“But you didn’t plan for me to escape with your books. You can take him, but we still have the histories,” Nemesia hisses. This time, Mazus practically cackles, the infernal sound echoing hollowly through the room. The hairs on the back of my neck stand as tears of laughter gather in his eyes.

“This is why we don’t allow females into positions of power in Velmara. You’re so feebleminded. I let you escape. With the books. Last I had heard from Admon, these two idiots hadn’t accepted the mating bond yet. I needed you to come back with the books to provide the same information Admon already had to protect his cover, and I hoped the presence of her best friend would help Laurel accept Thorne.”

Nemesia stills, predatory gaze focused on Mazus. “And Genevieve?” she asks, a quiet intensity in her voice.

His eyes light with menacing delight. “She didn’t betray you, or at least not on purpose. We gave her a truth serum that forced her to reveal everything. I needed to be certain before you left that you’d made the right connections.”

“But… you… you killed her,” Nemesia chokes out, her arms circling her own waist. The move is vulnerable, heartbreaking, and something I’ve never seen my stalwart friend do. Mazus only shrugs.

“I didn’t care whether she lived or died, really. I would’ve been happy sending her back here with you. But her uncle had tired of her. It was a convenient excuse for him to do something he’s wanted to do for a century but couldn’t act on out of propriety. Your little relationship allowed him to kill her and save face with the many Kalmeera relatives he has.” Nemesia drops to the ground, completely defeated, her eyes staring off into nothing. Once again, there’s no one left to save me and my kingdom. I repeat the mantra I’ve repeated to myself nearly every day for three hundred years.

You are the last defense against Mazus. There is no one coming to save you. You must always save yourself.

I grind my teeth, strengthening my resolve and amending that mantra. He will not get away with this.

He will not take Thorne.

Closing my eyes, I focus on the nexus of four leylines that meet under the palace. I unstopper my connection to the aether, like I did only hours ago when battling Krantz. But this time, instead of just letting the aether flow into me, I pull on the current as hard as I can, absorbing every drop of the life blood of the world into my body. I shake with the effort of holding that much power at once without releasing it, and my brow heats. When I open my eyes, I’m glowing as brightly as I had when I ingested the thayar concentrate, and this time with no magical boost.