Sewn & Scarred (The Fated Creations Trilogy #3)

Chapter Eighty-SixMaddox

Chapter Eighty-Six

Maddox

B y the time we prepared to leave Kembertus, the guilt was still ravaging my insides.

I knew Gabriehl deserved to die. That he was lucky I hadn’t done it when I’d caught him kidnapping Evaline. I knew that Therese and Elijah had treated Evaline horribly, that they were awful people and terrible rulers.

But none of that made the guilt subside. Because despite all of that, I wouldn’t wish death by draining on anyone. To be that vulnerable, and to feel the pain of your blood leaving your veins entirely, it was not a death Kova were supposed to inflict on others. So the fact that I had, made me feel sick.

But I had to pull myself together, because we were headed for Arlomandrah, and Sage was reaching out her hand for mine, to help her set the portal for the southernmost Kromean Kingdom.

I took a deep breath and pictured their kingdom. The tall walls that stood around it, to protect themselves from what they thought occurred in Widow Maker Plains. The stretch of their gray stone streets, and the rise of their castle, ivy crawling up the side of it so dense the stone appeared green from a distance.

The portal shifted below us, and there were screams.

There was a collective deep breath amongst all of us. We hadn’t known whether the Vasi would be in Arlomandrah, but after they were at each of the Madierian Kingdoms only a few days ago, and then in Kembertus today, we felt obligated to check.

We were all exhausted, defending Kembertus was so difficult that I felt just as tired as I had after spending a night saving all three Madierian Kingdoms. There had been so many more Vasi in Kembertus than in the former. We were tired, and the sound of the screams through the portal only assured us that we would be even more so after. But none of us dared to feed off any humans today, not after what they’d just experienced. Compulsion or not.

Those of us who had mates here did feed. The magic in Kova blood allowed both mates to feel nourished from each other’s blood, even though they were lowering each other’s supply. Except for Evaline and I, of course. Perhaps it was because she wasn’t a Kova, and when she fed from me it was only to heal injuries and not to nourish.

Evaline offered hers, but I refused. I wouldn’t make her more exhausted after all the magic she’d had to use, and what she’d still have to do in Arlomandrah.

Sage, Dean, Evaline, Eliana, and I went through the portal, and knew Sage would be right behind with a few more trips to bring the others.

When I looked up to see the kingdom, I felt the disgust seep through me. Not for the Vasi running at us—well at least this disgust wasn’t for them—but for the rulers of this kingdom. It had been less than half a century since Arlomandrah had risen up against its leaders and killed their ruling family. When they tried to conquer Neomaeros, and Wyott and I had met Wallace.

But I knew that even if the rulers of the kingdom were awful, their people still deserved safety.

So that’s what we provided.