Shrill cries of the Coronis drew my gaze skyward as the mass of shadowy birds flew overhead. Fear curdled my stomach. They weren’t here to aid us...
They served her.
The Coronis descended on us in a wave of feathers and shadowy death. I shot my hand into the air, ready to defend those they’d attack. White light shot up before I could act, fanning out in a shield of mist, deflecting the dark creatures, deflecting their descent and they scattered. I dropped my hand, relieved to see House Leukós still stood.
A snarl snapped my attention to the darkling charging toward me, and I whipped around, plunging my sword deep into its chest before pulling the blade free with a grunt. Icy black blood splattered my face before the creature crumbled to dust. I swallowed back the bile rising in my throat as the putrid smell filled my lungs. I lifted my hand to wipe the blood from my face, but it clung to me, oily and slick.
Heavy paws and a snarl alerted me, and I turned in time to see a massive snow leopard charging toward me. I dropped to my knees as it launched over me and crashed into a pair of darklings overwhelming another immortal warrior. Its massive jaws crunched down on the throat of one and ripped its head clean off as the other warrior finished the other darkling off.
Sweat stung my eyes, my black braid flipping over my shoulder as my gaze darted around in search of Damien. Where had he ended up? Was he on the frontlines? He’d been lost to me in the chaos of hundreds, possibly thousands, of warriors and darklings, but I still felt him, still felt that lingering thread connecting us. He was alive, but I needed to find him; we needed to do this together. I reached down the bond, casting my thoughts out to his but I was met with a wall, as if something were blocking our connection. I frowned. Was I that tired? No, I’d barely used my magic; I should still be able to reach him. Maybe my body was too tired, too fatigued from bearing the weight of fighting and what I carried within me.
My chest heaved, magic begging to be unleashed, but I couldn’t. I needed to reserve it. The daughter of Matthias hadn’t appeared yet, and I needed to be ready when she did. A mangled screech rang out behind me, and I spun around, swinging my sword in a wide arc at the charging darkling. Elythian steel met flesh and bone, and the darkling’s head tumbled to the bloodied grass, more oily liquid splattering across my leather armor as it crumbled into dust.
I panted, bracing myself against my knee. Air evaded me, my lungs unable to fill fully. Gods, I just needed a moment, a breath. I dropped to a knee, my head dipping, and my hand came to my stomach, to the life growing inside me.
Emilia. This was for her. We’d destroy them once and for all this time, for her and all the young—for the future of our race.
Exhaustion crept into my limbs, my joints. I bit it back, pushing myself back onto unsteady feet. I had to endure, had to push forward.
“Lucia!” Barrett’s voice shot out over the noise, his hand grabbing hold of my shoulder.
Relief washed over me at the sight of his face. He was okay—he was still alive. His face was unmarked, save a single scratch, and I couldn’t see any other visible wounds. Gods, he smelled heavily of burnt flesh and ash, and I wasn’t sure where he’d been fighting all this time, whether he’d been to the frontlines or not.
Concern and terror painted his face as his eyes danced over me, falling to the hand resting against my swollen stomach. The words flew from his mouth in a flurry, edged with fear. “Are you hurt?”
My brows rose, and I looked down at myself. “Oh no, I’m fine. Just winded.”
“Are you sure? I can take you to a healer.”
I smiled, despite the bloodshed surrounding us. You’d think he was my mate for how he doted over me, but it was fear for a friend that laced his voice, fear for his brother’s mate and child, for his queen.
“I’m fine. Have you seen Damien?”
His jaw tightened, and he clamped his mouth shut, his throat working on a swallow.
I leveled my eyes on him. “Tell me, or I won’t ask nicely the next time, Barrett.Where is he?”
He let out a ragged sigh of defeat, his eyes dancing anywhere but to mine. “He went to the frontlines. They became overwhelmed when our forces were split to stop the darklings attacking the city and—”
A cry from behind us cut his words short, and I pushed past him as two darklings pinned a warrior on his back, claws ripping at leather and flesh.
“No!” I slammed into them, and we crashed onto the ground before I rolled away and onto my knees, rising to my feet to face them. Barrett came up behind one, using my distraction to plunge his sword into the back of a darkling’s head, while I dropped low, sweeping my foot out to knock the other darkling’s legs out from under it. It fell onto its back, and I sank my sword into its chest.
The warrior lay on the ground, bloodied. Short, panicked gasps broke free of his lips as he lifted his head to look down on himself. I hurried to his side, his pale, wide eyes finding me.
“Were you bitten?” I asked. “Can you get up?”
The warrior let out a painful grunt as he attempted and failed to push himself up, clutching his stomach. I caught sight of the jagged wound, the torn leather armor that revealed... My stomach dipped. They’d nearly gutted him.
“Were you bitten?” I demanded, pulling my eyes from the wound.
The warrior shook his head. “They nearly got me, though.”
My gaze snapped to Barrett. “Get him to the healers.”
Barrett hesitated. “You should take him. I’ll stay here and fight.”
“He can’t stand, let alone walk. Does it look like I can carry him, Barrett?” I barked back. “Get him to the healers and then find me again. That’s an order!”
