I jump back, avoiding any damage. The shift gives me a new perspective and a cluster of movement at the end of the street draws my eye. I recognize several faces in the crowd…our reinforcements. They won’t be enough, but they won’t need to be if this works.
My hands go up in flames and I glare at Zekel. “You want my kingdom? Come and get it.”
No sooner do the words leave my mouth and the shifters waiting on the sidelines attack. The elemental gifts of my friends buzz around us. A block of ice as large as a small house forms between us and the Allaji, shielding us from their attack. I follow the thick spears of ice protruding from the back of the wall until it narrows and ends at Raelle’s palms. Her arms shake with the strain of holding them back, but her gift doesn’t waver. I run toward her only to have my legs knocked from beneath me. My back slams into the stone step, and a groan leaves me as my head lolls to the side. I get only a second to see Abrum leading the charge down the street before Zekel jabs at me again. I roll out of the way, but I’m not quick enough. Two razor-sharp claws rip through my jacket, slicing across my upper back. The adrenaline pumping through me overwhelms the pain, and I jump to my feet, ready for the next blow.
Pain-riddled cries, crunching bones, and the wet sound of steel through flesh merge to create a symphony of death. Every beat turns my stomach, and each crescendo breaks my heart. This song reminds me of the torture Zekel so happily imposed upon Raelle and Ulric. It fuels my hatred for him. He will never have the chance to do it again.
A blast of flame shoots from my fingers, aimed at my enemy. Zekel’s fur ignites, searing the side of his body. The fire doesn’t last long, but leaves behind bubbling, angry skin. It smolders along his ribcage as he staggers back. His head tilts toward the star-dusted sky and he howls. A cocky grin takes residence on my face as all the ways I will make him pay flip through my head.
I crack my neck with two sharp twists of my head, calling my flames in full force to my fingertips again. I lift my hands to unleash my wrath when a boulder plows into my gut. Not a boulder but Zekel’s gigantic fist. I skid across the ground onmy ass, my head craned back as he rears up on his hind legs, looming over me. I hold my hands out, preparing to blast him again, but stop short.
Raelle, soaked in blood and heaving for her next breath, moves around the bodies littering the ground. One careful step at a time, she creeps forward. She locks eyes with me and places a shaking hand on Zekel’s leg.
I’ve faced death time and time again, but nothing compares to the dread pulling me under when Zekel glances back at her. She doesn’t so much as quake under his stare. Her eyes flutter closed and her other hand wraps around the Imperium. He spreads his fingers, his eyes narrowed in on her.
My heart hammers in my chest, pounding nails into my stomach. Regret bombards me, churning until it’s climbing my throat and suffocating me.I shouldn’t have let her do this,I think while scurrying forward.
Zekel’s claws cut through the air, aiming for my parah. She has seconds at best before her life is ripped away.
Light explodes, casting everything in a pure white glow. The flash burns my eyes, but I forge on, unable to see.
“Raelle!” I scream, her name thick on my dry tongue. My hands pat the ground, searching for anything to let me know she still stands.
A dingy figure crawls through the bleached fog, her brown eyes wide and her forehead creased with worry. War rages on around us, but I know peace at the sight of her round, freckled cheeks and parted pink lips.
I glance past Raelle’s shoulder to Zekel’s naked body twitching on the ground. His shoulder-length golden hair is drenched with sweat and his face is contorted in pain. He is done. No longer a threat.
“You did it,” I whisper to her as if saying it too loudly will reverse the Imperium’s power.
She kneels before me and runs her fingertips under my eyes, brushing away the tears that pooled in them from the Imperium’s blast of power. “I had a fantastic teacher,” she says with a chuckle. “Are you all right?”
I release a long breath. “Ye?—”
Zekel rolls to his side and grabs the sword of a fallen Pliris warrior. Life slows almost to a stop he lunges at me at the speed of light. I thrust Raelle out of the way. The blade plunges forward, aiming for my heart. My flames burn in my palms. They won’t stop the impact, but I’ll take him down, burning with me.
A blast hurls me to the side. My head slams into the cobblestones. The pain travels down my spine and spreads to my chest. A bloodcurdling scream rings in my ears as something wet falls on my neck. I mindlessly brush it away as my gaze wanders to the side where a black spotted jaguar stands on Zekel’s chest. Ashavee clenches his neck between her sharp teeth, growling as she bites down. His cries transform into gurgled attempts to breathe while he beats his fists against her ribs. With the slick sound of tearing flesh, his arms go limp at his side. No sooner has death washed over him and she snatches the Theria from the dead king’s mauled neck.
It’s done.
Ashavee has ended the war.
Like the gravitational pull of the sun, I lock eyes with Raelle. She’s safe, perfect, and so fucking beautiful. My relief vanishes as her lips part with a sob. Her sword falls to the ground as her legs give out beneath her.
I open my mouth to ask her what’s wrong when another wet drop falls on my cheek. I finally take notice of myself and the weight pressing me to the ground. My gaze slowly moves to above me, to the wide jade eyes staring back at me. The breath I take lodges in my chest and my brain becomes foggy. Forseconds, hours, days, I exist in nothing but warm mahogany, fierce loyalty, and unwavering strength.
“Greer?” I choke.
“Ky?” she breathes.
I turn us to our sides and look down as my chest pulls away from hers. The crimson tip of the sword that Zekel held protrudes from the center of her torso. The impact it had on me is barely a scrape, but Greer...
“It’s all right. You’re fine. You’re fine.” My voice doesn’t sound like mine. It’s laced with naivety and false promises. Words I have no right to utter but can’t stop from slipping out of my mouth.
My hands move of their own accord, first attempting to stop the bleeding at her chest. The tip of the sword pierces my skin, adding to the scarlet stain spreading across her tunic. Frantically, I reach behind her, sliding my palm below her shoulders. The blade slices into the flesh between my thumb and index finger. It doesn’t hurt, not in comparison to my crumbling heart. Every beat pulverizes it into shards—little specks of dust that slowly drift away.
“You’re going to be all right,” I say again, willing my words to come to fruition.
“You are a,” she takes a deep, labored breath, “terrible liar.”
