He drew his sword and turned it toward me. Not toward my family.
Me.
He raised the blade and drove it down to cleave me in two.
This would be it now. The end. The end of all things for me.
But the blade never reached me.
Steel met steel with a deafeningcrashover my head.
I looked up and saw Wolfe.
It took all of two seconds for me to realize that this was therealWolfe.
Not some conjured vision. Not another one of Erethis's cruel illusions designed to break me.
Him.
Battle-worn and lethal, his dark hair plastered to his face with sweat and blood.
He wore black leather armor, reinforced with metal plating across his shoulders and chest.
His sword was an extension of him—long, brutal, the blade etched with runes that pulsed faintly with magic. The crossguard curved like talons, and the grip was wrapped in worn leather, molded to his hand from years of use.
It was truly him.
He’d found me.
He’d actually found me.
His sword locked against Thayden's, muscles straining as he held the blow away from me.
For a fraction of a second, his gaze snapped down to me.
Only the real Wolfe could look at me like that. Pissed as fuck and furious that I’d left him but still like I was worth tearing through realms to find. And like losing me would be the end of him.
Chapter 31
Elariya
“The First Fracture of Fate”
Wolfe’s gaze shifted from mine.
I watched his eyes sweep over the sword plunged deep in my stomach and the blood seeping out around me. He took in the boils and blisters covering my face, my neck, my arms, and the wounds carved into my body.
Then his gaze snapped to Erethis, who wore that sickly smile on his face. Wolfe looked at the vial glowing in the demon's hand.
I saw the moment he understood.
Understood what was happening. What had been done to me.
The trouble I’d gotten myself into.
The fury that crossed his face deepened to something lethal.
His blade was still locked against Thayden's, steel grinding against steel. Then his sword glowed luminous blue. The Interstice shuddered violently, the walls rippling and convulsing like it was trying to reject Wolfe's presence.
