I can’t breathe. Tendrils of dread wrap around me, cutting off my oxygen as fear coagulates inside my chest.
I fight against a feeling like sinking into oblivion, struggling against this dark link as the shadow heart inside of me clenches, shuddering in response to the Entity’s control.
Until I feel something else yank on me—no,fourother somethings. They pull at my soul obsessively, warming the emptiness inside my chest.
I finally break free of the link with a sharp gasp, my eyes flying open to see that Baelfire is holding me in his arms. The others are gathered around with pinched foreheads.
“Fuck, Raincloud. Are you okay?” Bael asks. “What just happened?”
I’m disoriented and squirm until he sets me down. He doesn’t let me go entirely since I’m still unsteady, but I ignore the lingering weakness from the ritual and look at each of my matches in turn.
“Maven?” Everett asks softly, peering into my eyes. “Talk to us.”
The dread that has been haunting me since we arrived here for the exodus grips my throat tightly.
“A fight is on its way. We?—”
I shake my head hard, looking around for Felix. He’s a couple of yards away, frowning at us in concern, but snaps to attention when I catch his eye.
“Tell whatever humans remain in the Divide to get out of therenow. Amadeus—” My voice breaks, so I retry in a whisper. “He knows about the exodus. His forces are on the way to stop it.”
My matches swear. Felix nods and takes off toward the waypoint, shouting at the arriving humans to hurry before he slips back into the Divide to hurry along anyone remaining.
My pulse continues to pound. “Silas, tell the bounty hunters the fight is about to begin. They need to be ready at the waypoint. Baelfire, work with the Reformists. Crypt?—”
“I’m staying with you, love,” he says firmly, violet eyes blazing.
“Whatever hell is about to break loose, we’ll stay at your side,” Everett agrees.
At the end of the field, the Divide wavers before terribly shrill, otherworldly shrieks echo through the cold air—the sounds of a massive surge of fiends approaching.
The fleeing Nether humans know the sound too well and scramble as one great mass toward the back of the field, clearing much of it in record time. Bounty hunters and Reformists quickly mobilize, their attention on the glowing waypoint spell as they prepare for whatever is about to come through it.
For a moment, it’s like the stormy sky itself is holding its breath.
And then hell barrels through the Divide and into this world.
Various monsters, banshees, ghouls, wendigos, Undead, basilisks, and other horrors pour into the field with roars and screams that split eardrums. Two massive harbingers appear, their spider-like legs piercing the dirt as they shriek in harmony, lacing the air with their deadly songs. Reformists and bounty hunters immediately leap into action, launching their attacks as the battle to defend the Nether humans begins—but my stomach plummets when I see how many of the fiends continue to arrive.
Amadeus figured out my gambit. This is his move. A planned attack.
My horror is temporarily eclipsed by shock when Baelfire uses his shifter speed to bolt across the field—right into the middle of a horde of Undead. Before any of them can try to bite him, he bursts into a bright explosion of royal blue flames, shifting and leaving behind a wake of burning, screamingshadow fiends. A golden dragon is suddenly on the field, his deafening roar splitting the air. Molten blue fire spews from his mouth, sending a row of enemies up in flames.
Gods. That’s my mate.
Damn straight,Baelfire replies through the bond that I didn’t realize I spoke through.
“Maven.” Everett gets my attention by gently tipping my chin to meet his pale blue gaze.
I realize Silas has already rushed to join the fight. Crypt is beside us, his markings glowing.
Taking a deep breath, I force myself to focus. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter what Amadeus does or doesn’t know. If we push back these forces, I can still refortify the Divide and keep the humans and the rest of the mortal world safe from his grasp.
Determination blazes through me as I take in the battle quickly evolving before our eyes. The Reformists are fighting fiercely, as are the bounty hunters. The field is filled with flashes of magic and fighting shifters. Elementals cut down fiends with their elements, and all types of siphons take down opponents. Meanwhile, Baelfire is burning another line through the field as a buffer against the onslaught of shadow fiends.
But when I see two glowing skeletons dressed in ceremonial attire step through the waypoint in the distance, I swear.
Liches.
