I gasped, my heart thundering.
The ceiling cracked wider, dumping more seawater in a violent torrent. Water flooded ourankles.
“The exits!” a Thalir guard shouted. “Everyone out!”
Lysander’s wings snapped open, and he shot into the air. He unsheathed a white sword with a serrated edge, wreathed in flame, and dove at Kairos.
Kairos blocked the first strike, but the second hit his shoulder. He skidded back, wincing.
I ran forward. “Kairos!”
“Stay down,” he barked.
Sparks erupted where their weapons met, steel ringing through the chamber. The Skyborn royal sneered, dodging a hit aimed at his ribs.
A tendril of mist shackled the winged fae’s wrist, dragging him down. Kairos twisted his dagger, driving it toward the Skyborn’s throat, but he wrenched free and blasted Kairos with black wind.
Kairos flew back, slamming into a column.
The sound cracked through me. My knees buckled as pain bloomed beneath my ribs, like my body had taken the hit with him.
Oh gods, he’s not moving.
I sprinted to him.
Lysander dropped in a golden blaze. His boots struck the marble, shaking the floor. He raised his weapon over Kairos, and time seemed to slow.
No, you don’t.
I pumped my legs harder, reaching the fae as he started to slash downward, and then I jumped. I soared through the air and collided with the fae’s back.
I sank my nails into the base of his wings. The membrane was surprisingly thin, almost translucent. I dug in. Hard. He let out a deafening roar.
He swiveled, trying to reach me as I ripped out his feathers. Fistfuls of them, the ends tinged with blood. Ithrew them aside and tore out more. He screamed with fury.
I bared my teeth and bit.
His wing jerked in my mouth, and I tasted iron. Then his wing snapped down and smashed into my face and I flew off him, tumbling to the floor. Air whooshed out of my lungs as I skidded across marble. I gasped, stars blotting my vision.
He stalked forward, snarling. “You little bitch.”
His sword ignited with golden flames as he lifted it over his shoulder.
I scrambled, groping for something to throw at him.
His blade swung down, then mist slammed into his ribs. It looped his hands and legs, the thread of it connected to Kairos’s fist.
“Aelie, to me!”
I ran to Kairos’s side.
Water gushed into the room as another bolt of lightning flashed overhead.
Soren faced the crumbling walls, shouting. “The runes are failing. Everyone, get to the surface. Now.”
The room trembled. Water seeping through the cracks surged, no longer following anyone’s command. It twisted toward the center of the room like grasping hands. Shattered glass floated upward, caught in currents that should have been under control.
“I can’t hold it!” Soren growled, his arms glowing blue. “The runes, they’re collapsing too fast!”
