“Maybe so. But we don’t have time to sit around and find it.” I took both of her hands in mine. “Be good to each other, viper.”
Rose nodded once, a little furrow appearing in her brow as she took her hand away and wiped her nose.
Urgency was beginning to pick up in the courtyard, with the threat of the dark magic closing in. Rose, Leo, and Chaz gathered the wounded as Thecae made his shadow cages float toward the edge of the property. Every few seconds, his shadows would flicker out and then come back, as if growing weaker and weaker.
I could barely feel my dragon anymore. I couldn’t put off the inevitable any longer.
But as I turned toward the Hollow, another hand fell to the small of my back. It was a touch I’d know anywhere, and the only one I couldn’t bear to face.
“You said you wouldn’t leave me.”
Devora’s voice was quiet, but hard as stone. I slowly turned, keeping my gaze at her shoulder, unable to meet her eyes. To see the betrayal I was sure marred her beautiful features.
“Devora, darling, I?—”
“Don’t you ‘darling’ me,” she snapped. “You weren’t even going to say goodbye.”
I licked my lips. “You know I don’t have another choice.”
She scoffed. “Well, I’m selfish, Nox. You may be willing to sacrifice yourself, butI’mnot.”
“This is the only way, Devora.”
“Thenthink of something else.” She stepped closer, forcing her face into my line of sight. I closed my eyes and turned my neck. “You vowed to lead everyone through this, but what about the promises you made tome? What aboutus? What about our tomorrow?”
Each word was a blow to the chest, but I stayed silent, unmoving. There was nothing I could say. She was right. I should’ve never made promises to her I wasn’t sure I could keep.
I could smell her anger, but more than that, I could smell her desperation, even as my Shifter magic struggled to maintainitself.
Her voice cracked as she said, “Do I mean so little to you that you won’t evenlookat me?”
My eyes snapped to hers, to those blue-green pools that shattered my resolve, begging me to kneel and plea for her forgiveness. The pull between us tugged me closer until my fingers found the nape of her neck. I closed my eyes and pressed my forehead to hers, breaths ragged and racing.
“Ican’tlook at you, Devora. If I do, I’ll choose you. Every time. Even if it means the rest of the world turns to ash.”
“Then choose me,” she whispered, voice hitching. She bunched the top of my leathers in her fist. “Chooseyourself. You don’t have to go.”
I gently kissed her forehead. “I love you so much, Devora. You brought sun and light andhopeinto my cold world, and that’s all I could’ve ever asked for.” A tear tracked down her cheek. The backs of my eyes burned when she trembled in my arms. “And I’m so sorry, my darling.”
I looked over her shoulder and met Kieran’s hardened stare, giving him a single nod. As I let Devora go and backed away, she tried to snag my arm, but Kieran stepped forward and held her back.
She screamed my name. The sound was so gutting, I had to turn away to force myself not to run into her arms.
Each step was like swimming against the tide. The dark magic was pungent and biting, strong enough now that I knew it wouldn’t be long before my powers stopped working completely.
My feet and my heart begged me to turn around. The sound of Devora fighting against Kieran squeezed the breath from my lungs.
This is for her. This is for all of them.
I could see the stables, where the black magic vibrated and twisted more fiercely than ever. The prisoners had been evacuated from the tree line, as well as all the wounded and the remaining mutated Veridians. I would give them a couple more minutes to get clear of the blast.
Maybe I could survive, a hopeful part of me thought. There wasa fifteen-second delay on the explosion. If I set the fire quartz close enough to the edge, there was a small chance I could beat the blast.
Without your magic?another voice asked.Without your speed?
It didn’t matter. I would try. For Devora and for myself.
When a couple minutes passed and I could no longer see or hear our group beyond the property line, I took the flint and fire quartz from my pocket. Almost as if it could sense I was about to cross the border into the dark magic’s hold, my dragon gave one final twitch inside my chest, urging me to stop.
