He paused. "You would do that?"
"Of course."
"Why?"
She was a queen of prophecy. She'd just commanded the ocean to halt in its tracks. She dined with princes and kings. Why would she risk so much for him?
"Rafe." Empathy softened her tone. "Xander told me once that you pushed the world away because you didn’t think you deserved any sort of love. I didn't believe him at the time, but I do now, and it breaks my heart to see it. Of course I'll go. Your life, no matter how invincible your body may be, matters. You matter. To me. To Xander. To more people than you'll ever know. So please, don't throw it away. You don't need to fight every battle on your own, not when I'm right here willing to help you."
"It might not be safe," he said lamely.
Lyana tossed him a pointed look. "I'm hardly defenseless."
"What will you tell them?"
"I'll make it up on the way."
"But—"
"Rafe," she implored, lifting her hand to his cheek.
He fought at first, resisting the urge to sink into her touch. He was good at being alone. He was used to it. But this—letting someone in, not for a single stolen night, but for real—this was something he didn't know how to do, especially when he knew she was right. When the ravens saw her soaring through the fog, they would cheer. They would hail her as their savior, returned in their time of need. If they saw him coming, it would only lead to more panic and fear, more things his brother didn’t need.
"Go." The word spilled through his lips. "Please, go."
She put her other hand to his face, holding him so he couldn’t look away. "I'll come back."
Before he could protest, before he could tell her to forget about him and to leave this world behind, she pulled him toward her and pressed their lips together for a fiery instant that was all too brief. The heat of her touch spread across his entire body, leaving his skin tingling and his throat burning even after she pulled away.
"I promise," she whispered, standing on the tips of her toes so her lips brushed against his ear and her breath played across his neck. "I promise, I'll come back for you."
Without another word, she turned, her ivory wings sending a cloud of ash into the air as they flapped. Just as her heels rose off the ground, a river of golden magic whooshed by. The power clamped around her limbs and trapped her in place. She froze with her face lifted and her arms outstretched, her entire body reaching for the sky.
52
Lyana
"Malek!" Lyana shouted, fury sharpening her tone. After expending so much of her power to stop the wave, she was too weak to fight his hold. Every bit of movement was its own battle, and it took all the magic she possessed just to turn around and face him. Though he stood as tall and proud as any king, the look in his eyes was full of jagged edges. "Let me go."
"I can't do that."
"You can't or you won't?"
"Lyana—"
"What's the plan, Malek?" she asked, so tired of having the same argument again and again. "You can't hold me like this forever."
"I don't need to."
A dark laugh escaped her lips. "So you'll clip my wings again, is that it?"
"If I must."
"Lock me in a tower?"
"If I must."
"Chain me to your wrist?"
Frustration rippled over his regal face. "Stop acting like a child."
"Stop treating me like one."
"The prophecy is upon us and you want to leave. What else am I supposed to do?"
"Trust me, Malek," she implored. His golden magic swirled around her, blocking out the rest of the world, entrenching her in his spirit. Beneath all that stubborn pride, there was hurt and most of all fear, a pining of the heart he tried hard to keep hidden. She wished he wouldn't. She wished, for once, he would let her in, but she knew it was useless even before she spoke. To Malek, vulnerability was a weakness. To Lyana, it was the essence of what made them human. "Trust that I want to save the world just as much as you, even if we have two different ways of showing it. Trust that I know what I'm doing. Trust your queen."
A war waged inside his eyes, but it was no surprise which side won. "You can't leave."
"I can't stay," she answered softly. "Not like this."
He clenched his jaw, brows drawing together as he stood his ground, refusing to release her. The power around her intensified until, one foot after another, she marched forward against her will. With each step her sympathy ebbed, replaced by determination. People weren't pawns on a board, and though it was a lesson she was embarrassed to have learned so late, actions had consequences—even Malek's actions. If he wanted to be a king who knew no compromise, then she would be a queen who bowed to no one. The lines were drawn.
So be it.
Lyana unleashed her magic. Even depleted, she was still strong enough to fight him, and fight she would, until she had nothing left to give. Because she was done being what other people told her to be—a dutiful princess, a coerced mate, a silent queen. It was time to take her fate into her own hands. It was time to be who she was in her own right—Lyana Aethionus, free and unbound, guided by her heart and fortified by her magic, a woman who would save the world, the whole world, or die trying.
Malek braced himself as her power slammed into his chest, nearly knocking him over. He reeled, bending his knees and digging his heels into the wood planks beneath his feet to keep from flying backward. A frown flattened his lips as a hard look gathered in his eyes. The magic around her tightened. Lyana gritted her teeth, refusing to move another inch toward him. They were right back where they'd started, locked in battle. That wasn't what she wanted either, but if she had to choose, she would rather be his enemy than his prisoner.
"Lyana," he snapped. "We're supposed to be a team."
"You should have thought of that, Malek. When you turned my best friend into your spy. When you told her to cut off Rafe's wings behind my back. When you told her to kill one of the best men I've ever met. When you silenced me at every turn and refused to listen to my concerns. You should have thought of that, when you were lying and scheming and making plans without me, plans you never intended for me to find out. Don't put the blame on me for refusing to cower to your demands. Put the blame on yourself for doling them out in the first place."
"And what of the world? Will you let it fall in your pride?"
It took everything she had not to laugh. "Will you?"
They each attacked, neither giving, neither bending, back and forth and back and forth. Aethi'kine magic lit the sky. Her vision started to spot, her body weakening before her power, unable to hold on for much longer. Malek sensed it. He dug into her skin like a beast with claws, trying to drag her forward. A cry slid through her lips as she fought against him.
As quick as the pain came, it was gone.
She could breathe.
She could move.
Lyana blinked the dark splotches from her eyes, trying to understand. As her sight returned, all she saw was Rafe.