even deeper pull of my blood. His hand came down over my wrist, and he held it to his mouth as he drank three long pulls of my blood.

Then his dark eyes opened, and they found me instantly.

He was my mate, and even when facing the god of death, we would not cower.





CHAPTER 25





EVREN





A dara’s lips brushed over mine, and nothing else mattered. Not the ache deep in my chest or the way my head seemed to throb with every pull of breath I took.

She was before me, and my hands trembled as I pressed them to her face.

“Princess.” Her name left my lips like a plea, and the deep inhale I took after burned in my lungs.

“I’m here.” She ran her own shaking hands over my face, pushing my hair out of my face as she inspected me.

My head swam and I couldn’t think clearly, but I knew her touch beyond everything else.

I pushed up off the ground, and every part of my body protested in pain. But I didn’t stop. The world around me shifted, and I remembered where I was as I saw the bodies slain along the battlefield.

I scrambled for my dagger and pulled Adara closer to me.

“It’s over.” She shook her head, and I could see the truth in her eyes. “It’s over,” she murmured again, and I looked around at the scene before me.

There were so many soldiers on the ground, too many of my own mixed in with those of my father’s army. They had laid every ounce of their lives into this battle to protect our kingdom, our people, and I would be forever in their debt in this life and the next.

I stood fully, staggering slightly as I moved, but Adara held on to me firmly.

“Where’s Gavril?” His name felt toxic on my tongue as if I could still taste his cruelty inside me.

“Dead.” Thalia moved beside me, and she nodded behind me.

I turned to look, and there lay my brother with blood still oozing from the wound on his neck. His eyes were open, staring into the nothingness of his future. My chest tightened as I looked down at him.

He was my enemy, but he had also been my brother. And for a long time, I had loved him as such. There was still a ghost of that love, a ghost of pain in my chest, at seeing him like this.

But I felt no guilt over his death. Not after everything he had done to my mate, to my friends, to my people.

He could have lived a life of greatness, of love, but instead he chose power. That lust, that craving for everything that didn’t belong to him, it was his final demise.

“My father?” I looked up just as Sorin reached us, and I hated the amount of blood that covered him.

“There has been no sign of him.” Sorin shook his head. “Even as the last of his soldiers retreated, we never spotted the king once.”

I shook my head and tightened my hold on Adara. “He always has been a coward.”

“Do we pursue him?” Sorin asked with his hand resting on his dagger, and I knew that he would if that was what I asked of him. Even with exhaustion clouding his eyes and riddled along his face, he would do whatever I commanded in the name of our kingdom.

“No.” I shook my head and looked around us. “I think there has been more than enough death for today.”

My men, who still stood on the battlefield, scoured the grounds, looking for survivors, and I let my hand fall from Adara’s side as I began doing the same.

“Evren,” Adara said my name, and I turned back to her, my gaze running over every inch of her to check for harm. Her lips trembled, and I hated the look in her eyes. “Jorah.”

I pulled my gaze away from her to look for my friend, but when my gaze met Sorin’s, I knew the truth before Adara could say it.

“He didn’t survive the battle.”

Tears streamed down Adara’s face, and I swallowed hard as emotion clogged my throat. Jorah had been my friend for as long as I could remember, he had been my brother, and I would mourn the loss of him more than I ever would the one who shared my blood.

“Where is he?” Guilt clawed at my still sore chest. I should have been able to protect him. I should have fought harder against Gavril so he never could have touched any of them.

But my failure cost my friend his life.

“We’re moving his body to the palace.” Sorin nodded toward me, and I knew that my friend probably had the same guilt fighting inside him.

I nodded once and reached out for Adara. I pressed my lips to her forehead and dug my fingers into her. I could feel her beneath my fingers, and I reminded myself that she was safe.

“He will have a hero’s rite of passage into the next world.” I swallowed hard and looked around me. “They all will.”





CHAPTER 26





ADARA





I climbed out of the bath and wrapped the towel around my body. I had been in there for far too long, until the water ran cold with time, but the heaviness of the day had weighed on me.