Fenriel grabs his hand and leans closer, his long red hair sliding over his shoulder and hiding the tears that stream down his cheeks. “I’m here.”
“Try every pastry…” A wet cough racks his frame. “And then tell me all about it…” His eyes glitter as he smiles up at Fenriel through the blood. “When I see you again.”
Then the light in his eyes goes out.
His shaking body stops moving as he dies, that last smile still on his lips.
Fenriel throws his head back and screams.
Above us, silver dragons are falling from the sky while bloodrains down over us. It splatters my face and my black leather armor until everything is stained red. But I can barely feel it. I can barely feel anything other than the fury that roars through my head.
They’re all dead.
Trevor. Kevlin. Juliette. Everyone else who followed me on this mission. Who trusted me and believed me when I told them that this was the best way. The only way. And now, only broken bodies and shattered souls remain.
The guilt threatens to eat me alive, so I drown it in more fury.
That awful rage that I have unleashed inside my soul surges up again as I turn towards the final silver dragon, watching it die. I hate them all. They always ruin everything. I want them all dead.
Flexing my hands, I try to breathe through the waves of fury as that centuries-old rage and hatred roars through my body. I don’t know how to stop it. I don’t want to stop it. I just want revenge. For every life lost. For every year stolen. For every hurt and every heartbreak. I hate them all so badly that I think it’s going to consume me.
Draven and the other dragons land on the ground with a boom. But only Draven and Diana shift into their human forms.
Unending rage and hatred still course through my entire body like lightning when Draven rushes up to me and pulls me into his arms.
“Are you okay?” he demands.
The sound of his voice and the feeling of his arms around me pull me out of that blinding fury enough that I at least manage to draw in a full breath. It clears my head slightly, and I force my gaze away from Trevor’s mangled body. Wrapping my arms around Draven, I bury my cheek in his chest and just breathe him in, trying to ground myself.
Isera is still alive.
Fenriel and Talon are still alive.
I am still alive.
Right now, that is going to have to be enough.
“Yes,” I reply. “I am now.”
“This is the last time we ever split up,” Draven says as he strokes his hand over my hair and kisses my forehead. “You hear me?”
A broken laugh escapes my throat. “Agreed.”
“We need to go!” Diana calls from somewhere behind Draven. “The dryads will be there soon. If we’re not in position when they make their move, they’re going to get slaughtered.”
Draven reluctantly releases me, and I draw in another steadying breath as I take a step back while I wipe the worst of the blood from my face. It only smears it across my cheeks, but it clears my vision at least.
Looking from face to face, I shake my head. “The plan is ruined. Trevor is dead. We won’t be able to sneak up on her from behind.”
“So we adapt the plan,” Draven replies. Then he turns to Diana. “Get ready for a frontal assault.” He tilts his head and grimaces. “But from the side.”
A wolfish grin spreads across Diana’s mouth. “I like the way you think.” Then she slides her gaze to Fenriel, who is still kneeling next to Trevor’s dead body. “Fenriel, we need to go.”
“I can’t just leave him here,” Fenriel presses out, his voice broken.
Diana’s features soften. “We’ll come back for him. I promise.”
Across the grass, Galen lets out an urgent growl.
