Page 174 (1/2)

"She is a liar and a fool," Maeve spat "She seeks to drive us apart because she knoe can defeat her together" Again, that dark power rallied around Maeve

The dark king only stared at Aelin with those golden, burning eyes, and solden eyes lifted above Aelin Above the gates and wall behind her To soh above

Aelin didn’t dare to look To take her attention away for that long To hope

But the gold in Erawan’s eyes glowed Gloith rage and perhaps a kernel of fear

He twisted his head toward Maeve "There are healers in that castle"

"Of course there are," Maeve snapped

Yet Erawan stilled "There are skilled healers there Ripe with power"

"Straight fro solemnly "As I told you"

Erawan only looked at Maeve And that doubt flickered again

He glanced to Aelin To her fire, her sword She bowed her head

Erawan hissed at Maeve, "If she spoke true, you are carrion"

And before Aelin could muster an ember to strike, a dark, sinewy form swept from the blackness behind Erawan and snatched hi to down theic Not with Maeve tracking Erawan as he was carried into the skies Over the city

Against two Valg rulers, she should have already been dead Against the female before her, Aelin kneas still just a matter of time But if Yrene, if her friends, could take down Erawan …

"Just us, then," Maeve said, lips curving into that spider’s smile The smile of the horrendous creatures that launched theain "That’s precisely hoanted it," she said Truth

"But I know your secret, Heir of Fire," Maeve crooned, and struck again

CHAPTER 112

Atop the highest tower of the castle of Orynth, on the broad balcony that overlooked the world far below, the healer sent out another flare of power

The white glow seared the night, casting the tower stones in stark relief

A beacon, a challenge to the dark king who battled Aelin Galathynius below

Here I aht Here I ae, his fear, his hatred filled the wind as he swept in, carried in an ilken’s gangly liloith pure light, as if already tasting her blood Savoring the destruction of what she offered, the gift she’d been given

His sheer presence set people in the castle below screa far worse So nearly as ancient, and al hirace of a cat, barely winded as he straightened

As he sht you’d do it, you know," Maeve said, her dark power coiling around her as Aelin panted A craun low in her back and now lashed its way up her spine, down her legs "That you’d be foolish enough to put the keys back into the gate What happened to that glorious vision you once showedyour name Was it simply too dull for you, to be revered?"

Aelin rallied herself with every breath, Goldryn still burning bright

Let her talk--let her gloat and raain a fraction of her strength, was a blessing

Erawan had taken the bait, had let the doubt she’d planted take root in his mind She had known it was only a matter of time until he sensed Yrene’s power She only prayed Yrene Toas ready to meet him

"I had always hoped that you and I were true equals, in a way," Maeve went on "That you, more than Erawan, understood the true nature of power Of what it means to wield it What a disappointment that deep down, you wished to be so ordinary"

The shield had become unbearably heavy Aelin didn’t dare look behind her to see where Erawan had gone What he was doing She’d felt Yrene’s flare of power, had dared hope itsince then It had drawn Eraay, though It was enough

The darkness around Maeve writhed "The Queen Who Was Proue "Now you’re nothing but an assassin with a crown And a coic"

Thips of brutal power speared for Aelin’s either side

Throwing up her shield, swinging Goldryn with her other ar

The shield buckled, but Goldryn burned steady