“Fuck—there’s more of them?” he groaned.
A motorbike screeched to a halt in front of him, followed by a few vehicles. A group of cadets—Rui’s friends—tumbled out of the first car as more Exorcists exited the next.
Leaning on his sword, Zizi heaved a breath of relief. Reinforcements had finally arrived.
Ash pulled off his helmet. “You look terrible.”
“You’re late,” Zizi scolded.
“Where’s my brother?”
“Where’s Rui?” the girl with the purple hair and sizzling whip demanded at the same time.
“Follow me,” Zizi replied, sprinting off.
As they ran toward the warehouses, Ash gave an update. “City’s a mess. We had to evacuate several neighborhoods, but strangely, none of the devices were activated.”
“They weren’t planning on detonating them tonight?” Zizi said, surprised.
“Guess not. I also got a report of suspicious trucks that were intercepted as they entered the city. They had crates in them—Revenants’ nests. I think we foiled their—”
A deafening explosion shook the ground, and Zizi tripped. Ahead, debris fell from the sky, crashing everywhere. One of the warehouses must’ve been destroyed by an unknown force.
“Rui,” Zizi whispered, scrambling up and running again.
Stay alive. Stay alive—for me.
69
Yiran
The world seemed to blur and come into focus, then blur again. Yiran’s ears were ringing, his body aching in places he didn’t know it could. He had channeled so much magic through himself that he was completely drained. Every breath was sandpaper in his lungs.
In the haze, he saw Rui’s face. Blood trickled down her forehead. He heard her muffled voice before she disappeared.
“...going back for Surin and the others...”
He didn’t know how long he’d lain there, slumped against the wall. Rui must’ve dragged him out after the blast. He didn’t see Celeste or his father anywhere near, just a wall of metal in front of him and the connected building behind him.
Celeste had been right next to him when he’d set off the amplified blast of yangqi. She couldn’t have survived it. As for his father...
A piece of white fabric fluttered in the corner.
Yuki.
Yiran’s body screamed in protest, each scrape of his knees against the rough ground sending pain through his bones. Yuki’s wings had shattered, and the violet pieces were strewn across the ground. As Yiran crawled, they cut into his flesh, burning him, but he didn’t care.
Yuki’s face was so pale it was almost translucent. The shallow rise and fall of his chest frightened Yiran, but it was the deep smoldering gash across his torso where Song Liming had cut through him that made Yiran tremble.
“Yuki?”
The Hybrid’s eyes flickered open. He unfurled his fist.
The talisman was crumpled in it.
“Didn’t let go,” he gasped, swallowing painfully. He looked proud.
“I’m sorry,” Yiran whispered as he took the talisman. He could hear a low whistling sound coming from Yuki’s lungs.
