The mountains of coconuts towered around us. Lucas set me down on the floor in front of my throne. His shirt was covered in blood, none of it his. It was all from what I’d done.
The sounds of the battle were duller, but it would only be a matter of time before Jade Mountain soldiers broke through.
“MJ,” Lucas gasped. He brushed my hair back from my face,but I didn’t want him to see. My fangs scraped against my lips. My mouth was peeling wider, splitting at the corners. “It’s okay. I’m here.”
“Go,” I said, my voice a horrible rasp.
“I’m not leaving you.”
He held my hand in his, ignoring my claws.
Amador was on the floor, too, curled into herself, holding her burned shoulder. “Nix,” Amador gasped. “I…I’m hurt.”
Nix rushed to her side and worked her magic. “Don’t move,” she said, tears streaming down her cheeks. “I’ll make it better.”
A battering ram shook the throne room door, making it tremble with each tremendous boom.
“We’re trapped,” Amador said. “There’s no way out.”
All of us knew she was right. The throne room was the most secure area in the palace. There was only one way in and out.
Amador looked at Nix for a long moment, her eyes round and shocked. Nix’s hands hovered over her shoulder, healing the burn with intense focus, but the tears in her eyes betrayed her.
“I really wish I could have told you how much I love you,” Amador said.
Nix’s smile was small. “You just did,” she said. And without any hesitation, she kissed Amador fully on the lips. The moment was short-lived and bittersweet. When Nix pulled back, she wiped Amador’s tears away. It was almost like a kiss goodbye.
Despair settled over us like a dark cloud.
The floor shook with each boom of the battering ram.
But Amador yelled in frustration and stood up, hands clenched at her sides. The skin on her shoulder was shiny and red.
“It’s not fair! I only start to figure out who I am, and then I die?” She let out a wild laugh of frustration. “I can’t believe this! I won’t! I want to kiss Nix, and I want to love who I choose, and I want my life to be mine!” She stamped her foot and howled to the ceiling.
When she did, electricity arced between her fingers.
Her power—it had come back. Nix must have felt the energy, too, because she leaned back, surprised. Amador stared at her own hands, and her blue eyes lit up with the power crackling in her palms.
Amador raised her arms. Her dress was torn, her hair was wild, and her face was set with determination. Blue electricity whizzed around her body, making her hair stand on end. She looked feral, and dangerous, and beautiful. She reminded me of lightning itself.
A wide, wild smile appeared on her lips, and I realized it was because she finally felt free.
“I’ll slow them down,” she said. The air in the throne room felt full and smelled like petrichor. “Take cover!”
Dark clouds swirled on the ceiling. Thunder rolled and wind kicked up as Amador summoned a storm. Rain fell, drenching us in a matter of seconds.
“We have to get back!” Lucas shouted. He pulled me away, dragging me toward my throne and shielding me with his body.
The throne room doors burst open.
Lightning crackled and shot out of Amador’s outstretched arms. The hair on my body stood on end a split second before a deafening crack and a blinding white light streaked through the air.
Jade Mountain soldiers rushed in.
Nix moved for cover, but she yelped when large hands wrapped around her and snatched her off her feet.
General Heng. He was here.
