She dropped with a gasp, skidding across the ground. I threw myself on top of her. Locking her wrists in my grip, I covered our bodies with my wings to block out the noise of the battle.
For a heartbeat, our eyes met. Her lips parted in a snarl as phoenix fire built in the enclosed space between us.
“Vera,please.”
A blast of her fire hurled me backwards. I slammed into the side wall of the mansion. Stone and bone both cracked, the sound reverberating in my ears as my shoulder screamed in pain.
She was stronger. Faster. Deadlier. Scarven had turned her into his unbreakable weapon.
But she wasmysister.
Scarven took her from me once before. And I left her there. I claimed that everything I did was for her, and that was true. But I hadn’t doneenough. I hadn’t fought for her the way I should. I followed his orders and kept my distance, lying to myself that it was the best thing for her, when I should’ve rescued her long ago.
I was done making excuses for myself. This ended now—either with her sword in my chest, or with her shackles off for good.
I dragged myself upright, feeling my Shifter healing kick in andmend the broken bones in my shoulder. I fingered the blood bead in my pocket and tucked it in my palm.
One chance.
I took a deep breath and folded my talons away. I let my scales of armor fade, felt my fangs and wings receding back into my skin.
Fire danced in my vision as Vera appeared before me again, golden wings spread out wide, her body a living, breathing flame. She brandished her lightning sword and drew her arm back, aiming for the killing blow.
I knelt to the ground.
“I won’t fight you,” I whispered. “Not because I can’t, but because Iwon’t. You may not remember me, Vera, but I remember you.” Snippets of our brief time together as a family flooded me. “You—you loved the water. Even as a baby, your favorite place was the ocean. We’d go down to the cliffs to watch the waves roll in, and you were mesmerized.”
Her features were full of wrath as she stared down at me, but she stilled with her sword pointed at my chest.
I kept going. “When Scarven took us away from the sea and into his home, the first thing you found was the fountain outside. You took your first steps there.” I licked my lips, my voice growing hoarse. “And—and you loved stories. Mama would bring us to the fountain when we were allowed to be together, and you begged for story after story. I always pretended they were too childish for me, but truthfully, I loved them as much as you did.”
Memories and emotions I hadn’t known I buried suddenly burst to life inside me, making the backs of my eyes burn.
A small smile tugged at my lips. “And when you got older, you used to sneak down to?—”
Without warning, Vera struck.
Light emitted from her fist as she slammed it across my cheek. I grunted and fell to all fours, coughing blood onto the ground. Her sword fell from her grip, and I looked up to see her body trembling.
She lifted her fist again—and hesitated. The flames in her eyes shuddered.
“Vera—”
Her fist swung, landing another punch and flinging my head to the side. This time, however, the force brought her to her knees.
She was close.So close.
When her eyes met mine again, they were full of so much pain, it made my heart twist and shatter.
I surged forward and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close. She thrashed in my grip, fire blazing back to life in her palms, but I brought my lips to her ear.
“I’m sorry.”
In one swift motion, I shoved the blood bead into her mouth and clamped her lips shut.
75
Nox
