“Cade, please,” Karr said.
Cade glanced at him, and his eyes were nothiseyes. They were overtaken by pain and sorrow,by hatred and a burning rage. “You are not my brother. Not fully. Not anymore.”
“I am,” Karr said. “Cade,I am.”
“This place, this hideous place… it’s changed you, Karr. It’s turned you into something I no longer know. And now I’m going to destroy it.”
He marched onwards, his rifle still aimed at Sonara, who lay on the floor beside the heart, holding her side as shadow blood leaked out.
“You,” Cade said, pointing his rifle at Azariah. “Remove the blade and toss it to me.”
“Don’t,” Sonara ground out. “Azariah, I swear to the stars, if you remove that blade, I will come back and haunt you forever once I’m dead.”
“Remove it!”Cade hissed.
Azariah reached out.
“Cade,” Karr said. “You raised me as your own.”
“Stop talking,” Cade growled. He looked to Azariah. “Theblade.”
But Karr wouldn’t stop. “You used to tell me stories each night before we went to bed. We shared a blanket at Jeb’s place and I always got mad at you because you stole it, tossing and turning in your sleep.”
“You have his memories, but you aren’t him,” Cade said.
“You told me once that we would be kings if we came to Dohrsar. But I never wanted to be a king, Cade. I just wanted to be free.”
Cade was crying now. Karr could see his shoulders shaking, but he kept the rifle aimed upon Sonara. Still, he refused to believe.
“You can still stop this,” Karr urged him. “We can find a way to escape Geisinger’s path, start a new life somewhere, be together like you always wanted.”
“There is no us,” Cade said suddenly. He looked back at Karr. “There is nous,not after this.”
He turned, pointing the rifle at Azariah again. “Take the blade. Use it to cut out the heart, piece by piece.”
Behind him, Jaxon’s skeletal army began to crumble.
Bone by bone, they tumbled, and Jaxon sank to his knees, unable to hold them any longer. “I’m sorry,” he gasped.
“DO IT NOW!”Cade shouted.
With a sob, Azariah moved forward to pull the blade out.
But as Azariah moved… Sonara moved, too.
She reached out, with a wet, shadow-blood covered hand.
And slammed something into the heart.
Karr had only a moment to see what she’d done, as his gaze focused on the amulet. The amulet he’d spent his whole life wearing, that had once belonged to Soahm. It fit perfectly into a small hole on the side of the heart, like it had always belonged there.
The heart thumped once.
Twice.
Then the ground began to shake. The entire cave rumbled, like it was going to collapse and fall inwards on itself. Karr could sense it, feel it in the earth all around him as his magic picked up on the motion. Rocks tumbled from the ceiling, crashing down around the place.
“Get Sonara!” Karr shouted.
