He didn’t move.
“I’ll kill you if I have to,” I added. My hand shook. My voice did not.
Then—he lifted his sword. His tail lashed the ground behind him. The sound split me open. He was really going to raise his weapon at me—not as my mate, but as the monster the world feared.
Tears blurred my vision, but I didn’t waste a second. I ran.
My dagger slipped from my grip.
Panic slammed into me. I looked down. My hand was translucent.
I caught the dagger in my other hand and ran anyway. Luke was rushing toward me. Not even looking at me—just coming.
I lunged.
The blade sank into Luke’s chest with a sickening crunch. He didn’t block me. His sword moved behind me, and—
Splatter. Gurgle. Blood. His blood.
Luke groaned, gripping my hand as he staggered. He slid off the weapon—and something behind me crashed to the ground.
I turned.
One of Harvest’s abominations lay twitching in the dirt. My head spun. Luke hadn’t raised his blade at me. He’d been protecting me.
I blinked and blinked, but the tears wouldn’t stop.
“It’s my fault,” Luke whispered.
Which part?I didn’t know. I couldn’t speak.
“Kara!” Maureen’s voice split the air.
She ran toward me, twin blades drawn, and I could see the murder in her eyes. If looks could kill, Luke would’ve been ash.
Luke shoved me in her direction. “You’re safer with that one than alone.”
Then—he ran. Not from me. Not from the fight. Buttowardthe widening vortex.
Toward the end.
Toward his choice.
Chapter Forty-Five
Kara
Maureen crushed me against her chest the second she reached me.
“Are you okay?”
I nodded, though my throat was too tight to say much more.
“How is everyone?”
“Holding up, but…”
Maureen lifted one hand—it was translucent. She’d strapped a weapon across her forearm to anchor it in place. A workaround. A delay.
