Immortal Reign (Falling Kingdoms #6)(76)

“Can we stop them?” she asked, her throat raw.

Nic took a breath before he replied. “Kyan wants the orbs. All four of them. And then he needs Princess Lucia to do the ritual again. He truly believes that she will do it without argument and it will go perfectly, giving the four of them ultimate power. They don’t have it yet. Their magic has its limits.”

“When does he want the ritual to happen?” she asked.

“I don’t know exactly. Soon. Very soon. He met with Lucia at the palace, presented his plan to her. Left it in her hands to decide, but he has no doubt that she will join them.” His voice dropped to a whisper. “Cleo, I think Lucia’s still evil.”

Cleo shook her head. “No, I don’t believe that. Kyan has her baby. He stole Lyssa from her cradle. Don’t you remember that? Where is she right now?”

“Lyssa? I—I don’t know.” Nic’s eyes full of shock at this news, he shook his head. “I’m not always conscious. I see very little, but what little I do see and hear, I remember. Like . . . I very clearly remember when Kyan marked Kurtis—made him into his slave. I remember the way he screamed.”

“I don’t care about Kurtis.”

His expression grew pained. “I’m trying to think, but I don’t remember ever seeing Lyssa here. I remember Kyan went to visit Lucia at the palace, but . . . I don’t remember him taking the baby. She could be anywhere.”

Cleo tried to think it through, tried to piece together this puzzle. “What happens if Kyan doesn’t possess the crystals?”

“Then he will burn the world,” the water Kindred told her. “And everyone in it.”

A shiver went down Cleo’s spine.

“Nothing good,” Nic said, then he swore under his breath. “I can’t hold on to this control for much longer. But you have to. You can’t let what happened to Taran happen to you. You can’t let the water Kindred take you over.”

Cleo pulled off one of her silk gloves and touched the blue lines on her hand. “I don’t know how much longer I can resist. Every time I feel like I’m drowning, I’m certain I will die.”

“Stay strong,” Nic urged. “Because you need to gather the orbs together and destroy all four of them.”

She gasped. “What?”

“Ridiculous. He doesn’t know what he’s saying,” the water Kindred sneered, yet there was something now in its voice, something pained. “Ignore him. Listen only to Kyan. He will help you.”

“Kyan helps no one but himself,” Cleo muttered, and then louder: “Nic, what do you mean destroy them? The orbs are the Kindred’s prisons.”

He shook his head. “Not prisons . . . not exactly. The orbs are anchors, princess. Anchors keeping them on this level of existence. If you destroy all four, then there will be no remaining ties to this world for them.”

“You know this? You know this for certain?”

Nic nodded. “Yes.”

“Foolish boy,” the water Kindred snarled. “He speaks his last words, full of falsehood and desperation. So mortal, so pathetic.”

The more fiercely the water Kindred protested, the more Cleo was certain that Nic was right.

“I . . . I can’t hold on,” Nic managed, then he cried out in pain. “You need to go . . . go now and do as I say. Don’t let them catch you!”

A wall of fire blazed up around him, forming a circle of flames and blocking him from Cleo’s view.

She wanted to help Nic, wanted him to escape with her, but knew that couldn’t happen. Not now.

Cleo turned and ran out of the temple, as far and as fast as she could.





CHAPTER 24


    NIC


   AURANOS




All he could see were flames, as tall as he was, surrounding him on every side.

Then Nic felt as if he’d been punched in the gut, rendering him immobile as Kyan took control again. That had been the longest he’d taken control of both his body and of Kyan’s fire magic.

He’d called for flames to shield Cleo’s escape. And flames had appeared.

It had hurt like hell, but he took pride in his accomplishments tonight.

He didn’t know how he’d been able to push through. Perhaps it had been the sight of Cleo, with frightening blue lines curling around the left side of her face, glaring at Kyan with so much courage and strength that it broke Nic’s heart.

He knew he had to do something to help her.

Kyan and Taran and Olivia would not have allowed her to leave. They would have put her in chains had she tried to escape.

With Cleo here, even without the water Kindred being in control of her body, Nic had felt Kyan’s power double in strength.

Kyan waved his hand, and the fire disappeared. It left a black, scorched circle on the pristine marble. Nic sensed that Kyan found it distasteful and imperfect—a physical marking of his failure to control the mortal inside him. He scanned the temple for Cleo, but she was gone.

“You think you’re clever,” Kyan said under his breath. “So very clever, don’t you?”

Actually, yes. Nic did think he was clever.

And, if he’d had any significant control over his body now, he would have made the rudest of gestures toward the fire Kindred.