Black Crown (Darkest Drae, #3)(26)

I could feel him drawing near, and a tear slipped down my cheek.

Tyrrik, I managed to get through, jerking when Draedyn tried to take possession of me again. I stumbled, and poor Kamini slipped through my talons to the bloodied ground.

Don’t let him take her, Tyrrik threw at me.

Draedyn lunged forward, his claw scooping up the dirt beneath Kamini as he grabbed her.

I bellowed in outrage, and the alpha’s hold on me lessened as Tyrrik’s proximity gave me strength. Hurry!

Lani leapt from behind the toppled table, and I shifted to block her, immediately grasping the emperor’s mistake. He thought Kamini was the queen because she wore the crown.

Kamoi ran out from within the trees, several other Phaetyn with him, screaming as he raised his spear on behalf of his cousin.

Draedyn didn’t even flinch. He extended on his hind legs and, with his talon’s extended, severed the heads of two guards. He snatched up Kamoi and two other Phaetyn in his claw, Kamini dangling from his other. With another bellow, the emperor glanced my way.

I rule through fear, daughter. Always fear. But I believe there will be love for us after the fear has passed.

With a snap that had white lights exploding across my vision, he released me. His oily powers slipped away and allowed my blue Drae tendrils to reconnect with my mind.

My body shifted, and I dropped to my knees and screamed as he took off into the twilight sky.





“Ryn,” Tyrrik said hoarsely, crouching beside me to wrap me in his strong embrace.

Phaetyn still cried. The acrid scent of burning flesh filled my nostrils, but the chaos blurred around me as I sobbed into his chest, my shoulders shaking. “He made me give Kamini over. I couldn’t control myself, Tyrrik,” I wailed. The pitch of my voice grew, my words slipping together. “I-I couldn’t stop.”

“Ryn,” he said firmly. He pushed me back, and caught my chin, forcing me to meet his gaze.

My eyes widened, and I hovered on the edge of hysteria.

“I know what happened,” he said. “I felt it. It’s not your fault.”

I tore my gaze from his, staring back at the ground. Pieces of broken dishes mixed with the food they’d once held, bits of napkin, a broken wine glass, dark fluid I wanted to think was lemonade littered the courtyard . . . It’s my fault.

No, my love, Tyrrik said, his voice unrelenting in my mind. It wasn’t your fault. It was mine.

He picked me up, my body shaking, and as he sped us into the Rose Castle in a blur, the putrid scent of smoke lessened. Setting me in a pile on the ground, he said aloud, “I’m going to get the Phaetyn together and find Lani.”

Relief, shame, and fear found me with his words. The Phaetyn needed a leader right now, someone to show them what to do in the wake of Draedyn’s attack. As the bridge between the races, that should be me—ideally, by Lani’s side. For all I knew, she was out there trying to do the job while I cowered in here. And yet, even knowing Tyrrik was needed elsewhere, I didn’t want him to leave. I choked on the words, forcing them out. “Hurry back.”

At least I had that much self-control.

“I’ll be back soon.” Tyrrik stroked my hair softly before disappearing outside once more.

I stared at the hemp weave of the golden rug, curling into a ball. My braid fell forward over my shoulder, hitting me with the saturated stench of the bitter smoke from outside. I shoved my silver braid back with a trembling hand and sat up, hugging my knees to my chest.

What just happened? What had I done?

Draedyn attacked. Dropped his Druman and set the forest aflame and killed countless Phaetyn. How many I couldn’t possibly know. How much had been lost in the anarchy? I didn’t even want to guess.

A sob caught in my chest as I recalled the look on Lani’s face when I’d kicked back the table and taken Kamini in my grasp. The burning shame collected behind my eyes, and a tear spilled over the edge and slid down my cheek. Lani had just found her family, and now both Kamoi and Kamini were in Draedyn’s possession. My fault.

They could already be dead.

I handed her over.

I stared at the weave, unblinking, and picked at the fringe. I didn’t even bother to look up when Tyrrik re-entered the room.

“We’ve gathered everyone in the ballroom. The injured are already being healed,” Tyrrik said.

The injured. But what about the dead?

Someone else strode in after him but stopped at the threshold to the room.

A heavy weight sank in my stomach as I slowly lifted my gaze to Lani’s. Queen Luna’s crown dangling in her hand.

Fat tears hovered on the edge of her bottom eyelids. Her violet eyes were rimmed red from the smoke and crying. The rise and fall of her chest became increasingly rapid as she held my gaze.

I didn’t close my eyes to her pain but etched my mind with her shock and terror so that I would always remember. More tears fell from my eyes, and I croaked, “I’m sorry, Lani. I’m so—” My voice broke, and my body shook as guilt wracked my very soul. My fault.

And worse yet, I could feel Tyrrik’s heart breaking through our bond alongside mine.

“I couldn’t get the barrier up,” Lani said, staring at the crown in her hands. Her tears dripped to the floor, and she released a strangled sob.

Wait. She thought this was her fault? I struggled to my feet, and Tyrrik hurried over to help me. He slid his arm around my waist and remained at my side.