The Shadow Queen

  Thousands of razor-sharp glass shards rose from the floor and hovered like a swarm of bees. As Irina shouted another incantor, and more vines peeled away from the wooden bannister to plunge toward Lorelai, the swarm of glass swooped through the air, gaining speed and momentum, and then dove for the queen.

  Irina screamed as the shards arrowed over the top of the marble barrier and struck her.

  Lorelai had no time to celebrate the victory. Kol was grappling with her, his amber eyes wild, his skin so flushed with heat from his dragon’s fire that it hurt to touch him. She sent spells into him, shouted incantors, even tried to break his hold on her by breaking his arm, but he was a dragon trapped in a human body—impossibly strong, fast, and lethal, and she refused to do the one thing that would save her from him.

  She refused to kill him.

  Her chest burned from the vine’s poison, and every breath tore at her throat like a knife blade as she struggled against him, pushing her power into him in desperate hope that somehow she could slow him down long enough to kill Irina and set him free.

  “Kaz`lit.” Irina’s voice thundered throughout the hall, and Kol howled in agony as the pain inside him doubled.

  The queen spoke another incantor, and the marble barrier crumbled into dust. The glass shards fell to the floor. And the cuts on Irina’s skin knit back together again.

  She began moving toward the far wall where the Diederich coat of arms, complete with a pair of crossed swords, was mounted.

  “He’s going to kill you, Lorelai. Any second now. It’s the only way his body and mind can find any peace. But if he doesn’t . . . I have something that will do the job.” Irina’s smile was cruel.

  Kol lowered his shoulder and slammed into Lorelai, sending them both sprawling into the nest of writhing vines.

  The vines whipped out and lashed themselves around Lorelai’s arms, legs, and waist, pinning her to the floor. Their teeth were razors, their poison fire. Her lungs labored for every breath she took. Her pulse pounded in desperation as Kol yanked at the vines that covered her heart, heedless of the teeth that sank into his skin.

  Across the room, Irina hefted the swords, one in each hand. Her lips moved, and the swords shuddered to life. Releasing the hilts, Irina smiled as the swords hovered in the air like hawks searching for prey.

  Lorelai’s eyes stung with tears as she met Kol’s feral gaze. His talons tore at the vines across her chest. The swords began circling faster and faster. Weariness from Lorelai’s constant use of magic was setting in.

  Irina laughed in vicious triumph as she waited for the princess to die.

  The last vine blocking Lorelai’s heart snapped in two, and Kol roared in savage hunger.

  The swords dove toward them.

  And Lorelai knew.

  She couldn’t fight off both Kol and Irina. She had to choose.

  There was no panic. No hesitation. There was only her heart willing to pay the cost of killing Irina and by doing so, save her kingdom and save Kol.

  She gathered her remaining strength, stretched her palms flat against the floor, and called to the deepest core of Ravenspire. To secret depths unplumbed by even Irina.

  The swords flew toward them.

  Kol’s hand curved into an open fist above her heart.

  Irina laughed.

  “Hat`sja oyti,” Lorelai whispered. “Come together and rise. Take the one who hurts you.”

  Deep within the ground, something rumbled like thunder trapped in a cavern of rocks. Something bubbled and boiled and surged toward the surface.

  “Please,” Lorelai whispered, magic stinging her hands as it spilled into the marble and sank into the core of Ravenspire. “Help me.”

  The swords were almost upon them.

  Kol’s talons pressed against the skin around her heart as if he was gauging where to plunge his hand.

  Irina shrieked her victory.

  Leo’s face blazed across her mind, the laughter in his eyes turning black with Irina’s spell. Her father fell to the floor, already dying from the bite from the snake Irina had sent after him. The woman in the Falkrains sobbed over the bodies of her children before plunging her knife into her own chest. The land was rotting, the people desperately crying out for salvation; and Kol, an honorable king who’d only wanted to save his people, was lost.

  All because of Irina.

  Fury was a burning stone in Lorelai’s chest. It was the power in her blood, the strength of her bones. It was the beat of her heart—the heart of Ravenspire’s true queen come to save those she loved from ruin.

  “Hat`sja oyti!” Lorelai’s voice rose as Kol struck, breaking the skin, tearing the muscle. “Hat`sja oyti!”

  Pain was a flash of blinding agony that seized Lorelai’s entire body, but she kept her palms pressed flat against the floor, her magic pouring into Ravenspire with every furious beat of her heart.

  The rumble grew louder. The marble shook, shivered, and cracked. And then the floor beneath Irina’s feet fell away and a fiery river of molten lava gushed from the belly of Ravenspire and surrounded her.

  Irina screamed an incantor, but there was nothing for her to touch except the blazing stone that already obeyed Lorelai. Her eyes met Lorelai’s, and the fury in them dissolved into bewildered pain as the lava surged forward and dragged the wicked queen down into the depths of Ravenspire.

  The swords dropped harmlessly to the floor, and the snapping vines disintegrated into dust.

  The collar around Kol’s neck snapped in two and fell from his neck.

  The snake wrapped around Gabril’s neck shrank until it became the harmless garden snake Leo had been playing with the night his father died.

  Lorelai’s blood poured from her chest.

  Kol closed his eyes and shook his head, as if trying to understand where he was and what was happening.

  This isn’t your fault, Lorelai sent to him, and his eyes flew open as she used the last of her strength to say, I forgive you.

  Horror filled his face as he saw his hand. Her blood.

  He leaned toward her, but her strength was gone, and darkness claimed her.

  UNCORRECTED E-PROOF—NOT FOR SALE

  HarperCollins Publishers

  ..................................................................

  FORTY

  KOL JERKED HIS hand away from Lorelai’s chest and stared in horror at the blood pouring from her. Her eyes were closed. Her body lay limp on the crumpled marble floor, surrounded by the dust of the things that used to be vines.

  Skies, no. Lorelai? Lorelai! His heart thudded against his chest, but there was no call to hurt, punish, and kill because he’d already done it. He’d hurt her.

  He’d killed her.

  He’d killed the girl who’d saved him.

  His hands shook, and his throat ached with unshed tears as he doubled over and pressed his forehead to hers. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.

  It didn’t matter how many times he said it, or how deeply he meant it. It only mattered that she was gone, and that he’d done it.

  So what if Irina had driven him to it? It wasn’t Irina’s fingers covered in Lorelai’s blood. It was his.

  He didn’t know how he was ever going to be able to shoulder the guilt.

  The memory of her gaze and the kindness in her eyes as she told him it wasn’t his fault and that she forgave him were blazing coals in his chest. He didn’t want her forgiveness.

  He wanted her.

  He wanted her, but she’d done what she’d promised she’d do. She’d destroyed Irina. She’d set Ravenspire free. And she’d sacrificed herself to save Kol.

  He choked on a sob and stroked her pale cheek. Ran his fingers through her long dark hair as grief ripped at him. Pressed his thumb against her red lips and jerked upright in shock as the faintest whisper of a breath passed her lips.

  She was alive.

  She was alive, and he wasn’t going to fail her again. He couldn’t call for help without his
human heart to give him words. He refused to leave her side when he had no idea where to find a physician or how to make himself understood in time.

  He’d have to save her himself. He stared at the wound in her chest and ordered himself to think. There was a solution, there had to be, and if anyone was skilled at finding unlikely solutions around sticky problems, it was Kol.

  His dragon heart thumped in agreement, and its fire stirred in his chest.

  His fire.

  Quickly, he called the heat and let it blaze through him until it reached his hands.

  If he could melt a sword with his touch, he could seal Lorelai’s wound.

  He lay his hands across the wound he’d made and prayed to the skies above that it would work. The heat sizzled against her flesh, cauterizing the blood flow.

  Lorelai? Please . . . please wake up. Move a finger. Do something to show me you’re still with me. He searched her mind, but all he could find were faded images of blood in snow and shattered pieces of what looked like an ebony carriage.

  He’d stopped the bleeding, but she was still going to die if he couldn’t find a way to mend what was broken inside her. If he could just get her to heal herself, she’d be fine. If he could just get her to use her magic . . . the memory of him stalking across the waterfall’s cave, insisting that if she didn’t survive her battle with Irina, he’d kiss her back to life blazed across his mind. Lorelai had said magic didn’t bring people back to life, but she was still alive. Barely, but it was something.

  Please let this work. Please. He bent toward her, framed her face in his hands, and kissed her.

  Come back to me, Lorelai. Don’t leave me alone. You promised you’d save me, but I’m not saved if I have to bury you and go home to what’s left of Eldr. Please, Lorelai, please. Come back to me.

  For a long moment, Lorelai remained limp and unmoving. Kol deepened the kiss and sent her his memories of her strength. Fearlessly choosing to save him in Tranke, even though he was a stranger to her. Choosing to help him try to break his blood oath, honoring her promise to save Eldr, healing him when he’d tried to kill her. Letting him into her heart, though she knew he was still bound to Irina. And finally, saving him by killing Irina even though it meant she wouldn’t be able to stop Kol from tearing into her chest.

  You’re strong enough to come back to me, Lorelai. I know you are. Your heart just has to want it. Your heart has to want to live more than your body wants to die.

  She stirred. A breath. A slight movement of her chest. And then her magic, in slow spirals of brilliant white, burst from her palms and surrounded the two of them, lifting them off the floor as it wrapped them in power that Kol could feel in his bones.

  Her heart jerked once. Twice. Her nostrils flared. And then she threw her head back as her heart began beating in a strong, steady rhythm and the wounds on her arms and legs disappeared. The magic set them down again and dissipated.

  Kol tried to say something, but the words wouldn’t come. She was alive. He leaned forward and covered his face with his hands and tried not to show her how badly he was shaking.

  She was alive.

  He didn’t realize she’d moved until she sat beside him and wrapped him in her arms.

  You saved me, she said.

  We saved each other. He turned to her and buried his face in her shoulder. I’m so sorry. I don’t know what to say to make it better.

  I already forgave you. Her voice was warm and sure. We both know it was Irina making the choices, not you. Besides, far more important than the fact that an evil mardushka took control of you for a while is the fact that you figured out a way to save me.

  He raised his head and gave her a tiny smirk. I did tell you I’d kiss you back to life if I had to.

  She smiled. I’m sure it was a hardship for you.

  He tried and failed to smile in return. I thought I’d lost you. I don’t ever want to go through that again.

  She took his face in her hands. My heart will always come back to you.

  Her kiss warmed him in a way his dragon’s fire never would. He pulled her against his chest and held her for a moment while in the corridor above them, footsteps sounded as maids and pages crept to the bannister to peer at the devastation below and to wonder in whispers where the queen had gone.

  Then the front door banged open, and Trugg stomped in followed by the rest of his friends, and, skies help him, even Sasha. The bird swooped down, took one look at the pool of Lorelai’s blood on the floor beside them, and gave him a death glare.

  Tell your bird not to kill me.

  She’s not going to kill you.

  She is definitely considering it.

  “Kol!” Trugg ran forward and snatched his king out of Lorelai’s arms and into the air. Setting Kol on his feet, Trugg slapped his shoulder, and Kol had to take a giant step forward to keep from falling to his knees.

  Mik and Raum ran past him and bent to help Lorelai to her feet while Jyn and Tor unchained Gabril.

  “Are you okay?” Mik asked Lorelai.

  “I’m all right. Irina is dead. And I’m pretty sure Kol is a little jealous that you seem more concerned about me than about him.”

  Kol was mortified to realize he’d been thinking exactly that. He tried to give Lorelai a please-don’t-share-every-intimate-thought-I have-with-this-lot kind of look, but his friends surrounded him, thumping him on the back and hugging him.

  “You did it,” Gabril said quietly to Lorelai, and the image in her thoughts showed Kol how much Gabril’s approval meant to her.

  “We knew the moment the queen died,” Raum said. “It was like an earthquake rolled through the ground, straight toward Eldr, and the nasty magical creatures outside stopped fighting and crumpled into dust. I think the queen’s blood oath was satisfied and so her magic kept her side of the bargain as she died. Of course, we’ll need to go to Eldr to be sure, but I think the ogres might be sealed back into Vallé de Lumé again.”

  Kol felt like the crown of Eldr suddenly weighed nothing at all. I need one of my friends to go ahead of us now and scout Eldr for the ogres so that so they can meet us on our journey home and let us know what to expect. Skies, it would be so much easier if I could just ask them myself.

  Don’t worry. Lorelai sounded amused. You’re about to have the ability to share your thoughts for yourself.

  “That’s enough of a reunion,” Lorelai said, and Kol was amazed to see that his friends, even Trugg, instantly paid attention to her. “I need to find Kol’s human heart and restore it..”

  “I don’t know.” Trugg wiggled his brows at Kol. “I think the fact that he can’t order us around out loud is kind of fetching.”

  Lorelai punched Trugg’s shoulder.

  “What? Too soon?” Trugg asked.

  Moments later, after placing her hand on Kol’s chest and whispering an incantor, Lorelai had located the gold box that held his heart. She picked it up gently and looked askance at his chest.

  “This is my first heart restoration. I honestly have no idea how to do this.”

  “I think you use your magic to put it back,” Jyn said helpfully.

  Lorelai narrowed her eyes. “You don’t say.”

  Irina sent her magic into me first and then my heart just sort of appeared in her hand.

  Let’s hope it works just as well in reverse.

  Her magic tingled in his blood, as familiar now to him as the beating of his own hearts. And then Lorelai, her face white with strain, was holding his heart in her hand and whispering an incantor over and over again as if she was terrified she’d get it wrong or it wouldn’t work.

  His human heart began to beat in time with his dragon’s, and then it flickered like candlight caught in a draft. She said her incantor once more, and his heart disappeared from her hand and returned to its rightful place inside of him. His human skin felt soft and malleable, no longer the iron cage that had held his dragon form at bay. His thoughts were clear, no more violent whispers from is dragon’s heart, and
words flowed easily to his tongue. He rubbed a palm against his chest and gave her a shy smile.

  “Is this the point in our ongoing conversation where I tell you that you look—”

  “Don’t even say it.” She smiled at him.

  “I guess since we can have normal conversations now—”

  “We should figure out how to block our thoughts?” Her smile slipped a little.

  His did too.

  Or not, he said. I kind of like having you in my head. Especially since I have to rule Eldr and you have to rule Ravenspire, so we’ll be spending time apart.

  Not too much time. She sounded stern, though her smile was back in place as she leaned against him. I’m pretty sure I could find use for a dragon king—

  Could you now? She laughed. Of course. A dragon king to help me tour my kingdom—

  To kiss you senseless—

  To save me time when I need to light a winter’s fire—

  He leaned toward her. To kiss you senseless—

  To help me find—

  He kissed her. Her lips parted for his, her hands, full of magic, pressed against his hearts, and though he was miles from Eldr and everything he’d ever known, he was home.

  “I’m going to be sick. Do you hear me?” Trugg sounded grumpy. “The two of you make me want to vomit.”

  “Shut it, Trugg.” Raum shooed the rest of the Eldrians from the room. “Kol has more than earned this happiness.”

  “I’d like a little happiness like that,” Trugg said as he walked out the door.

  “Then maybe don’t talk about vomiting when there are girls present who might otherwise be interested in kissing you.” Jyn followed him from the room.

  “You’re interested in kissing me?” Trugg sounded shocked.

  “Not anymore.”

  Kol pulled back from Lorelai and smiled as the door shut behind his friends. “They’re always like that.”

  “I love them.” She took his hands. “And I love Eldr because it’s yours. Whenever you feel strong enough to shift, we’ll go there and make sure Irina’s blood oath got rid of the ogres. If it didn’t, I’ll take care of it.”