“Alright, sweet Yara, it’s time,” Malachi orders. “Just like I told you.”
He snaps his fingers again, and Yara slowly raises her arm, fighting with everything she has to resist the torment in her mind, and brings the dagger up to her throat. I freeze, my entire body trembling. I can hear Yara’s rapid breathing from across the room.
The darkness inside me pounds against my chest, and I do everything I can to resist it. If I move, we will all die, but if I stay still, Yara will die.
A dark angelic voice snakes into my mind,“Don’t move, my vessel. He will kill us.”
The trembling blade moves to the center of Yara’s throat, and she presses harder into her beautiful skin with each passing second.
“Don’t be shy,” Malachi whispers.
A small bead of blood moves down her neck, staining her shirt.
She mouths to me, “I’m sorry.”
“Malachi, I swear to the Gods, order her to stop right now,” Silas screams. “Stop!”
“This is what happens when you cross me.” Malachi’s voice takes on a sinister tone. “I feel no regret—no remorse—and I’d do this a hundred more times to prove a point.”
I can’t blink—I can’t move—as I watch in horror as the blade presses harder into her skin. My feet control me, and I take a small step in her direction, desperation filling my core to stop this—to save her.
“Let this be an excruciating reminder,” Malachi looks directly at me, “that I can and will continue to haunt whomever I want.”
Larkin grabs my arm, and the icy breath moves my hair into my face. A low growl rattles my ear, and another tear rolls down my cheek. I quickly glance at the door and see Maines peeking through the slit. Her icy blue eye catching all the darkness andchaos pouring from the room. I shake my head for her to stay back and tucked into the hallway.
Malachi turns his head toward Yara to watch every second of what he’s caused. He traces the side of her face gracefully, studying her beautiful features.
“Now, Yara.”
The world around us pauses.
Uncaring this time of the creatures, uncaring of what will happen to me, I move. It doesn’t matter; I need to help her. I spring forward. A desperate scream leaves my lips, but I’m too late—I’m always too late.
The sharp blade presses into her skin a final time and rips across her throat by her own hand, controlled by Malachi. The horrible sound reverberates through the room.
Flesh slices, and blood gushes down her torso like a flowing river. The familiar smell of gore stings my nose as I fly forward in an attempt to stop her.
A gurgled scream leaves her mouth, and Yara’s body slumps to the ground with a thud that rattles the kingdom around us. I crash to the ground next to her, my hands desperate to grab her. I pick up her broken body and press it against mine as tightly as I can. The warmth of the bright blood swallows me, and I push harder, praying this is all another nightmare that I’ll wake up from.
I frantically move her down to my legs and pray that I can somehow save her.
She begins to choke in my lap, blood spraying on my face, and I can’t help the tears that fall onto her face. Her eyes flutter between open and closed, and I know she’s fading. She’s losing too much blood. Her hands clasp around her throat, and I pull her back into me.
“I’m so sorry,” I cry. “I’m so fucking sorry, Yara.”
I rock back and forth, letting my cries fill the room in an attempt to drown out the sounds of death under me. I press my hand against her neck as hard as I can in a poor attempt to stop the blood from flowing out. No matter the amount of pressure, the gash is too wide and too deep, and my hands become covered in blood as quickly as it leaks from her. Yara’s eyes open one last time, and I watch the beautiful light in her dark eyes vanish.
No.
Oh, Gods.
“No. Please,” I scream one last time.
“She’s gone,”Kalix’s voice whispers in my mind.“You must fight.”
I hear a loud crash behind me, and I know Silas and Larkin lunged with me, ready to fight to the death, but I don’t care right now.
“Get. Up,” Kalix’s sinister voice demands.
