They could flee down the twisting corridors, away from the pound of footsteps, toward gods knew what threat lay in wait. Perhaps that was their best option of survival. But that meant leaving the portal undefended, and what if Damien had been wrong? What if it led not to the Underworld, but rather to somewhere else within Iriska—somewhere the demons had been trying desperately to reach? What if the wall of runes hadn’t opened the portal, but had been the last bastion that had kept it sealed, its burnout its final line of defense?
And why, after all that, had it opened to Katerina’s touch?
“We can’t abandon the portal,” she said. “Not if there’s the slightest chance it leads somewhere the Guard laid down their lives to save.”
Her companions exchanged glances. One by one, they nodded their agreement.
“All right, then,” Sofi signed. “We stand and we fight.”
Setting his shoulders, Niko closed ranks with his fellow Shadows. The air around Damien and Alexei shimmered; their clothes fell to the floor. An instant later, they stood on all fours, dark fur bristling and teeth bared, their growls filling the narrow corridor as they braced themselves in front of Sofi and Ana.
But Niko kept his human form. And with a sinking heart, Katerina knew why: he didn’t trust himself to control his shades in the form of his black dog. Whatever was coming, he thought he’d have to use the Darkness against it.
One moment, the corridor that led to the portal was empty. The next, a horde of Grigori filled it, charging headlong toward them, Gadreel at their helm.
Katerina contemplated using her witchfire. But no: they would burn to death with the demons, as the library’s remaining tomes caught ablaze. Her earthmagic would bury them all; wind would do nothing but create a maelstrom; and calling the lake to rise would do little, safe as they were within Volshetska’s stone fortress. From the grim expressions on Ana and Sofi’s faces, she knew they’d reached the same conclusion.
There were too many of the demons. They kept coming and coming, choking the corridor, Gadreel’s face alight with avarice and victory. “Little Firebird!” he called. “You’ve led me a merry chase. For that I will punish you, but first I will use you, for the Darkness rises, and you must stand at my side.”
They were outnumbered. Outmatched, if she and her fellow Dimis couldn’t use their magic. Beyond the teeth of their black dogs and their Shadows’ blades, only one weapon lay at their disposal, and it was the one she’d do anything not to use.
Katerina tried to close the wall the same way she’d opened it, pressing her hands to the burned runes, but this time, nothing happened. The plaster was still and silent, unresponsive beneath her touch, and her heart sank. She leapt back just in time as the Grigori barreled into the room, fanning out in a phalanx of venom-soaked blades and snapping teeth. Some held human form; some boasted claws the length of Katerina’s arms; some had massive racks of antlers or forked black tongues. They hissed in anticipation, venom dripping from their razor-toothed mouths and sizzling as it hit the marble.
“Katerina,” Niko said, his shades seething at his fingertips, and in that single word, she heard a world of resignation.
“No,” she begged, reaching out to grasp his arm.
He pulled away. “I can do it. I can take their Darkness into me, and then you can put a blade through my heart. I won’t fight you. I swear it on my oath as a Shadow.”
“No!” she said again. “Niko, please…”
“You saw what happened with Damien.” He swallowed hard, his gaze laced with grief and guilt. “Piece by piece, I’m losing myself. Soon, I’ll be irredeemable. Let me make this choice while I still can. While there’s enough of me left to do the right thing.”
It was only what she’d thought before, but hearing it aloud, in her Shadow’s beloved voice, carried a finality that nearly shattered her. “We can find another way.” This couldn’t be the end, not after all they’d endured together. “I won’t let you do this.”
“You can’t stop me.” One side of his mouth lifted in a rueful facsimile of a smile. “I ask you only to stand by me and honor our vows, one last time.”
Katerina shook her head, so hard her hair flew everywhere. All the while, the Grigori crept closer. A single tear broke free, and her witchfire roiled inside her, threatening to escape. “I won’t agree to this. I would follow you anywhere, my Shadow. But you can’t ask me to end your life. I’d sooner take my own.”
Niko lifted his hand, his touch warm and gentle, and swept the tear away. Know that I love you more than I thought possible. The words drifted down their bond, open for this single, desperate moment. Know that you are my Light and the beat of my heart. I regret nothing, my Katya, for serving at your side has been the honor of my life, and loving you with all that I am has been the salvation of my soul.
Tears poured down Katerina’s cheeks as Niko raised his hands, the Darkness writhing in the air before him, awaiting his command. Beside her, Alexei and Damien were growling, their hackles raised, and Ana was demanding to know what was going on, and Sofi was signing so fast her hands were a blur?—
The Grigori charged, and Niko set his shades free. The two forces met in the middle of the room, Darkness curling around the demons’ bodies. They screamed, that awful, familiar screech of metal-on-metal, and began to wither, just as the villagers’ bodies had done in Kalach.
Gadreel roared a command, and the undamaged ones darted to the left and right, avoiding the shades’ onslaught, barreling toward the portal. Damien and Alexei leapt for them, Damien taking the left flank and Alexei the right, their teeth sinking into the demons’ flesh. Silver-blue blood spattered the walls as the Shadows took down their prey. But no sooner did they vanquish one than another took its place.
The Grigori fought viciously, their venom-infused blades flashing in the flickering light of the portal. One of them had the better of Damien now, pinning him to the ground, gnawing at him with its teeth, its knife sinking toward his throat?—
He gave a yelp of pain, and Niko bellowed in fury. A tendril of Darkness snatched the blade from the demon’s grip and wrapped around the creature’s throat, tightening until it gasped and spluttered. Its face turned purple, and its red-tipped claws pulled fruitlessly at the band that ensnared it, struggling to get free. A moment later, it was naught but a shriveled heap. But Damien…Damien was bleeding?—
“No,” Sofi signed, each movement jerky. “Saints, no.”
She ran for her Shadow, who struggled to his feet, his teeth bared and a growl rumbling from his chest as he backed her up, toward relative safety. Katerina bit her lip, fear trembling through her. A venom-infused blade couldn’t kill a Shadow in the form of his black dog, but it could wound him, and badly. The demon had slashed at his leg, trying to incapacitate him, and Damien limped, off-balance, his fur slick with blood.
“Gods.” Ana’s jaw was set, her fingers drumming against her leg as Katerina had often seen them do when her friend sought to channel excess energy. “We’re cornered like kittens in a barrel. Katerina, think. There has to be a way out.”
Katerina was thinking, to little avail. Saints, what could she do? They were trapped here, their magic useless. Fire would kill them all; water couldn’t breach the fortress; earthmagic would bring the building down around them; and wind…could she and Sofi use that to save them somehow? What good could witchwind do in a tiny room inside a library, writhing with tendrils of Darkness? What if she tried, only to send the shades straight at her friends and kill them?
