And now I’m sitting here. Waiting. Stewing. Boiling.
Either Jace has forgotten about me or he’s dead. Maybe they all are.
The lock clicks. I’m on my feet within seconds.
I’m not expecting it when the door swings open and Kylian appears, his shoulders sinking as his eyes find mine.
“There you are,” he breathes, stepping into the tower. His arms open as he reaches me.
I don’t hesitate before I plunge my dagger into his chest.
But when I stagger backward, pulling the knife from his heart, it isn’t Kylian who crumples to the ground.
It’s Zadyn.
83
SERENA
7 DAYS
Time slows.
The entire world quiets until the only sound I hear is the roar of my own heart in my ears.
I blink.
No. No, no, no. This isn’t real. It can’t be.
But it is.
It’s Zadyn, not Kylian, lying there on the floor in a pool of his own blood.
Oh god, no.
Cold dread slams into me, taking me to my knees. Everything blurs. I’m suddenly fighting through a fog so thick and endless—dulling my senses, slowing my movements, slowing down the world itself. I’m moving in quicksand, and he’s bleeding out far too quickly.
I clamp my hands over the wound, trying to seal the blood inside his body. But it’s spilling out in droves.
A throbbing pain spears through my chest, as real and as raw as the time I pierced my own heart.
“Zadyn? Zadyn, stay with me.”
His hand fumbles for mine as a cluster of bodies cram through the door.
“Good gods,” Jace breathes.
My head reels, refusing to make sense of the nightmare unfolding before me.
“What did I do? What did Ido?!”
“They’re retreating!” someone shouts from the hall. My eyes snap toward the door, then back to Zadyn, the realization clicking into place.
“I—called off the armies. For now.” A drop of blood leaks from his mouth. I brush it away through bleary eyes. “Serena.”
“Just—don’t talk. Just hold on, okay?” My voice betrays me, bordering on hysterical. “I’m going to fix it.”
I try to breathe around the stabbing pain, around the insurmountable fear clamping down on me. My eyes snap shut, a few tears escaping as I narrow all my energy into one single thought.
