the love he filled me with.
Ryder was going off to war against our enemies, and he’d kissed me, something the horde would have generally seen as a weakness, yet they’d cheered him on. Whether it was because I wasn’t just their queen, but also the Goddess of the Fae, I didn’t care. I’d fed them all strength to fight this war, and I hadn’t held back how I felt for their king.
We remained on the battlements long into the night. I struggled with the immense pain from the loss of more fae, but I refused to leave until the army reached the mountain passes and was out of sight. Even when we could no longer make out their forms, we still didn’t move from our position. It wasn’t until I leaned against the wall for support, and Darynda touched my shoulder, pushing a cloth into my hand, that I realized something was wrong.
“Oh, my gods, what the hell? You’re bleeding, Synthia?” Ciara demanded, moving to help me as others followed her lead.
“It’s not me,” I muttered, hissing in pain as I lost my footing. I slowly slid to the stone flooring of the battlement, bending over as a scream ripped from my lungs, filling the night air.
“Help me get her inside,” Ciara ordered.
“No. Something isn’t right,” I whispered as my hands wrapped around my stomach against the clenching pain.
“People are sifting into the courtyard,” Lena said in confusion. “Should we handle them before they become a problem?”
“Help me up!” I growled, sensing something was horribly wrong. I allowed both Darynda and Ciara to each grab an elbow, helping me back to my feet. I stared down at the bloodied people, and my stomach dropped to the ground where I’d just been sitting. I sifted, unsteady on my feet as I moved toward Adam, who turned toward me, covered in blood. “Adam?”
Adam lifted his head slowly, leveling forest-green eyes on me that swam with unshed tears. “The Dark Kingdom has fallen.” He fell to his knees, placing his hands over his face before resting his forehead against the ground. “Keir fell, as did my mother and my brothers. The entire kingdom fell to our enemies.”
“How?” I knelt beside him, rubbing my hand along his back, taking in the blood and cuts that covered his body. “How could they fall, Adam?”
Sitting up, Adam wiped tears from his eyes, anguish and anger playing across his features. “From within, because someone let them in to murder us as we feasted in celebration. We were to march here at first light, but the mage army got to us before the sun rose. This is what I saved, and what is left of the Shadow Warriors.” Spreading his arms wide, he indicated the other people that had sifted with him into the courtyard.
I turned, noting the air was displaced, and Liam appeared, falling to his knees on the ground, dripping blood from multiple wounds. Pain ripped through me as I saw him lift his head to utter the words I feared.
“No!” The denial slid over my tongue, and I rushed to Liam, tears pricking my eyes as a vise clamped around my heart. It thundered in my ears, deafening me as I fought to control the heaviness of loss that tried to bring me to my knees.
“The Blood Kingdom is gone, Synthia. The queen and king, everyone, they’re just gone. I found Arryn wounded, but everyone else was dead when I returned. I told the Blood Warriors to gather here, but I don’t know how many got out.” Liam looked around the courtyard, noticing all the injured people and making their way into the castle. Shaking his head, he scrubbed his hand over his face before looking at me. “It was a bloodbath. Severed and lifeless bodies were scattered on every level, on every floor of the palace. Someone inside the castle let our enemies in to murder us. When night fell, and the dinner meal was served, the mage army attacked our family as they sat down to feast in celebration of coming here to join the war.”
I dropped to my