Blackbird Crowned (The Witch King's Crown #3) - Keri Arthur Page 0,32

demon tailing the car by now?

I did my best to ignore the churning in my stomach and studied the stone that dominated the skyline. It was a sharp projection of rock that jutted out at an angle on the highest point of the island—therefore earning it the moniker “king’s knob”—and it held the stone in which the king’s sword had been sheathed for hundreds of years.

Of course, neither the knob nor the King’s Stone currently visible were the real ones. Mo had buried them deep in the earth a few days ago in order to prevent any possible attempt Darkside might make to destroy them. This one had been fashioned out of the nearby earth and stone, and only the keenest eye would be able to see the difference—and only then because this version didn’t quite have the same depth of erosion.

The Darksiders here were unlikely to notice. It was doubtful if even Max would, given his attention the few times he’d come here would have been on the sword he coveted, rather than the stone that held it.

The stony path gave way to grass, making things a little easier on my feet. While those grasses covered the majority of the peak, the area within the stone circle was barren—not even weeds survived there. No one really knew why, although, according to Mo, it had happened when Aldred had thrust the blade into the stone—apparently, the last vestiges of the sword’s power had bled into the ground and forever sterilized it. I’d always thought it to be little more than one of her tall tales, but now that I’d actually gained the same connection with the earth, I knew it was no lie. The ground immediately under the stone had been totally and utterly sterilized of life. Even the earth’s pulse was muted there. Which was odd, considering Elysian was merely the means through which all the elements were channeled. I wouldn’t have thought she could kill the life within the soil, given a good percentage of her power came from it.

But maybe it wasn’t the fault of Elysian, given it was possible she’d never been sheathed here.

Movement caught my eye, drawing my attention to the left of the circle. Mia’s two guards stood there, but it was the shimmer between them that caught my attention. It spoke of magic—dark magic, if the tells were anything to go by. It hid the demon who stood so heavily on the earth.

My gaze flicked to the circle of stone monolith beyond him. Though I couldn’t see Luc, I nevertheless knew exactly where he stood. His presence sang through me, a joyous note of heat and desire that warmed my insides and chased away at least some of the trepidation.

His readiness to move—to fight—was a more dangerous undertone that accompanied the joyousness. One filled with a deep, deep anger aimed solely at the three people behind me. They’d dared to shoot me, and he wanted them dead.

The man really did care.

“Stop,” said the woman behind me.

I obeyed. The two winged demons swooped low, causing a maelstrom of air that had my hair flying everywhere. There was a barked order, and one of them immediately banked away, flying toward the other end of the island rather than the mainland. I sent the wind chasing after it, and it very quickly became evident it was taking an indirect route off the island and to the mainland to go after Mia. I wished there was a way to warn Mo, but that had never been part of the plan.

“So,” I said, my voice still amazingly calm despite the continuing inner churning, “I’m here, as you demanded. What do you want?”

The two men didn’t reply, but the dark spell fell away and the demon stepped free.

A gasp tore from my throat.

Winter.

It was fucking Winter.

Chapter Six

But that was impossible. I’d killed the bastard in the dark altar’s cavern—I’d thrust Nex so deeply into his eye that she’d sliced his brain in half.

This couldn’t be him.

And yet he was identical—the same delicate build, gray skin, and pointed ears. Same long white hair pinned back from sharp cheekbones by a dangerous-looking, trident-shaped hairpin. Same effeminate features and sky-blue eyes.

What the hell was going on? Was he a twin? Or maybe a clone of some kind?

I fought to remain calm and raised my eyebrows. “I had no idea Darkside was capable of reanimating the dead.”

Amusement touched his thin lips. “We aren’t.”

The lightning that burned through me was now so sharp, the