Her screams barely registered, though her mouth gaped in anguish. Finn’s eyes widened at the sight of Delah, a fleeting look of recognition before his attention darted between me to Dom.
I shook my head vehemently and pointed at Dom. “Take him.”
Pain flashed across his face as he made the impossible decision of who to save. I managed to melt just enough bloodied ice on the floor to create a compact wave, shoving Finn toward Dom.
Maelic gripped my arm, yanking me back. He motioned toward the Supreme Vestal who clamped down on my magic, stifling it. I choked for air at the feeling.
Finn hoisted Dom up, retreating as swiftly as he was able. His clothing darkened with Dom’s rapid blood loss. I prayed to Elyon, Dom’s favored god, my only sliver of comfort in this moment.
My shoulders incrementally relaxed at watching Dom and Delah hustle to safety. I faced my captors, thinking through every conceivable way I could escape. I thrashed against Maelic’s strengthening hold. His nails cut into my skin leaving droplets of blood to bloom across the tender flesh of my forearm.
I whipped my head toward the sound of more footsteps. The ground continued to shake more violently than before. My eyes widened in horror as Korin ascended the final step of the staircase, her frantic gaze searching, then landing on me. “STOP!” she screamed. “Let her go!”
“No, Korin, get away!” My heart stilled. Korin, that brave, reckless girl. I instinctively lunged toward her. My skin shred further beneath Maelic’s dreki claws, though I hardly felt it. He hissed in my ear adding to the increasing tumult swirling around me.
A portal formed in the corner of the room and Belham emerged in complete dreki form. His scales clicked into their final places as he surged forward. He awaited King Nolan’s command, and at the tip of Nolan’s head, he pursued the curly haired girl who had burrowed into my heart.
Each step slapped against the stone floor, leaving my heart thrashing wildly in my chest. I could barely follow the sequence of events as they unfolded too quickly for my mind to comprehend.
I threw up my arms uselessly in a meager bid to protect Korin. I lurched toward her, loosening Maelic’s vise grip on my arm. Stones began to break as Korin bent the foundations of the castle to her will. She stood her ground with an otherworldly confidence. She focused on her link to her magic, her eyestripping in and out of focus. The earth beneath us continued to shift. Plumes of dust and shards of rock floated in the charged air. My lungs involuntarily heaved.
Belham protracted his stinger, striding directly for the young girl. It dripped as if it could scent the host it yearned to impale.
No!
My stomach dropped in paralyzing dread. Time slowed. I heard nothing. I saw everything. Korin’s panicked eyes. One hand outstretched toward me, the other controlling her tectonic magic. A building dropped out of my view from the window, collapsing in on itself somewhere below. Korin’s urgent lips beseeching me to get away from Maelic.
But I couldn’t. Maelic jerked me back, his claws drawing more blood. Nolan’s shadows tore across my skin, slender ropes of darkness made of fire that twisted around my arms and inched toward my throat. Red welts flared behind their caustic touch.
Several shadows bolted my feet to the ground. Regardless of how hard I attempted to throw my body in Korin’s direction, they wouldn’t budge. Something about the shadows, aside from their rendering me immovable and burning, left my body as heavy as iron. My breathing shifted from jagged bursts of frantic escape to the rapid and shallow inhales of dreaded realization.
I could only bear witness.
Belham smiled a malevolent grin that leached every last thread of humanity from his twisted features. His reptilian eyes narrowed, intent on his prey. He outstretched the stinger that had formed from his hand, lunging into the air.
It happened so fast.
It played in slow motion.
He punched the stinger, like an arrow, into her slender throat. The throat that once emitted a laugh that could disarm even the foulest warrior. The throat that housed a collection offriendship necklaces, painstakingly made with the love of her very fingers. It was a killing blow, piercing major arteries. Her body jerked. Her fingers stilled.
“Look at me!” I willed her to hear me through the fray. I would be the last person she would see. A vision of someone who cared about her that she could absorb as she left this world. I forced my expression to reflect the love I had for her, pouring tenderness into every muscle in my face. Grief grew like a tsunami in the depths of my chest.
I didn’t know if Sieren’s tonic remained active, but I pushed my thoughts into her mind.You are brave and beautiful. You are like a little sister to me. Rest easy, dear one.Everything stopped as the vibrant light winked from her eyes.
Finn darkened the doorway in time to see her collapse. I didn’t register the sound of her body hitting the stone floor.I’ll come back for you.I didn’t know if the words came from Finn or Dom; didn’t know if I heard it through my ears or my mind. Finn folded back into the shadows as I loosed a guttural scream.
Dom.
Korin.
Grey.
Loss.
Death.
Evil.
