War.
The first wave broke against us in a spray of blood and ichor— the Mmuhr’Rhong substance. My sword cut through two, three, four of the pale beasts before the stench even hit me. They shrieked, their glowing eyes turned wide with that feral hunger of theirs, and their claws tore at the ground as though they could rip open reality itself. I carved a path through them, my aura flaring blacker than it should. Korvath was moving in perfect rhythm at my side. His blade sang, precise where mine was brutal, disciplined where mine was wrath.
“Praetor,” he called over the roar of the battlefield, “they’re pressing harder.”
“I can see that,” I snarled, driving my sword through a Mmuhr’Rhong’s chest, its screech splitting the air before it fell to the ground to be trampled like so many others. Korvath pivoted, cleaving another in half, ichor spattering across his armor. “They’re probing. Testing us. If they break through here, the portal will be exposed.”
My aura crackled hotter, red bleeding into black. “They won’t reach it.”
“You know what they want.” Korvath’s voice was grim,steady, even as he drove his blade through another throat. “They’ve been clawing at Nox Eternum since before the Arkhevari set foot here. The Abyss is their womb, their cradle, but Auris Prime?—”
“—is their feast,” I finished, as rage twisted my chest. “They want to corrupt it. To spread their hunger into every world seeded by the Portal and beyond. To devour everything we fight to protect.”
A shriek split the night as a larger Mmuhr’Rhong burst through the lines, towering above the rest. Its hide was ridged with bone, its eyes burning like coals, and in its claws it carried the shredded armor of one of my soldiers. I roared, the sound ripping from me like fire, and launched forward, my sword a comet of gold and shadow. Korvath moved with me, his blade carving clean arcs that sent the beast stumbling.
“We hold the line,” Korvath said, his voice cold steel. “Or everything dies.”
I cut the monster down, my aura flaring black in the aftermath, the air shaking with the violence of it. I growled, “Even if it kills us.”
The Mmuhr’Rhong swarmed again, a tide of pale flesh and glowing eyes. And for a moment—for a precious, burning moment—I was not thinking of Ella, or the chaos she’d awakened in me.
I was Praetor of War again. I was rage, I was blade, I was storm.
And gods help anyone who tried to breach my lines.
Two days had passedsince Zaph left. At least, Ithoughtit had been twodays. There was no sun here, no moon, nothing to mark time except the flickering walls and the servants gliding in and out like silver ghosts. But they’d come to fetch me several times, brought food, replaced clothes, and I’d slept twice. So, according to my… what was it called? Inner clock? Circadian rhythm? Lizard brain? Whatever. By my body’s measure, two days had passed.
And I was getting angry.
How dare he? Howdarehe throw all that cosmic soulmate, gods-and-demons, balance-and-doom nonsense at me, only to just vanish. No explanations. No nothing.
What was I supposed to do, exactly? Sit here like a pampered pet in my alien princess suite, taking endless baths until I dissolved into a puddle? The pool was nice, I’d admit that. Luxurious even. But after the fifth soak,even the promise of an alien spa lost its magic. My skin pruned just thinking about it.
I paced the length of the chamber as my silk skirts whispered around my legs, and my fists were tightly clenched.
“Damn you, Zaph,” I muttered. “Where the hell did you go?”
The silence pressed back, vast and heavy. No answer. No golden storm striding through the door, no black eyes cutting me open, no infuriating smirk.
Just me. Alone.
For the first time since Rotodex, I hated the quiet more than the chaos.
I blew out a sharp breath and planted my hands on my hips. “Okay, Ella. Enough. You can’t just sit here like some abandoned housecat waiting for her owner to stroll back in. You need to dosomething.”
The pep talk rang hollow, but I clung to it. To hell with that stupid alien and his disappearing act. He could play warlord in his black hole all he wanted. I didn’t need him. I didn’twanthim.
Except… what the hell was I supposed to do?
Float around like he’d shown me? Explore other planets? The idea was tempting—God, tantalizing even—but the memory of those Morlock-things made my stomach clench. Pale hides, glowing eyes, claws dripping with blood. No Zaph to save me this time? No, thank you. I’d pass on the intergalactic safari of nightmares.
I paced faster, my pulse quickening as my agitationgnawed at me. His face kept flashing through my mind, sharp and golden and infuriating—his voice, his scorn, his touch. Ah shit, just the memory of a simple brush of his fingers against my skin made my insides all… squirrely and squirmy.
And then—suddenly—I wasn’t justimagining.
I saw him.
Not here in the chamber, but right in front of me, vivid as life. Zaph, his sword blazing, slashing through the air. Around him swarmed those things—the Mmuhr’Rhong, the Morlock-demons, screeching as they closed in. His aura flared black, red, and gold all at once; his movements were brutal, beautiful, and terrifying.
