I withdrew my sword, channeling a thread of light through the blade until it glowed faintly in the darkness.
The entire group before me unsheathed their weapons in response, the sound of metal on leather whispering through the damp air. I saw more figures emerging from the shadows—at least two dozen in total.
Severintskedsoftly as his gaze swept over my weapon. His smile faded, replaced by something colder—though no less composed. The change was subtle, like watching frost creep across glass. “Why don’t you put that away?”
I lifted it, pointing the glowing tip directly at his chest. “Why don’t I run it through your fucking heart instead?”
“How valiant.” He didn’t flinch at my blade, didn’t even bother to shift his stance. He only clasped his hands behind his back and said, “You want to believe you’re the hero who will find a way to protect her no matter what, don’t you? But deep down, you know the truth, Aleksander. You can’t protect her. You aren’tmeantto protect her.”
My pulse quickened. This felt like a nightmare. Like I’d fallen asleep and dreamed that the greatest fear I had—the fear that I might end up a danger to Nova—might be coming true.
I just needed to wake up.
Somehow, I needed to wake up.
“I suppose it will make it all the more satisfying when you finally do admit the truth,” said Severin.
I sent another pulse of light through my weapon, brighter this time. A warning.
Nova sounded as if she was getting closer—and she clearly wasn’t alone.
Maris looked to Severin as if asking for permission.
He cracked his knuckles one by one, the sound sharp and deliberate in the stillness. “Maybe we have time for a bit of fun after all. Something like a test, perhaps.”
In the next instant, Nova burst through the tree line, Grimnor in hand, shadows writhing around her like snakes.
Phantom followed closely at her heels, a blazing black cloud that would have been lost in the dark if not for the eerie glow of his blue eyes. Thalia was right behind them, staff raised and ready. Zayn came from the opposite direction, moving with lethal grace.
My gaze lingered on Thalia. She had the sliver of Lorien’s soul in her possession—I couldn’t see it, but I couldfeelit. That familiar pull, that hunger in my magic that I’d been fighting all night…
“Aleks!” Nova’s voice again, right beside me this time. I flinched at the sound; my vision had blacked out for an instant, maybe longer.
“Aleks? What’s going on?” She sounded confused now. Maybe a bit frightened—of me, or for me, I couldn’t tell.
I didn’t have a chance to reply.
The attack came from all sides at once.
I moved on instinct, my sword finding its first target before I’d consciously decided to act. The Order member crumpled with a choked gasp, blood blooming across his chest.
Zayn withdrew his own sword, while Thalia readied her staff, using it to pull in some of the shadows drifting around Nova and channeling them into something more solid—into whips made of pure darkness.
Nova drew closer to my side, Phantom gliding after her. She glanced my way for only an instant, and I saw the uncertainty in her gaze shifting into fierce determination. Whatever was happening with me and my magic didn’t matter just then; we had to survive this ordeal first.
The five of us moved as one.
Thalia’s whips cracked through the air, wrapping around limbs and throats with brutal efficiency.
Zayn became a blur of lethal precision, his blade finding gaps in armor with practiced ease.
Phantom tore through the ranks like a living shadow, his form shifting and multiplying into a dozen identical silhouettes. Not solid, but still creating chaos that left the Order members slashing at ghosts.
I parried, struck, dodged. My sword sang through the air, light and steel both flashing in a violent dance.
I kept trying to slice my way toward Severin. To get rid of that unnerving feeling he gave me by simply cutting him down. But he evaded every attempt I made, continuing to watch me with interest and amusement—as if this was all part of some grander game he was playing—and that only made me angrier. More reckless.
My strikes became wilder, less controlled.
