The mist dome dissolved with a soft sigh, lifting from the arena like smoke on the wind. Sunlight pierced through the veil, and the crowd roared.
But it all sounded distant, dull.
I stood there, swaying on unsteady legs, staring at the place where she had disappeared. My chest rose and fell in shallow bursts. My body ached. The magic of the ring buzzed, wild and unfamiliar, beneath my skin.
I had survived.
Somehow, against all reason, against the goddess of war and death herself… I was still standing.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Cadence
I was falling.
One moment, I was standing in the middle of the arena. In the next, darkness was creeping in, making my body feel weightless.
A flicker of awareness tickled the back of my thoughts, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t grasp the thread tethering me to reality.
My body ached with exhaustion, and my mind had shut down, protecting me from the pain.
Sounds dulled, became distant. Like echoes from underwater; shouts, maybe a scream. The thunder of boots; Ryker’s voice? It all melted into one long, humming vibration.
“Hold on, Cadence.” Strong arms encircled me, and my cheek was pressed against a hard surface.
The world around me blurred. The edges drifted in and out of focus as different shapes flitted across my vision.
But I couldn’t make them out.
Not fully.
A shadow with wings, perhaps?
Someone touched my face, or maybe it was the wind. It was impossible to tell.
“If she dies, you will follow. Do you understand?” The voice was rough, but familiar. “Say it.”
“I understand.” The tender voice of a woman filled my ears, and I sighed in contentment.
Something danced at the corner of my vision. Then came the gentle sound of bells, or perhaps laughter, distant and eerie. I blinked, or at least I thought I did, and the ground beneath me turned to mist.
What the hell was happening?
Without warning, pain as I had never experienced before had each nerve ending lighting up, searing my flesh and setting me ablaze. It started in my shoulder before it raced throughout every corner of my body.
I screamed, or at least I think I did.
Everything became garbled.
Sweat beaded on my forehead, and it became difficult to breathe. I inhaled sharply, my lungs expanding, but only the tiniest trickle of air got through.
“Stay with me, Cadence.”
That voice again.
Was it Ryker? Or someone else? The Morrígan? No, this one didn’t demand. It pleaded.
I was drifting. Floating.
