“Dante! Answer right now or I swear…”André hissed into our minds, but there was no answer.
“Aaah!” Natasha’s piercing scream silenced everyone, her form staggering back against André and me from the shock.
Our gaze followed hers to find theDark Onehad reappeared across from us, tossing our mate onto the sand.
Dante’s body rolled to a stop, his arms shaking when he attempted to stand but failed, his form collapsing. He was beaten within an inch of his life.
“Dante!” Natasha yelled, pushing us out of her way as she ran toward him.
Shaking the shock and horror André and I flashed toward theDark One, seeing Bjørnblinkand tackle him, taking him away before we could reach him.
André and I skidded to a stop glancing at each other as true fear gripped us.
“They were both fighting him all this time?” André gasped.
“Help us!” Natasha shouted, trying to make him drink her blood but he kept pushing her hand away.
We rushed toward them, to find Dante lying on his back, glancing at the sky as he tried to speak. “No. I-I?—”
“Drink, damn it!” Natasha shouted, gripping his suit while tears left her.
“He can’t…” André’s words called her attention to him. “Only theTwilightcan heal him, remember?”
Her dismayed eyes lifted to him, and she nodded, seeming helpless.
The fabric that had looked like the starry night sky when this all began was dull now, empty of the magic it had carried. Feeling my insides twist with worry, I gently placed a hand on his head, and Dante turned to look at me while trying to breathe fully, letting me see his eyes were devoid of magic too.
He’d given everything he had during the battle, fighting the Witch, and trying to help Bjørn kill theDark One.
“It’s okay,” I whispered, trying to hold back fear slicing through me. “The shadows are coming for you any moment, okay? They’ll be here soon.”
He nodded, but even that movement was weak. André and I exchanged another grim glance, fear as present in his eyes as it was in mine.
“He’s going to be fine,” I assured Natasha. “He’s theLord of Twilight, he’ll be fine.”
“Fine,” Dante coughed the word out, his fingers trembled as he curled them over Natasha’s hand to reassure her.
Tears left her eyes as she nodded, but then she blinked. “Where are the shadows?” She looked all around us, searching for them. “Where are the damn shadows?”
Her gaze went to Dante, but he was looking beyond her now, his gaze lost.
“There is too much light,” Natasha gasped, her gaze snapping toward André. “Cover the sun.”
“I—”
“Cover the damn sun, André! He needs darkness!” she yelled.
André’s eyes glimmered and the light trembled out of existence all around us. His form shook from the effort, veins straining against his skin, André he held on to the sunlight as fiercely as he could.
Natasha jumped to her feet. “Twilight, Dante’s here come for him!” A chilling breeze swept over the dark desert while she whirled all around in all directions waiting for the shadows to appear.
They weren’t coming.
“Hecate!” Natasha roared toward the sudden night sky. “Dante needs you! Your favoriteLord of Twilightneeds you!”
Her voice echoed as the sound of Bjørn fighting theDark Onesomewhere near reached my ears.
“You will not let him die; you hear me!” Natasha ordered. “You will send the shadows and save his life, or I will hunt you down and kill you myself!” A sob left her with the threat, but she looked to the sky again. “I will kill you if you take him from me, Hecate!!”
