A shock wave of energy burst from his body, knocking C’ael across the deck.
The primordial evil dropped his chin. A slow, smug smile lifted his lips, eradicating any sign of Araz.
“Did you truly think a little flame would be enough? He’s too weak to fight back, not when he’s not whole.”
But the flame was meant to make him whole unless…My gaze flew to C’ael across the deck. Our gazes met, and I saw my conclusion echoed in his eyes.
“No…” The word was for him. For C’ael. But the primordial evil answered me.
“Oh, yes, Leela. It’s time to breathe your last.”
Chandra appeared beside me, his arm shooting out as a blade appeared, glowing gold and lethal. “You’ll have to go through me first.” A soft shimmer surrounded Chandra, and his form swelled, power radiating off him in waves that stung my skin. What was happening?
The primordial evil’s eyes narrowed. “You…Vritra.” His tone dripped with venom.
Vritra?
Which meant this was Chandra’s pure power, the element he’d kept suppressed all this time. It was heady and heavy, making it harder to breathe.
“Yes. It’s me,” Chandra said. “I locked you away. I captured you. And if you want her, you’ll have to pass through me.”
“No,” C’ael said, appearing between Chandra and the primordial evil. “You’ll have to pass through me.”
“You?” His lip curled. “You’re nothing. A pathetic side effect of the merge. You think your connection to Iblees gives you power? You’re nothing but a fragment. An echo.”
He didn’t know…He didn’t know what C’ael…whoC’ael truly was. He had no idea what he was about to do. My heart squeezed, tears blurring my vision.
“You think your tears will soften me,” the primordial evil sneered at me.
I looked to C’ael. “I love you, C’ael. I’ll always love you.”
He nodded. “I know. Always.” He turned to the primordial evil and ran straight into him, misting into nothing as he made contact.
The primordial evil jerked and twisted, his body arching. Golden light bloomed at his chest, and then his head fell back, and dark mist poured from his mouth, shooting up into the air.
Chandra grabbed my shoulders. “The blade. Get it ready.”
“What? What are you talking about?”
He cupped my face. “We can’t allow him to go free, Leela. We must trap him now.”
“But Araz?—”
“Not Araz. He won’t go into him. Not now.” Behind us, Araz fell to the ground unconscious. “He’ll find a new host. A powerful one.”
“No…”
“Yes, I must do this. I can contain him. I can keep him inside, but you must use the blade.”
“Chandra, I can’t do this without you.”
“You won’t have to. I give you my core.” He pulled me close and kissed me on the mouth. Warm, bright energy spilled down my throat, and memories filled my mind. Running down the shore barefoot, my hand clasped in his. His laughter teasing mine to break free. Card games, and meals, and walks in the moonlight, and his lips on mine, his body above me, and love…I’d loved him in a quiet way. In a deep, anchored way once.
He broke the kiss, taking the memories of another life with him and leaving me stranded in this one.
“I will always be with you,” he said, his gaze tracing a path across my face.
But he wouldn’t. Once the primordial evil took his body, he’d be eradicated. The only reason Araz hadn’t been burned out was because the primordial evil hadn’t been able to access Iblees’ core power and claim it during the merge. It had forced him to share the body with Araz. But Chandra had just given me his core. There was nothing to be claimed but the vessel born to house great power.
