"He won't," I said, a tear falling out of one eye.

"Oh, he will," she purred into my ear. "I think he would see a nation lost before letting you die in front of his eyes, but even if not, I am still the Queen, and he cannot defy my command." She brushed her face against mine. "He has been fighting for three days without respite. It only took him seven hours to destroy Phazikai, and it was three years before he drew away from the blood. Do you think there will even be a man behind those wolf eyes when he comes?"

More tears fell, hot and full of sorrow, with a dagger at my neck and a broken woman holding my hand. "There will," I said, because I needed to believe it. "You'll see."

A roar echoed through the palace, not like the roar of a lion but like the roar of a monster, the sort of echoing, layered, belling howl of a creature from far beyond the natural world. It blasted through the air, dangerous and deadly, making every hair on my arms stand on end. It was like being in a movie theater, the sound so dense and demanding that your chest vibrates from it as your breath quickens. It was like being in a cathedral when the voice of the organ soars, your shoulders going back and chills running across your skin.

Dain.

54. Made of Iron, Chased with Gold

Chapter 54

Made of Iron, Chased with Gold

A smile spread across my face, helpless and full of joy, at a sound I had never heard before, which I knew better than the sound of my own voice. "He's here," I said, relief flooding me.

The Queen's dagger pulled tight against my neck, yanking me back to the present and away from my Dain, the blade slicing my skin, heat blooming. My breath sharpened again, a surge of adrenaline making me tremble as she held me there. She ran her dead thumb along mine in a parody of comfort.

His voice tore through the palace again, closer now.

I waited for him, as I'd said I would, my heart pounding and my breath coming too fast. In a whisper, I said, "Come home safe to me."

The Queen laughed, sharp and beautiful, and the right wall of the throne room exploded.

Shards of stone flew through the room, ricocheting off the beautiful inlaid stone floor, scattering across it in sharp splinters and rolling chunks of rubble. Through that spray of broken stone came Dain, dark and deadly and beautiful.

I would have recognized him anywhere. He was as natural to me as my own body, the one piece of the world that was always right where I expected it to be.

My first impression was of a dragon.

My second was of a wolf.

My third was of a god.