Free Goddess of War by K. N. Lee Page A

the dead.”
    Aric nodded, lowering his sword to the ground.
    What happened next mystified Aric.
    Raina .
    She ran out of the banquet room like a cat of the jungles of Sabourn. Her face was still beautiful, but there was something more there.
    Hate.
    Rage.
    Power.
    In a funnel of wind and glowing tendrils of gold, she swept through the courtyard, knelt to one knee, and shot into the air.
    Taken aback, Aric’s mouth parted as he watched her fly straight to the man that threatened the princess.
    He blinked once. Raina had Arela and set her on the stone ground so quickly that Aric’s eyes widened.
    Is this a dream?
    Princess Arela was back on the ground, screaming with her shaking hands covering her mouth as she looked up at Raina who flew back into the air.
    Blood sprayed everywhere as Raina used the man’s own dagger to stab him in the throat.
    Aric caught his breath. His heart thumped as he watched her.
    When she landed, she was covered in blood. She looked to him, her face unapologetic for what she had just done.
    She was no ordinary Seer.
    Witch?
    Monster?
    God?
    He didn’t know what she was. But what she’d just done took his level of interest to heights no other girl had ever made him feel.
     

 
    THE WORLD FELT much different somehow.
    Raina had never killed anyone before. Covered in blood, her hands shook as she looked down at them.
    All sounds faded, yet her thumping heartbeat filled her ears.
    When her eyes lifted, she saw that everyone in the courtyard stared at her in awe. The panic and frenzy had ended, but the aftermath was somehow scarier.
    Raina was exposed.
    Arela stopped screaming, but her eyes held something Raina never wanted to see directed at her.
    Fear.
    That terror in Arela’s eyes twisted Raina’s stomach. Raina took a step toward the girl that she had grown to love like a sister.
    Arela scrambled away, her dress in tatters as she climbed to her feet.
    “Don’t touch me,” Arela shouted as she ran into her brother's arms.
    “But I saved you,” Raina said, breathlessly. Tears stung her eyes. Somehow she couldn't catch her breath as she clutched her chest.
    “I did it for you.”
     

Allan took off his cloak, and then his gloves, revealing the tattoos that stretched across his fingers.
    His eyes fixed on his sister in the center of the courtyard. Those that remained encircled her, gawking at what she had just done.
    Even the guards stood back, unsure of what to do.
    Were they safe?
    No.
    Raina had exposed them.
    Everything was falling apart, before his eyes. He put a hand out to Olia when she reached for him.
    “Please stay back, Olia. This is not your fight.”
    Olia nodded. “Be careful, Allan.”
    He leapt from their place at the other end of the courtyard. As he soared above what remained of the crowd, he looked to the sky.
    It was night, and somehow it began to turn white.
    Every hair stood on end as Allan landed beside his sister.
    No use hiding who they were now.
    Litha had already found them.
     
     

A WOMAN IN white floated into the center of the courtyard, and the sky turned red.
    She certainly didn’t waste any time.
    “She’s here,” Raina whispered. Raina knew the moment that she saw her in the sky that this might be the day that she and her brother would finally die.
    Litha landed in the center of town with the sound of thunder crackling across the sky. Long lavender hair floated with the cool breeze. With dark brown skin covered in white tattoos, she was a beautiful specimen to look upon, but Raina had seen, and felt her evil.
    Litha’s blue eyes regarded the guests with cool disinterest.
    Humans were beneath her.
    “It’s time to go,” Raina whispered to her brother.
    Allan shook his head. “No,” he said. “We can’t let her win.”
    Raina shook her head as she tightened her fist around the dagger.
    “Listen to your sister, Vineet,” Litha said, her lips curling into a cruel smile. “You are out of time. Come with me now, and I will let these pathetic