"My wing; I can't move it," Brisa moaned as Eva crouched beside the Tenrin, her gaze swooping over her body.
An arrow was lodged in her right wing, the appendage drooping behind her. Brisa struggled to bend it, a whine of pain leaving her as it collapsed again.
"Don't do that," Eva warned.
"What do I do?" There was a broken note in Brisa's voice. "I can't fly. How do I survive if I can't fly?"
"It's going to be fine," Eva assured her even as screams of pain rose around her.
Somehow, she'd make this right. Just as soon as she figured out how.
Jason pulled his horse to a stop on the other side of Caia, his eyes on the hills to their left where shapes were massing. "Eva, we can't stay here."
"Help me get her on Caia," Eva ordered.
She stood, lifting Brisa up. Jason, to her relief, didn't waste time arguing. He reached to steady Brisa from his spot on his horse as Eva guided her onto Caia's back.
Jason looked behind Eva, his expression freezing into a mask of horror at what he saw there.
Eva’s eyes closed as she braced for pain. Thunder rumbled, drowning out all sound. When it abated, there was no pain. Only a body pressed against hers, trapping her against Caia.
Jason's expression was stricken as he stared over Eva's shoulder, looking like he was about to cry.
Drake's voice rasped in her ear. "Go. Don't look back."
Only Eva did look back, fighting a sense of growing inevitability. A hopelessness that crept into her heart and refused to leave.
The sight of blood spreading in a wide circle from where an arrow had punched through his upper chest was jarring next to the smile that greeted her. One made up of beauty and a pureness that she'd remember for the rest of her days.
"You know you have to," he told her, setting one hand on the injured Tenrin.
Tears rolled down Eva's cheeks as she suppressed a sob.
In desperation and not knowing what else to do, Eva reached out for her mind.Sebastian. Please.
Silence echoed around her, no sign her friend had heard her.
Thunder rumbled overhead, the storm’s call drowning out her own.
If you can hear me, please answer.
Sebastian’s voice remained absent, only the buzz of the storm and its relentless pull growing by the moment.
Eva closed her eyes. They were on their own. No help was coming from that corner.
And she couldn’t stay, Drake was right about that.
If Brisa were to die, Covath would blame the Trateri for her death. There would be no peace. Only violence and hatred.
If she stayed, she risked Brisa and the Trateri would have no choice but to fight to the death. She and Brisa would still fall or be caught in the end.
The only chance any of them had was for Eva to go and take Brisa with her.
It was a difficult decision that went against everything Eva was.
One Drake didn't intend to wait for Eva to make. Despite his injuries, he picked her up and set Eva on Caia's back.
"You take care of her," he told Jason, holding the other's eyes for a long second.
