Cole glanced back over her shoulder at Josie. “That’s twice,” he teased, a smug smile tugging on his lips.
It was that expression that lingered in Josie’s mind as a deafening sound exploded across sky—across therealm—the world shaking so violently that Josie wondered if it would ever be still again.
She slammed to the ground, her knees giving out as the grass seemed to ripple beneath her. It took her a moment to get her bearings, to separate the screams of the soldiers from the howling of the wind that suddenly roared through the Malas. Josie rolled, her feet struggling to get beneath her, butshe heaved herself up, her hands steadying herself against the Wall. Except…
The Wall was shaking, the ancient granite no match for whatever hells had been unleashed on Eteryium. Terror seized her as her gaze darted up, her muscles locking despite the rocks she could see shifting against the mortar.
Move. Move.
She couldn’t.
Something slammed into her, hard—a body, sending her careening sideways just as one of those larger rocks broke free. The world tilted as Josie fell, becoming a blur of wind and screams and debris. The force of her fall knocked her breath from her chest, her lungs spasming as she tried to suck in air.
She forced herself up on her palms, the pandemonium around her fading into a distant hum as her eyes fell on the figure beside her.
Cole was an arm’s reach away, his hand still outstretched toward her. Blood oozed from his temple, the rock he’d saved Josie from covering the bulk of his spine.
“No.”
Josie scrambled toward him, but something held her back—an arm, hooking around her waist and lifting her up until her feet were planted on the ground.
“No!”
The word ripped from her throat, lost in the sound of Eteryium falling to pieces around her.
“He’s gone, Josie.” Aleissande’s voice was steady in her ear.
“No!” Josie cried again. Cole couldn’t be dead. He couldn’t be dead, because he wasCole, and he had defied the odds so many times, and she needed him, dammit. She needed him.
But Cole did not move from his position on the ground, even with the ghost of a smile still lingering on his face, as if he’d known he would go by saving Josie, and that was alright with him.
Josie screamed as she fought against Aleissande’s hold, her heart cracking in her chest.
“We have to move,” Aleissande urged. “Josie, we have to move!”
Because chaos was still unfolding around them, as if nature was echoing Josie’s grief and pain.
“Please, Josie,” Aleissande begged, her voice wet in her desperation.
Josie went limp in Aleissande’s arms, a sob ripping from her throat despite the way she tried to swallow it. She allowed herself one last look at Cole before she nodded, her hand slick with sweat as she gripped her sword.
She would not let Cole’s sacrifice go in vain.
Her eyes flicked upward, taking in the dark clouds and the cracks of light webbing across them. She couldn’t make out what was falling, not with the wind and her tears, but it almost looked like pieces of the sky itself.
She sucked in a trembling breath of resolve, her grief making room for her rage.
She would keep fighting until they won this battle or the realm ended.
Whichever came first.
71
The realm did not welcome the gods.
Aya braced her hands on the ground, the rock trembling beneath her. She struggled to push up on to her knees, Will’s hold tight around her waist as he moved with her. The sky swirled overhead, an angry mix of gray and brown and black, with flecks of light arcing toward the earth like warped stars.
And beneath it all, the wind. It howled and raged, as if Eteryium had witnessed the arrival of the three gods and was screaming its disapproval.
