In the sky, Darrius directs Indira toward us, his face that stony mask of the vicious king who wields his weapon with cold precision.
Ani laughs, holding me up by my throat. “It’s your turn, brother. Don’t worry, I might even let her visit you as the manticore. She’s into beast play, isn’t she?”
Iron projectiles appear out of nowhere, all pointed toward me, and I brace. There’s a chance that I could die from that many punctures before I can heal myself, but I grip the hilt of my concealed dagger in one palm, cautioning myself not to strike too soon.
Slowly,quietly,I let my magic infuse my blade, and I feel the starlight warm my skin.
I’m nowhere near full strength, and I’ll have only one chance to make it count. My breath throttles as the azhi swoops down, talons extended to rip into Indira’s back. She shrieks, contorting in agony, and Darrius loses his balance, toppling off. But he shifts to shadow, a seething mass aiming toward us.
It’s now or never.
I pretend to stumble as if too weak to stand, and my captor scowls, shaking me roughly.
“Wake up, Sura,” Anahima purrs. “Don’t want you to miss out on this part.”
Summoning every last ounce of my strength and my magic, I wobble and slump against her before striking as precisely as I can, my iridescent blade glowing white-hot as it slips between her ribs straight into her heart—even as I am impaled by a dozen iron stakes.
Agony pulses through me, the pain so excruciating I can barely think. My vision darkens, but I fight to keep conscious, sensing Anahima trying to heal herself against my blow. With the last of my strength, I shove all the starfire I have in me through the dagger.
Blood froths from my mouth as glittering starlight burns from me to the jadu-forged blade lodged in Anahima’s side, and I keep it there and twist with the last of my fading strength until I hear the scrape of steel on bone.
Her skin starts to flake as she incinerates from the inside out, starting with her heart. A pair of incredulous purple-hazed eyes collide with mine, and I swear, for a heartbeat, there’s a glimmer of something—admiration?—in them before they roll back. Her flesh darkens to the color of ash as iridescent starfire erupts from her eye sockets, crackling through her hair and making every strand stand on end.
I make myself watch. Not because she deserves a witness, but to honor every single life she took. And when I can see the outline of her bones beneath her incandescent, immolating skin, I sob through the hot blood bubbling between my lips.
In a way, I’d loved her, too.
Darrius...
Starbright, hold on.I can hear the desperation in his voice.
I try valiantly to do as he says, but the pain is unbearable. I don’t hear Darrius’s roar when I slip into darkness for a few seconds, nor do I see the curse take hold, his bones cracking and the howl of a manticore rumbling over the valley.
Starkeeper.
I hear Razulek’s weak voice and relief fills me.Raz, thank the stars you’re alive.
Weakly, I feel the tremor of his fear.You’re hurt.
It was inevitable.My thoughts feel fragmented and faint, but I force myself to concentrate.You know I read in a book once that your kind were called “dragons” by the storytellers. They were fierce and valiant and bathed their enemies in fire. You are the king of dragons, my friend.My simurgh lets out a soft keen.Take care of your hatchlings. I wish I could have seen them.
Stay, little queen...
But my ability to think fractures and fades. Someone falls to the ground beside me and gathers me into their arms. It’s Roshan, my Oryndhrian king—I can smell his bergamot and smelted-iron scent that always makes me think of home. Of Coban.
I curl into him. “Ro... you fought so well. Take care of him.”
“Sura, no, no, no, stay with me, please.”
Weak from blood and magic loss, I feel my punctured organs start to fail, my lungs desperately trying to give me air, my heart laboring to beat, and my simurgh desperately trying to heal the worst of it. But Anahima—devious, lying Anahima—poisoned the iron bolts, too. I feel her special soporific toxin burning through my veins as my drained magic tries to eviscerate it and tend my wounds at the same time.
Gods, I’m so tired...
A roughened tongue licks my face, and I rub my cheek against the soft, velvety muzzle of my manticore mate. “Dare, not sure I’m going to get out of this one.” I reach up with my free hand to scratch his soft ears. “Will you let me say goodbye to Darrius?”
We are so wrapped up in each other that none of us notice the dark purplish rot from the blood that had dripped out of Anahima’s body creeping toward me like ravenous maggots—until it’s too late. They latch on to my calf muscle like blood-sucking worms, and my vision wavers when I feel hundreds of tiny teeth. My eyes flutter shut when I feel them start to chew and burrow.
“Suraya, no!” It sounds like Darrius. “Fuck!”
