And then Layken’s face shifted in front of them. His bone structure sharpened, his eyes pure violet now. His dark brown hair turned a lighter shade, and a scar ran through his left brow.
Rhay knew this face. He was Karwyn’s famous shadow.
He knew the spy could shift, had seen it happen, but he had never expected him to be Layken. Or was this a one-time occasion?
What was most confusing was Rio’s reaction. His eyes had grown haunted, as if his past had caught up to him and was swallowing him whole.
“Damir?” Rio asked, his voice pure anguish.
Karwyn’s shadow laid on his back, coughing up blood as his eyes met Rio’s. Still clearly in shock, Rio kneeled to press on his wound, his eyes sweeping over Damir’s face as if he was looking at a ghost.
“You know Karwyn’s shadow?” Rhay asked, leaning over the two of them, unable to connect the dots.
Rio looked up at him then, a storm of confusion, pain, and betrayal gathering in his emerald eyes. “I thought I did,” he whispered as his gaze settled back on Damir’s dark violet, almost black eyes.
Chapter70
Elyssa
Elyssa’s hands were stained with Amira’s blood. The princess was still breathing heavily, her head on Elyssa’s lap, a faraway look in her eyes. Thanks to Farren’s help, the bleeding had stopped, but she still looked in pain. Varsha watered a cloth to clean the wound.
The fighting hadn’t slowed, and there was more than one body on the ground. Elyssa knew it wasn’t all their enemies. Some were human. Some wereherpeople. She’d asked them to come and now they were dead. Not Jaspen, though. She’d seen him at the plaza, but once chaos had broken out, he seemed to have conveniently disappeared.
Elyssa couldn’t even be gleeful about Karwyn’s death, not when she knew the pain it would cause Lora. No one should lose their mother. Not a day went by that Elyssa didn’t think about her own. It was what kept her going, kept her from surrendering to defeat even in their current, bleak situation.
Her brother was glancing at the only exit. It seemed impossible to reach, and they couldn’t abandon the humans who had come to help. Lora tracked his line of sight, her own chest wound ruining her satin dress, her face ashen as her hand drifted to her injury.
“You should go,” Amira croaked out, drawing Elyssa’s attention back to her. “Tarnan won’t hurt me.” The princess looked to Eyden.
Oh, hell no.
“Don’t even think about it,” Elyssa said. Carefully, Elyssa moved Amira’s body to Farren, who was trying to help her recharge, putting a crystal to her forehead. Amira gave her a small smile, an encouraging one even in the madness around them. It would’ve been calming if Amira’s teeth hadn’t been stained with blood, her face constricted in pain.
“We can’t leave everyone else behind. Eyden’s exhausted. Who knows how many of us he can take before he crashes and the humans…” Elyssa trailed off, worry lacing her words even as she tried to cling to the fight beating in her heart.
“I’ve read about something, a spell to supercharge someone’s power,” Farren said, removing the crystal from Amira’s forehead and pocketing it with his good arm. His other arm was cradled to his chest. “I didn’t have time to try it out. It could backfire.”
Gritting her teeth, Elyssa gripped the bow strapped to her back and got up, staring at her brother. “We fight then. No turning back,” Elyssa stated.
Eyden was about to reply when something—possibly a scream—caught his attention. Elyssa followed his gaze. A bit further off, Ilario was on the ground—kneeling over someone in a guard’s uniform. For a second, she thought she saw Layken, but then his face changed. Was she imagining things? How much blood had she lost?
Rhay was close by, his body going stiff.
Eyden stared at the shapeshifter in wonder and then calculated interest. Clenching his jaw, he turned back to her, refocusing on their dilemma. “Tarnan can compel us. We need to retreat.”
Elyssa tried to make sense of it all, but too much was happening.Compulsion?Eyden had told them Tarnan was the last Sartoya. She shouldn’t be surprised how fucked their plan actually was.
Sighing against her instinct to fight, she relented. “Let’s get moving then. We take out as many as we can.” She didn’t admit defeat, but looking at Amira, Elyssa knew the battle needed to pause. It wasn’t the end. It was a setback.
Eyden nodded. They shared an understanding in just one look. Sword raised, his eyes travelled to Lora, who held her dagger with a confidence Elyssa had never seen on her.Good for her.
Farren and Varsha helped Amira up, and they moved forward, bracing Amira between them. Her pale blue, silvery dress had turned purple from the blood. Lora and Eyden were at the front, slicing through their opponents and helping any human on the way, telling them to retreat. Staying behind Farren, Varsha, and Amira, Elyssa let her arrows fly.
Her eyes focused on a human about to get impaled. Her arrow hit its mark, and the human—Wylliam—turned to her. “Get the fuck out of here,” Elyssa yelled. She couldn’t pick up on the reply, so she focused on her next target.
Another arrow, another guard down. It was like second nature to her.
“Ilario, we have to go,” she thought she heard Eyden say when they came close to Rhay, Ilario, and the fallen guard. Eyden’s blade was streaked red, his face covered in splashes of blood. With Lora’s dress drenched in dried blood, they made quite the pair.
