I looped his arm over my shoulders. “Please, you have to move.”
He forced himself to stand, legs shaking. Blood still seeped from the wounds across his ribs as water rose past our ankles. I dragged him toward the stairs, his weight nearly pulling us both down. Each step left a smear of crimson.
A crack split the air above us.
Kairos shoved me just as a chunk of ceiling crashed down. It slammed into his back, driving him to his knees with a grunt of pain.
“No!” I scrambled back, trying to push the debris off him.
He stood up, teeth bared. “Move. Now.”
We staggered upstairs. People ran as water poured from cracks in the walls. Kairos stumbled, his legs giving out. I caught him, barely keeping us upright.
He dragged in a breath and pushed forward, leaning heavily on me. His hand stayed clamped over his side, blood seeping between his fingers, but it was slowing.We shoved past panicked courtiers, and then we burst into the main hall.
Warriors were on their feet, hands on weapons. The Sanguir soldiers had abandoned their table, forming a defensive line. Skaldir guards gripped their blades, eyes darting to the walls. Even the Caelir had drawn steel.
The massive translucent ceiling showed the churning ocean, darker than before. Cracks formed there too, spreading like veins.
“What the hell was that?” someone shouted.
Uther spotted us, blanching. He shoved through the crowd, longsword drawn. “What do you need me to do?”
A red glow emanated from Kairos’s frame. His wounds knitted closed, skin pulling together over exposed muscle.
“Get our people out,” Kairos grunted.
A thunderous crack echoed above us. Glass splintered in the dome, fractures spiraling through the ceiling, and water hissed from the breach.
A piece of coral the size of a shield crashed onto the table, scattering plates and goblets. Fae threw up their arms, backing from the spray.
Uther’s head snapped upward, his mouth tightening.
Freezing seawater lashed my face. My lungs tightened, bracing for the flood as the dome groaned like a leviathan waking. A wall split open, a jagged seam tearing from floor to ceiling. Along its base, another binding rune flickered once, then guttered out.
Kairos opened his hand, and his broadsword materialized in a swirl of mist. “This is about to get ugly.”
Bootsteps thundered down the corridor and Soren hurried into the hall, guards at his side. Vaeris followed close behind, his eyes glittering. Soren’s black-rimmed gaze swept the destruction, fixingon me.
Someone reached for a sword, the gesture like a spark to kindling, and magic sizzled by flashes of blue and gold. Lysander flared his wings, and golden light blazed from his skin. I threw up a hand, squinting through the glare.
When it faded, the silk robes were gone. White armor encased him from throat to toe, the gold trim gleaming like liquid sunlight. A longsword hung at his hip. Lysander flapped his wings, the wind from them knocking over goblets. He stood directly between us and the corridor, blocking the only way out.
I stood there, paralyzed.
Lysander advanced toward me, his wings spread wide. His gaze locked on me, then slid to Kairos with bitter hatred. “It’s bad enough you still breathe.” His lip curled. “But parading your human whore before kings? I’ll take her head as an apology.”
Kairos stepped in front of me, sword raised, crimson light pulsing from his skin. His snarl rolled through the hall.
Lysander lunged at Kairos.
Kairos thrust out his hand, and a column of mist surged from his palm, slamming into Lysander. He hit the wall with bone-cracking force. A nymph shrieked, scrambling away from the impact.
The fae roared, his wings snapping. Magic pulsed around him in a golden haze. The coral behind his head fractured, chunks crashing down. Courtiers dove for cover.
“Get back!” someone screamed.
Lysander hurled a fireball. It missed Kairos, engulfing the table in flames. Kairos slashed the air with his arm, and blood sprayed from a deep gash in Lysander’s chest.
