I couldn’t let him do this. I made a grab for his hand, but he backed away, shaking his head.
“For all the pain. For everything. I love you.” He turned to the swirling mist that was the primordial evil and held out his arms in invitation.
The air vibrated like a summoning, and the mist rushed toward him, slamming into him with a hiss.
Chandra swayed on his feet as the primordial evil filled him, his head turning my way, eyes filled with command.
I pushed down the sobs and drew the blade, gripping the hilt tight, thighs bunching.
Chandra’s eyes closed as the last of the dark mist entered his body.
And when they opened, I buried the dagger in his chest.
Chapter 36
A SHORT-LIVED TRIUMPH
The primordial evil glared at me from behind Chandra’s eyes before dropping his gaze to the dagger. He blinked, and for a moment I was sure I saw Chandra looking back at me.
“I see it…” he said. “Inside you.”
“Chandra?” My voice trembled.
He blinked sharply, lip curling. No. Not Chandra.
I stepped back and yanked out the blade, my chest heaving. “Welcome to your new prison, you bastard.”
Around us, the commotion died. The Asura who’d been attacking us stilled, their heads falling forward, blades winking out. I bit back a sob, my insides trembling as I kept my gaze locked on the primordial evil, now trapped inside my friend’s body.
I sensed my other friends around me. But I didn’t dare take my eyes off the primordial evil.
He ran his hand over the blade wound, and it knitted beneath his fingers, and then he looked up at me, a frown marring his features. “I was not expecting that.”
He was weakened now, his power stripped by the power of the blade. “It’s over, Mizikiel.”
His throat bobbed. “That name on your lips…” He took a deep breath. “I was trapped inside Araz. Iblees’s core power was out of my reach. It took everything to keep Araz weak. To maintain control. I couldn’t leave, not without expulsion, and staying was making the unraveling so much harder.” He smiled, slow and satisfied. “You freed me.”
“What? No. You’re trapped in Chandra.”
“No, Leela. I’m not trapped. I now have a vessel that belongs solely to me.”
“But the dagger?—”
He let out a bark of laughter. “Whatever power that blade might have had is long gone. So, yes, you’re right about one thing. It is over. For you.”
Around us, the Asura came back to life and attacked.
Mizikiel reached for me, and heat surged in my chest. I threw out my hands, and blue power erupted from my fingers, smashing into him and forcing him away from me.
What the fuck?
His expression echoed my shock.
His lip curled. “I offered you the honor of death by my hands, but you don’t deserve that. You can die here with the rest of your grunts.”
He shot up into the sky, wings bursting from his back, and vanished into the clouds. More Asura landed on the ship.
We were outnumbered three to one. The ship was crawling with astra-wielding Asura.
