Freed (A Choice of Light and Dark Book 4) by Lacey Lehotzky

Author:Lacey Lehotzky [Lehotzky, Lacey]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lehotzky Group LLC, The
Published: 2024-10-07T00:00:00+00:00

28

Rares was waiting for us in the courtyard of Ryza Citadel, alternating between wringing his gnarled hands and smoothing his gray hair down and away from his face. Around him, people buzzed with an anxiety that scraped against my empath magic, and I gritted my teeth, focusing on creating a barrier around my mind that would block the oncoming feelings assaulting it.

“What is it, Rares?” Ruslan snapped as we approached, and the low hum of conversation slipped away as Fae and Félvér alike stopped to listen to the conversation.

In my arms, Princess Gizela wailed, and my already fraying nerves nearly broke as I had to use more magic to calm the babe. As if Liliana could sense my waning patience, she lifted her from my arms, catching my eye as she walked into the citadel and hopefully toward someone who could give Gizela the care she needed.

Anton, Slavian, and Kriath jogged to catch up with Liliana. Guarding the princess was as important a duty as listening to whatever news Rares would relay to us, and the High Lords knew we’d tell them regardless.

“Desmond appeared to me earlier, looking for you,” he began, his throat bobbing roughly as he swallowed.

“Desmond?” Ruslan growled, his fists balling before he cracked each knuckle slowly, sinisterly, as if he were imagining popping each vertebra in the traitorous Mage’s neck. “What did he want?”

Rares glanced at me, then Drazen and Artur, and finally back to his emperor. Sucking in a sharp breath, he said, “The Crystal Realm has fallen.”

My mouth popped open involuntarily, and the world around me swayed as I leaned into Ruslan.

I knew war was coming, but…

The reality hit me like a tidal wave crashing against the shore, sweeping aside everything I thought I knew about how this war was going to unfold and replacing it with the desires of the oncoming storm.

“And what of King Airre and Queen Immonen?” My voice was thin and strained as I tried to process what the old Mage’s words meant.

He dropped his head, then shook it. Zuriel stiffened perceptibly beside me, and the shock must have shaken him to his core for his body to betray his carefully guarded emotions.

On my other side, my mate’s rising fury was like that of a wildfire, and anything in his path would be consumed without mercy. “How?” was his clipped question, posed to the Mage whose countenance paled beyond its usual pallor.

“When Desmond appeared… he was holding their severed heads as proof.”

Bile rose in my throat, and I gagged on the words.

“Fuck!” Ruslan shouted, grabbing the nearest object and throwing it into the stone side of the citadel, causing the barrel to shatter and wood to splinter and shower down on the bales of hay stacked there.

The males surrounding me swore curses and oaths that were so forceful and creative they raised my brows to my hairline.

Drazen was the first to break away through the mayhem and start planning. “Let’s take this inside. We need to gather the leaders of our forces and decide our next move.

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