Guards moved backward. Ash nearly tripped on his own feet.
But he wasn't fast enough.
—His throat was in her hand.
"I should burn you as you did her," she heard herself say.
Movement in the corner of her right eye.
Someone shoved her. Silver glinted in the sunlight. Iron cut the sky. Nyssa fell to the ground on her side, fire receding.
Ash's head landed at her feet.
Nyssa looked up through her hair, finding Lex bent, blood trickling down her sword. Lex heaved as she straightened, her jaw tight, nostrils flaring, bangs over her eyes.
A knife was lodged in Lex’s side.
Nyssa realized it was Ash's knife, that Lex was the one who had sent her flying into the dirt, taking the hit of the knife for her. Nadir's hands were on Nyssa's arms. He asked if she was okay, but all Nyssa could do was nod her head.
She couldn't tear her eyes away from Lex.
Lex shook with rage. She grasped the hilt of the dagger and yanked it out of her flesh, fire from her insides turning to ash on the sand.
The men surrounding them exchanged silent glances. Honest men and women backed up quickly to the surf, leaving only the Dreamers and Belwarks remaining before her.
The knife landed upright in the ground with her throw.
"The rest of you have a choice," Lex announced as she wiped her long blade clean with her muscled tank. "And you will make that choice from the burden of your knees."
The soldiers shifted, exchanging glances. Lex paused, staring at them through her bangs for a long enough moment that the men became visibly uncomfortable.
No words came from Lex's mouth.
She twisted her sword in her hand, chin lifted, and Nyssa watched as Lex simply raised a daring brow.
One by one, the guards each sank to their knees.
A quiet, satisfied huff evacuated Lex, and she began to pace in front of them.
"You can either lay your weapons in the sand in surrender, or you can wait in defiance for my blade to take your heads. The choice is yours," Lex explained. She straightened in the center, hoisting her sword lazily behind her neck, and her gaze poured over the bastards on their knees.
"Lay down your swords, or die by mine."
A quiet moment passed, and then—
Swords hit the sand.
Helmets came off and crippled in the dirt.
Lex's abdomen heaved as she held to her wound and stared at the surrender. Once the swords were all on the ground, she blew her hair out of her eyes and straightened.
"Reverie Asherdoe.”
The name echoed.
Reverie stalked to the Second Sun from her place beside Dorian and Corbin to Lex's side. Her darkened eyes washed over the bent men. Conviction settled in her every step.Exudedfrom her pores.Seepedfrom her pursed lips and extended neck.
Lex reached down for the winged helmet that Ash had thrown off. The great iron wings on either side of the head. The white-haired mohawk that went down the middle.
