But when I spot Lunia, my blood freezes. Icy poison slithers through my veins like snake venom—crippling.
She glides beside Candra, unrestrained, a sullen expression weighting her features.
“Lunia?” I say, barely a whisper.
She stops by Candra’s side as the Leymak halts her. “Did you think you were the only connection to the pharaoh?” Candra asks. “Or did you assume your friends were just as self-righteous as you? Maybe you thought they didn’t deserve the right to make their own choice in a matter concerning their futures?”
I don’t acknowledge Candra or her chiding questions. My gaze holds Lunia’s.
Lunia bows her head for a moment before pulling her shoulders back and lifting her head high. “There are no sacrifices too great when one deems to be a mother.” She circles a hand over her stomach. “Candra gave me a gift I couldn’t refuse.”
Chapter Eighteen
Candra takes Lunia’s hand and leads her to where Xarion is being restrained. And Lunia allows her, turning her back on me.
Betrayal crashes over me and drags me under like a tidal wave demolishing a city. Somewhere in my heart I knew how desperate my friend was to become a mother. Yet, I could never doubt her. I never questioned her loyalty, her allegiance to the Ptolemies. She’s never voiced a complaint over being a slave—I had no reason to fear she’d betray me. I should have spent more time comforting her and discovering her needs.
Though only Candra could give her what she truly desired.
I’m forced to my knees, my arms pulled behind me at a painful angle. I groan at the snapping of my joints.
Phoenix mirrors my position near Xarion, and guilt settles in my core. I doubted him. I couldn’t have been more wrong. He struggles against his captors, slinging curses and threats, regardless of his broken slavery binds. His gaze traps mine. Glowing fierce red irises hold my blue flames, and he nods. He’s with me till the end.
Candra walks into my line of vision, and I’m forced to watch as she runs her pale fingers over Xarion’s cheek. My stomach quivers with disgust. She stares down at him and tilts her head as she touches the scar running through his eyebrow. I’m going to break her fingers off one by one.
“So mortal,” she says, then turns to face me. “Why you would sacrifice everything for this one human, I’ll never understand, sister. You could’ve had as many as you wanted.”
I sneer at her. “That’s why I pity you, Candra. You’ll never understand, nor feel what it’s like to have one who desires you above all.” I glance around at her minions. “How pathetically sad that you have to use bribery to gain their devotion.”
White-hot anger flares in her eyes. S
he stalks toward me, her black layers airborne like sheer dark wings. Her sharp canines slip over her bottom lip as she smiles. Then she rears her blazing hand and backhands me hard across my cheek.
My head snaps to the side. My skin stings, and the smell of seared flesh wafts of my nose. Xarion’s angered shouts are muffled against the throbbing whomp.
Lowering herself before me, Candra kneels on one knee. Puts her mouth next to my ear. “Before Octavian bestows me with the scepter, I’m going to watch him murder your love.” She presses her palm to my forehead and I jerk, trying to break the connection as images flood my mind: the Leymak giving chase; capturing Xarion; beating Phoenix. “Then I’ll show it back to you in slow, slow motion.”
She yanks her hand away, her nails slicing my forehead as she turns. “Bury the Narco and Shythe,” she says, motioning between Phoenix and me. Then she snaps her fingers, and the two Leymak lift Xarion from his knelt position.
“No!” I scream.
Candra waves her hand through the air. Blackness swirls as she forms an entrance to the aether. I look at Lunia. Pray she regrets her actions and stops Candra. Does anything to help. But she doesn’t meet my gaze. Rage sears my chest. I spark my power and thrust a powerful pulse of Charge into my arms.
My captor’s hands meet my attempt with matching power, his hands flaming white as they block my attack. Using his free hand, he aims at the sand and it begins to stir, creating a hole.
Panic seizes my senses. They’re going to bury us in the desert. Xarion is going to be taken away from me. Killed.
A shout sounds out, and I look up to see Phoenix grappling with his Leymak captor, Nuri positioned to attack. His eyes are wild. The cords of his neck bulge. With a thunderous stomp, he ignites the ground, and a high wall of Flame travels along the sand. Nuri screams as he’s surrounded by the fire.
Hope crests within me.
With a guttural cry, I slam a heel into my captor’s foot and yank an arm free. Quickly, I cast of stream of Charge toward the sand. The crackling blue current liquefies the grains, then hardens it into a glass casing around his feet. I jab my elbow into his rib cage and he falls backward, trapped. But not for long.
I surround my arms with lightning blue and blast a bolt into his chest. He convulses as I kneel next him and grip his head. With a hard twist, I snap his neck. He fades out of existence.
I lean back on my heels and take a deep breath, just for a second to center myself. The wind sends sand and debris spiraling, and I hunker low, clawing my way toward Xarion.
Phoenix grabs his foe by the neck, sinking his sharp teeth into his throat. A sickening crunch bites the air as Phoenix rips his head to the side, coming away with flesh and blood; the Leymak’s power source. The Leymak falls to the earth, and Phoenix spits the flesh out.