Killian pivoted to face Elyse. Her hands were balled into fist, so tight she was trembling. Her face was contorted as if she was in physical pain. But she said nothing. And suddenly, Killian understood.
“You knew, didn't you?” he uttered.
Silver shimmered in Elyse’s gray eyes as she lifted her face to Killian’s. “I would do the same if it was you.”
Killian’s chest constricted. He had no words. He was furious—yet he held so much sympathy for Elyse, for her burdened heart, for the secret that she’d kept. For the grief and the doubt she was certainly feeling.
Screams reverberated as both Hellhounds and humans ravaged the arena, but all Killian could focus on was his friends in front of him. All of the sympathy he felt for Elyse was nothing compared to his heartache for Manny.
“No!No!” Manny’s voice shook as he pleaded. “Elyse can go. She can protect herself. She can transport herself back here after she closes the portal.” He gripped both of Sera’s shoulders, his eyes wide as he begged his beloved. “But not you. That creature—that monster that would kill me—it’s on the other side. And you expect me to just let you go?”
Killian opened his mouth, trying to think of something worthwhile to say that would plead Manny’s case. Elyse laid a hand on his arm, stopping him.
Sera leaned down to Manny until their foreheads were nearly touching. She inhaled him, as if enjoying his scent for the last time. “Elyse cannot do this. She can’t transport back from another world. She belongs here, defeating Lazarus.” She placed her hand on Manny’s cheek. “I have known for a very long time that I would meet you, my twin soul. And I have never been able to see much after that. This is what I am destined to do.”
Across the arena, a roaring erupted from the portal. Manny shot a panicked glance toward it, but Sera gently guided his chin back to her.
“You are my husband, and I am your wife. Nothing and no one can take that away from us.”
“No,” Manny pleaded again. “But you are my heart, my world. You are the star that shines brightest, guiding me home.”
Sera’s lips were suddenly on his, smothering any protests. She squeezed her eyes tight.
As she pulled away, she whispered, “Et stellae exurere.”
Even the stars burn out.
All the pieces of Killian’s heart, the ones that had been broken and mended so many times, shattered like glass. Manny was many things, but helpless was not one of them. He had raised himself to fight—as an orphan abandoned to the streets, as a soldier, as the friend who always had his back. But he had never seemed so lost as he did in that moment.
“I won’t let you go,” Manny insisted through a clenched jaw. He reached for Sera, but she had already stepped away.
“I’m sorry.” A tear slid down her cheek. “My heart is yours forever,” she whispered, repeating her wedding vow.
It was at that moment that Killian realized Elyse’s hand was no longer on his arm. That she had instead slipped her hand into Sera’s. And that she was giving Manny an apologetic look.
Killian lunged, his hands flailing toward the women. But in the blink of an eye, they were gone.
43
Elyse
Elyse landed in the stands a few rows away from the portal, holding Sera’s hand. An acrid smell lingered in the air, burning her nostrils. Whether it was from the Hellhounds or the portal itself, she wasn’t sure.
The north end of the stands had been cleared out, the crowd driven away by the beasts. Elyse prayed that the civilians had put enough space between themselves and the Hellhounds to make it safely to an exit, but a handful of bodies lay hauntingly still. The sight threatened to send her to her knees.
Beside her, Sera gazed up at the shimmering portal. Its sparkling essence reflected in her lilac irises as she stared at her fate. She glanced at Elyse for a fleeting moment before heading for the stairs.
Elyse let Sera pull her along, following out of a numb sort of stupor. As they approached the portal, the air crackled withenergy. The very threads of the universe seemed to be stretching and pulling around them as they took in this incredible magic, both formidable and beautiful.
Up close, Elyse could see the multitude of colors swirling in the vortex, each as rich as the next. Violet, indigo, streaks of pure white, all shifting and twisting together.
Sera’s eyes reached toward Elyse and lingered there. Her black hair had been braided in a crown atop her head. It was fitting; she looked like a queen as she stood with regal grace, ready to sacrifice herself for kingdom.
“Thank you,” she told her friend. There was so much genuine gratitude in Sera’s voice, it nearly broke Elyse.
Elyse fought the enormous lump in her throat as she tried to be brave. She would not show fear, not when her friend needed her. “You trusted me when I signed that blood oath with Killian. Now it’s time to return the favor—even if I do hate it.”
The tiniest smile tugged at Sera’s lips. Perhaps the last time Elyse would see her friend’s smile. Sera clasped Elyse into a fierce hug, one that conveyed a decade of something more than friendship. It was sisterhood, pure yet painful in its goodbye.
