The Warlord (Rise of the Warlords 1)

No hope?

He lifted her to his chest and cradled her tight, giving her the same words he’d given her before. A soothing balm. “Nothing separates us.”

* * *

The next morning dawned as any other. Unstoppable and unavoidable. The rainless storm seethed with untold fury, an accurate portrayal of the cyclone raging inside of Roc. Mere hours remained on the clock.

When the bedroom shook, Taliyah jolted upright, instantly awake.

“It’s all right, love. It’s all right.” He traced a hand down the ridges of her spine. “The wall came down, that’s all.”

The beginning of the end, then.

A curse brewed in his throat as she settled against him.

“Erebus is free to come and go now?” she asked.

“Yes. But he and his phantoms aren’t allowed to fight us.”

“I want to kill him,” she snarled, her little claws sharpening at the tips.

He fell in love with her all over again.

As Roc sent orders to his warlords to prepare for the ceremony, he drew Taliyah closer. “We have hours to go. Shall we study? We might find a last-minute save.”

“No, the time for studying is over.” No emotion laced her tone. “The time for action has come.”

Always in the past, Roc had left the bride locked in her room alone on this day, to mentally prepare for her end. Her favorite foods. Wine of her choice. Whatever she asked for, within the scope of his abilities, he provided. This time, he refused to let Taliyah out of his sight.

“H-how is the rest of this day going to go?” She conformed her body to his, her icy blues stark. “I should’ve asked before, but I don’t think I was ready to hear the answer until now.”

Linking their hands—one or both of them trembled—he told her, “Two hours before the ceremony, my sisters Aurora and Twila will arrive to help you bathe and dress. When they finish, they’ll leave and join Chaos, who will be waiting in the garden. At the altar.” His voice cracked. “At eleven fifty, my men will escort you to the garden, where I, too, will wait.”

“No. I’ll walk on my own,” she said with firm assurance. “Astra guards will give the appearance of force. I’ll not have anyone thinking the harpy General and wife of the Astra Commander is unwilling. I do what I want, when I want.”

Killing me. “You’ll come to the garden on your own, then.”

Inhale, exhale. “What happens next?” she asked softly.

“You walk to me. To the altar.”

She averted her gaze for a moment. “Each of your brides was the fiercest of her species. Some ran. Some cried. Some fought. As your gravita, I will prove myself the fiercest of them all. I won’t run. I won’t cry.”

A terrible choking sound left him. “With my entire being, I wish you would run.”

“Sorry, baby, but that’s not my style.”

He cupped her cheek and kissed her brow. “I know that well, love.”

“Tell me the rest,” she said, though she’d watched it occur to twenty others.

Roc could deny her nothing, not even this. “Usually I deliver the blow at midnight. The death is to occur in that window of time between the first and last bell.”

She nodded. “If I die—” A familiar denial sprang from him. She continued anyway. “If I die, know that I meant what I said to my sisters. I have no regrets. I wouldn’t trade our time together for anything.”

His eyes burned, his line of sight wavering. He pressed his fingers over his lids.

She kissed his cheek. “There’s one more thing. If I die, you are not to follow me. You are to forever compare every woman you meet with me. And make sure they understand why they’re inferior to me in every way. I mean that. It’s not optional.”

His heart broke. Right there, in that moment, his heart shattered into too many pieces to ever weld together. She had never accepted a picture of defeat—until Roc.

From this, he would not recover. Erebus had wanted his misery. The god had gotten it.

37

The rest of the day passed in a blur for Taliyah, her emotions chaotic. As Roc predicted, his sisters arrived with a gown and toiletries. They didn’t speak to him, and he didn’t speak to them, but tension arced among the trio.

Taliyah thought his eyes glinted as he left the room, and she almost broke into another round of humiliating sobs.

The two females pasted on smiles before introducing themselves and drawing a bath.

“You won his heart,” Aurora said once Taliyah had stripped and settled in the warm, perfumed water. “That’s good, and that’s bad.”

“Roc is going to hurt when you’re gone,” Twila added with a sigh.

A barbed lump grew in her throat. She couldn’t discuss Roc’s feelings right now. Not while her own were such a jumbled mess. “Come on, now. I’m the harpy General. I have skills. Who says I’ve got to lose?”