My feet left the ground as we rocketed into the air toward the circling form of Pakshiraj. I clung to Chandra, heart in my mouth as we flew over Pakshiraj and above.
“You’re safe now. You will live.” His wings beat the air behind him, dazzling white and tipped in silver moonlight.
I held him tighter, grateful for his presence. Grateful for him. “I can’t believe that I thought you’d betray me.”
“Not this time, Leela. Not this time.” He dropped altitude until my boots touched Paskshiraj’s back. “Go now.”
I gripped him tighter. “Come with me.”
Asura are incoming,Pakshiraj warned.
Winged Asura appeared behind us, gaining fast.
“Until we meet again. Stay safe, my friend.” He released me.
I dropped onto Pakshiraj, scrambling to get seated, and by the time I looked up, Chandra was gone, flying to intercept the approaching Asura.
Pakshiraj, they’ll kill him!
Maybe, but you will live. Do not let his sacrifice be in vain. Hold tight!
I squeezed my eyes shut and pressed my torso to his feathered body as we zoomed away from the royal domain. Away from everyone I cared about.
I failed. Pakshiraj, I failed.
You did not fail, Leela. You survived, and that is a victory. We will be back. And when we return, we reclaim your throneand free all your people. By wing and claw, I bind myself to your cause.
His words served to calm the turmoil inside me. To give it structure and purpose.
I was alive. And that meant there was hope.
Hope for my friends.
Hope for my people.
And hope for Araz.
He’d surfaced to save me. Fought the primordial evil to allow me to escape. He might be the djinn god, Iblees, but at his core he was my Araz, and I would do whatever it took to save him.
Even if it meant giving up my dream of peace.
Araz had been right. There could be only one way forward.
War.
Chapter 35
THE BEGINNING OF A TRUE AWAKENING
ARAZ
Ihammer on the glass wall that separates me from consciousness. I broke free for a moment, which means my power is growing.
A soft, buttery light blooms around me, and I turn toward it. There is a corridor behind me now. Dark stone tinged with an amber hue spilling from the light at the end of the tunnel.
It calls to me.
Beckoning me.
