I look over and watch as Suryn’s head snaps from where she’s still watching the fighting, over to us. She blinks and shakes her head like she’s trying to clear it, and then it registers in her eyes and features what’s going on. Suryn looks away from the struggle between the Sovereign and me out into the room. She cries out and slams a hand against the barrier. She slams a fist and then another against the magic trapping her and growls out her frustration.
I look away from Suryn’s struggle to get out, and wrap the beam of agony around one wrist and then the other. Anguish sears through me at the contact, but I use the white bolts as leverage to get me closer to the Sovereign. If I can just get within striking distance. I don’t fucking care if it kills me in the end to try, but at least I can take the bitch with me.
I glare at the Sovereign, vengeance and death flaring in my eyes.
Let’s see how good this bitch is at tug of war.
I wrap the beams around my arms again and scream from the pain that hammers through me.
“Suryn!” the Sovereign shrieks in time with my voiced agony. “Kill her and I’ll spare your Marked,” she offers, and Suryn turns away from the barrier back to us. “Kill her and no one will ever touch your Chosen again. I vow it, Suryn!” the Sovereign bellows, and my screams rip my voice in half. Blood dribbles out from my clenched teeth. I’m dying, but I can’t let go.
Something massive slams against the barrier. I look to find Sabin tearing at the magic and shouting my name. I can’t hear him, but I can see his lips call out to me, his eyes frenzied and anguished. Bastien shoulders the barrier next to him, and not too far away from them, I spot Becket hammering the magic with his mace.
My screams are nothing but blood-filled gurgles as I tense and make another loop around my arms, bringing myself one step closer to the Sovereign. My legs feel jellied, and I know I won’t be able to stay on my feet much longer. Deafening thumps sound off all around me as the barrier is hammered by all of my Chosen and my Shields. Rage and terror streak through them as they soundlessly scream and scramble to get in.
“Swear a blood oath that all of us will be safe, Aunt. That no one will lay a hand on them or on me,” Suryn shouts out, her words partially drowned out by the booming efforts of all the guys trying to force their way in here.
The Sovereign narrows her eyes, and her pursed lips form a snarl.
“That’s what I thought,” Suryn growls, and then she leaps for the Sovereign, her katana glinting in the flashing magic that’s doing its best to kill me.
I hold my breath and will her to close the distance and end this once and for all. My knees give out. I fall to the floor and lose my hold on one of the bolts. It snaps back to the Sovereign. I try—and fail—to get to my feet to stop her from shoving her palm out at Suryn. The strike of white undiluted pain surges out of the Sovereign’s palm. I watch like it’s in slow motion as it crackles toward Suryn. It slams into her mid-leap, and it’s like watching someone get hit by a semi-truck. Suryn folds in on herself and is thrown back, the katana blinking to nothing in her grip. She screams a blood curdling scream that I feel scar my soul.
The Sovereign watches her niece writhing in pain, with an unhinged look of glee that makes me feel sick and tainted just from witnessing it. I grab the bolt of pain still wrapped around my right arm with my other hand and pull at it, using it to help me get to my feet. I wrap it around my arm again and close the distance even more.
Five feet.
Four.
Suryn’s screams make my ears bleed.
Three.
I look over at the thundering fists against the barrier.
Two.
Tears stream down my face. Blood seeps out of my mouth. I try to call a weapon, any weapon, into my hands. Nothing comes.
One.
The Sovereign looks away from Suryn and right at me. Her brown eyes gleam with victory. She knows I’ve got nothing left. The ones I love pound impotently on the barrier all around us, and Suryn’s screams are cracking and splintering as her voice starts to give out.
I look away from her hate filled triumph and look to my Chosen.
“I love you,” I mouth, blood spattering my chin and chest as my eyes connect with each of them in turn.
Ryker places his hands helplessly against the barrier, agony twisting his features and soundlessly screams outno. Torrez howls out his frustration and hurt and slams against the barrier harder and harder. Siah’s features morph into a snarl as he claws at the magic in an effort to get to me. Valen screams for me to hold on as his eyes pool with pain. Knox roars, his face filled with rage as he prowls like a caged tiger, trying to find a way in. Bastien’s cheeks are streaked with tears, and he begs me to stay, over and over. Sabin shakes his head as he cries, and he mouths “I love you” back.
“I’m sorry,” I tell them, my heart breaking as I do. I can feel my soul fracturing as I turn away from them and focus back on the Sovereign.
Suryn’s screams have morphed into a gravelly keening, and the Sovereign’s gaze flits from her to me again. I tighten my hold on the beam wrapped around my arm with my right hand and let go with my left. The Sovereign’s eyes widen with surprise as I reach out and grab onto the other bolt she’s feeding into Suryn. I yank it as hard as I can, and it snaps from Suryn, to me. I throw my head back in a silent scream as the beam of white pain slams into me.
My legs give out once again, and I crumble to the ground, but this time I keep my hold on the Sovereign’s lethal magic. There’s nothing I can do to stop her, but maybe I can buy Suryn more time. Maybe they’ll figure out a way to break through the barrier and get to her. I just need to hold on to the Sovereign’s magic as long as possible.
Black dots swarm my vision, and I start to go numb. I tighten my hold on the Sovereign’s magic and sway as I try to stay on my knees at her feet. She stares down at me, as life leaks out of me, and says something my ears can no longer hear. I open my blood stained lips to mouth one last “fuck you” to her, when out of nowhere, her head leans to the side at an odd, unnatural angle. I watch it, confusion sparking through my pain muddled mind, and then the Sovereign’s head slips off her shoulders all together and falls to the ground next to me.
The Sovereign’s headless body falls a moment later, revealing Suryn behind it. My body gives out, and I completely collapse. I stare at the dead eyes in the Sovereign’s severed head, and relief wafts through me. I close my eyes, no longer able to keep them open.
