Tale of the Heart Queen (Artefacts of Ouranos #4)

Chapter 71

C HAPTER 71

LOR

“ L or!”

Nadir’s voice cuts through my argument with Herric, and that’s when I notice several things at once. The Aurora King stands next to Herric with his arm overhead before he flicks his wrist, and an object comes hurtling towards me.

“The ark!” Nadir shouts, and I have just enough presence of mind to understand what’s happening. I leap and snatch it out of the air, opening my hand to take in the gentle sparkle of virulence carved with Zerra’s likeness, a relic of Herric’s betrayal. I feel its power and its connection as my magic twitches under my skin.

The ark of Heart. Finally, I have it. And this time I won’t lose it .

When I look up, Herric is alternately staring at me and the Aurora King, clearly not sure what to make of the situation.

Did Rion just throw us the ark?

I’m rewarded with a split second of surprise, but it’s all I need.

Veins of crimson lightning circle my limbs as the arcturite cuffs crumble off my wrists. I watch the pieces tumble to the dirt, and then I look up to catch Herric’s furrowed brow and the slight widening of his eyes as he realizes that he, too, has just been had.

The corner of my mouth tips up into a smug smile as I arch an eyebrow.

“Problem?” I ask, making a show of checking my wrists. “I think . . . you may have underestimated me. People are always doing that.”

And then we both react, flinging out magic across the space that divides us, black smoke and red lightning crashing together like bleeding thunderclouds. I feel him push against me, and I dig deep into the recesses of my power as I throw it back. I unleash it all. That wild magic that followed me from the throne room in Aphelion, swelling with every step I took. That magic that lived locked inside my heart after a vicious king tried to take everything when I was a child.

Herric is strong. So powerful.

The force of his magic attempts to drag me under.

I cling to the ark, feeling its strength. It surges into me as we wrestle for dominance.

Without my bond to Nadir, none of it would be enough, but because of him, I am enough .

With a roar, I filter out a blast of power, shoving it into Herric. He goes flying as his power cuts off, and I spin around.

“Duck!” I shout at Nadir. His captors don’t even know what hits them as I spear them with lightning, knocking them back. And though my magic flows through me in churning rivers, it’s no longer an unrestrained torrent.

The bond didn’t only give me more power, it also gave me something else.

Finally, I am in control.

“Hold this,” I say, tossing Nadir the ark, worried about using too much power and accidentally destroying it before we get it as far away from Herric as possible.

Nadir catches it and then looks at it before his gaze flicks to his father, who’s studying us as the crowd loses their shit. Nadir moves behind me and wraps an arm over my shoulder and across my body, as he kisses my cheek.

“Seize her!” Herric shouts, finally recovering from his shock. But I don’t know who he’s talking to because no one is listening.

With Nadir still behind me, I lift my arms and look into Herric’s eyes. My cold smile causes his face to blanch.

“Everyone has always underestimated me,” I repeat. “But Herric, Lord of the Underworld, that mistake is about to cost you everything because I. Am. The fucking Heart Queen.”

Then I unleash hell.

Magic spears from my fingers, striking the massive cavern’s walls and ceiling, shattering the bubble that surrounds us and raining down showers of glass. The stands erupt into a sea of panic as everyone scrambles over one another for cover .

The ceiling drips stones and screams fill the air as they crash down. I filter out more and more magic as the mountain rumbles beneath our feet and the entire cavern shakes loose.

“Lor!” Nadir shouts. “We need to run.”

Herric stands on his platform watching us while his world falls apart. Our gazes catch for another second. He thought he had us. But we proved to be more formidable opponents than he could have possibly imagined. Nadir tugs on my hand, bringing me back to the present. We run to the edge and slide down the mountainside, the smooth surface making for a quick escape.

My feet slam into the floor, and the dome’s walls fall away as we run, diving into the bowels of the Underworld and into a network of tunnels lit with a bioluminescent glow.

We run while the cavern shakes, more stones raining down on us. The whole world feels like it’s splitting at the seams.

“Which way?” I ask.

“There was an entrance,” Nadir shouts. “That’s how I got in here.”

“Where is it?”

“I don’t know,” he answers as we keep running. The ground shakes so hard I’m having trouble keeping my footing.

“Nadir, we’ll be trapped here!”

He comes to a stop. “Do you hear that?” he asks.

I strain to listen, and a moment later, the sound of barking dogs echoes off the rock far in the distance. Nadir puts two fingers in his mouth and belts out a sharp whistle. We continue running in the direction of the sound when Morana and Khione come flying around the corner .

I’ve never been so happy to see these furry monsters in my entire life.

Without pausing, we toss ourselves onto each of their backs, and then they’re off, streaking through the caverns as rock and debris rain over our heads.

I keep my head down and covered, trusting in the ice hounds, their feet sure and confident as they race through the rocky tunnels against the echoes of their howls. They duck around corners, weaving back and forth as more stones attempt to crush us. Their senses are preternatural, anticipating danger seconds before it finds us. With my hands clutched in her fur and my thighs pressed tight, I whisper to Morana to go faster. That she can do this.

“There!” Nadir shouts, and I look ahead to a wide opening and the cavern that lies beyond. “That’s the exit!”

“Hurry!” I shout, and the ice hounds kick up their pace, digging into the recesses of their speed as piling rocks threaten to block our exit. Just as we approach the barrier, they leap smoothly over it, landing us inside another tall cavern.

Their pace never wavers as they sprint across the rocky floor.

“Stop!” I shout when we make it to the other side. I slide off Morana, feeling the deep rumble of the Underworld dissolving under our feet. “We should make sure it’s sealed off!”

I prepare to aim for the high ceiling with a blast of magic when I notice Nadir has gone completely still.

He’s staring at a figure standing in the opening.

The Aurora King watches us with the saddest, most defeated expression on his face. He’s like an entirely different man from the one I know .

I look at Nadir, who still hasn’t moved, frozen in shock.

The world shakes around us, and more rocks fall, blocking more of the doorway.

“Nadir, the whole thing is coming down!” I shout.

He looks at me, his mouth closing and then opening, clearly at a loss for words.

I wait as father and son stare at each other, and then the Aurora King does the last thing in the world I expect. Pressing a hand to his chest, he tips his head forward before looking back up and mouthing the words “I’m sorry.”

Nadir steps back, shaking his head.

More rock falls, nearly obscuring our view of Rion, who continues to watch his son like he’s become the only thing in the world that matters.

“Nadir!” I shout. “We have to go. Now.”

He looks at me and nods, and then, with one more glance at his father, we both mount Morana and Khione before they race up the path.

Behind us, I hear the roar of the cavern collapsing in on itself, forever burying the Aurora King.

The dogs howl, and the sound echoes a mournful cry against layers of stone. They deliver us up and up through the mountain and its winding tunnels, ferrying us to safety.

Billowing clouds of dust chase our heels until we burst out of the mountain and race along a blanket of glittering snow under a canopy of stars and the rippling lights of an Aurora sky.