Failing.
I was failing, and all around me, things were withering.
The last echoes of my childhood, of my safety, of the home I’d once known…all fading to nothing but ash and memory. I was losing everything, one piece at a time.
Why the hell couldn’t I save any of it?
TWENTY-TWO
Aleksander
Two Order members remained beside Severin, while the others faded back into the forest like smoke. Their target was eliminated—thetraitorSeverin had mentioned, apparently, though I could only guess at what Orin had done to earn such a fate.
Nova took a few more stumbling steps forward before freezing in place. Phantom circled anxiously around her, his body shifting between ghostly and solid forms.
Thalia was kneeling in the dirt, hands outstretched toward her father. Zayn stood close to her, his weapon still raised as he studied the places where the Order members had disappeared.
And Severin was looking directly at me. At the space between Nova and me, at the hint of violet magic still crackling in the air. His expression was smug. Triumphant.
I clenched my fist, feeling trails of dried blood on my hands. My magic still churned beneath my skin. Hungry. Violent. Wrong.
“Well, this has been a very successful night,” Severin said, his voice quiet but still carrying clearly across the distance. He gave a slight bow. “I’ll be looking forward to our next meeting, Aleksander. Trust it will be soon.”
Rage overtook me. I stepped forward even though I knew it was foolish. One, two, three furious steps and then I was sprinting, sword drawn and glowing with a light that flared through several different shades—from its usual pale golden color to that new, sickening, bruised shade of purple.
The Order members on either side of Severin threw something onto the ground—something that sent up plumes of thick, acrid smoke. Lightning flashed bright enough to blind me for several seconds.
When my vision cleared, they were gone.
I scanned the area for any lingering enemies, my chest heaving as I tried to catch my breath, to settle the storm building inside of me before I turned back to the others.
Thalia had crawled to her father’s dead body, her eyes wide in shock. She was silent, save for the occasional quiet, agonized sound that escaped her.
Zayn had followed, and now hovered close to her, still watching the shadows for threats. As the sound of too-close voices and footsteps reached us, he urged her to get up, guiding her back toward Nova, who was kneeling with her weight propped up by Grimnor.
Thalia tried several times to turn back to her father’s body, but Zayn stopped her every time, whispering urgently into her ear.
Finally, she turned her back to Orin and bowed her head, body trembling as she collected herself.
A sudden commotion in the nearby trees sent me racing back to Nova’s side, readying my weapon as I went.
The new arrivals turned out to be Finch, along with half a dozen other allies. Or who I assumed to be allies, anyway. But if Orin was atraitorto the Order, then he must have been working for them at some point.
So how could we trustanyonehe’d aligned himself with, really?
Whatever side they were on, they formed a protective circle around us for the time being.
Finch’s gaze swept over the scene and landed on Orin’s lifeless figure. His body went rigid, his jaw working as he struggled to maintain composure. He bowed his head for a long moment. Then, with visible effort, he forced his attention back to us. “These woods are swarming with Order members. You need to leave, immediately.”
There was nothing I wanted more than to leave this place.
But Nova was still kneeling, gripping Grimnor like it was the only thing keeping her tethered to reality. She hardly seemed to notice Finch at all.
“We can’t stay here,” I said, reaching for her shoulder.
She threw off my touch, and the unusually violent rejection seemed to trigger that new, devouring side of my magic.
I forced it down.
