“Tell her,” Viktor rasped, every word torn. “Tell her I kept my vow.”
Samson’s eyes blurred.
“No…”
“Let go.”
“I won’t.”
Viktor’s teeth bared.
With the last of his strength, he kicked.
Samson hit the ground, breath driven from him.
Viktor raised the stone high.
His voice split the storm:
“Live… or die… Amerei—”
Lightning swallowed him.
The Ruakite fell in fire, the storm itself breaking on his body.
Chapter One Hundred Seven
While I Breathe
She watched the storm devour him…
and all that remained was the vow of another.
The basin flared—storm, fire, a figure consumed by light.
“Viktor—”
Her hand flew to her mouth, stifling the cry that ripped her chest.
The water boiled white, then blackened with smoke.
Only the echo remained—his voice breaking through the veil.
“Live… or die… Amerei—”
The chamber reeled.
Amerei lurched forward, clawing at the rim as though she could drag him back through glass and flame, her scream rattling the very stones of Amethyst.
Guards burst inside at the sound. Xavien dropped with her to his knees, shielding her against his chest, her hair wild across his arms. His hand shot up, voice like steel.
“Bolt the gates. No soul enters. Cut down any who tests them—Sevrak is falling.”
Amerei’s fingers fisted in his collar, her cry breaking against his throat.
Before the guards could turn, Evander and Jasmine forced their way in. Evander dropped to the floor at her side, eyes blazing.
“Let go of her.”
