“Don’t be so hasty,” an eerily familiar voice rumbled.
We spun toward the door to see Ruxnoth standing there.
Well, leaning there against the doorframe, propping himself up.
He looked wrecked, his long black hair all matted, his precious coat torn to shit, and deep gashes with black blood plaguing his chest and face.
Ambrose’s work.
“Oh shit!” Zayn cried, tugging at my hoodie. “Ambrose said he wouldn’t be able to pull his power back until you woke up, Win. And now you are—”
“And now here I am,” Ruxnoth cut in with a sneer. “Unfinished business doesn’t quite cover it, does it, Winter?” He cocked his head to the side. “Didn’t I promise you horrific suffering?” He gestured at Zayn, his hand shaking with rage. “Now one of your so-called lovers is here, he’s unwittingly provided the perfect starting point.” His eyes flashed. “I’ll tear him apart right in front of you and force you to watch every moment, to breathe in every shriek of agony.” Tapping his chin, he made a show of thinking. “Who should be next in line? Evira Vortimer? Your dad—again? Or perhaps the Basilisk Lord who is now right here destroyingmycreation?”
I growled low in my throat. “I believe I made you some promises of my own.”
He smirked, then gestured at Zayn again.
“Stop pointing anywhere near him!” I burst out with, before I could reel it in. “Don’t even fucking look at him!”
I caught Zayn’s reaction and it… it wasn’t shock or disgust…or… or anything like that.
Instead, he was glaring in fury at Ruxnoth.
He even then discreetly grasped the back of my hoodie, trying to ground me, soothe me.
He… he thought it was okay? That my rage was… acceptable?
“You’re done, asshole,” Zayn seethed at him. “Might wanna be seeing to an escape plan instead of indulging in some short-sighted revenge that’s definitely gonna lead to your demise, because this whole place is coming down. All the magic’s already gone, so you’re not gonna get any help there. The way I understand it, you can’t even re-infuse it either. That’s blocked off from you. So it really is over.” His Ifrit flame sparked on his free hand. “So get gone.Now.”
That infuriating smirk played on Ruxnoth’s face. “Hmm, an Ifrit with a sound tactical mind. Not to mention, your ability to perform Ecliptic Convergence. That was miraculous for one of your kind with the control required to invoke such a magical feat. You are an evolutionary point for your species.” He chuckled to himself creepily, then eyed me. “Miraculous, yes?” he said pointedly. I was sick to fucking death of hearing him use that word with me in that creepy fucking tone. And then he made it worse. “My deathborn darling.”
A ball of Zayn’s magic slammed into him in the next second, startling me.
Ruxnoth grunted and actually fell back a couple of steps, a hiss escaping him.
“Nothing to sneer at,” he told Zayn. Then he steadied himself and his eyes flashed with his midnight-blue power. “Unfortunately for you, I am a True Celestial. A god among lessers, fiery youngling. I’ll tell you what, would you like me to spare you for a little while, and make you watch me torment your beloved snake prince instead? Do you think he could withstand me? No, of course not. Not for long. I’ll deliver his remains alongside Winter’s to your dragon warrior who is due punishment also for forcing back the volcanic eruption I set in motion.”
I remembered Dad telling me that in theVeil.
That was beyond incredible.
“You can’t kill Winter, you piece of shit,” Zayn seethed.
“On the contrary, I can. Over and over and over again. Imagine what that will do to a being’s state of mind.” He looked at me. “Fracture it like what Rex suffered through, perhaps?” He took a step closer, crossing the threshold into the room. “Then again, I’ve already fractured you, haven’t I, darling?”
“Shit, you creepy fucker, is this all you do?” Zayn said, stroking my back. It was probably my snarling, which I realizedwas constant now. “Talk and talk?” he went on. “Throw out these needling comments and some fucked version of what you think is the truth, but is really so demented? Wow… I can’t even. If you’re too weak to actually make a real move, seriously, just make your escape already. Either way, fight or flee.”
That did it.
Ruxnoth let out a roar and burst into the room, his power live and charging straight at Zayn.
Problem was, the bastard was injured and nowhere near at full speed—and I’d gotten used to his sudden bursts of movement, how he moved, when he’d make a move.
So I called a necromantic shield, slid in front of Zayn, took the brunt of his own flame that he already had primed and tossed in reaction to the attack, then thrust my fingers sparking with my power into Ruxnoth’s chest.
He spluttered and came to a jarring stop.
Zayn gasped and stepped back. In my peripheral vision I saw he was checking if I was okay after taking a potent blast of his Ifrit flame at extremely close range.
