Her gaze traveled down his torso and snagged on the stub jutting out of his shoulder. Blood poured from his body, pooling just beneath him. Gavin wasn’t kneeling in front of her, he was lying on his side, barely keeping himself upright.
Her gaze traveled over the field. She ignored the way the earth shuddered beneath her body, then her eyes locked onto Gavin’s severed limb. It lay amidst the carnage, palm up, forgotten in a sea of death.
Images assaulted her like lightning.
A body crumbling at her feet. Her kicking said body toward monsters. The sound of those monsters tearing the body to pieces. The hand that had momentarily lay in a pool of blood. The way muscle and sinew had split into long pieces, dangling—
She’d—she’d—she’d—
“Evelyn,” Gavin’s voice again. “Focus on me.” She turned back, hot tears rolling down her face that she didn’t remember shedding. “One last stand,” Gavin said, his voice full of remorse, as if mourning a life he’d never lived. “One last time, then you can rest.”
One last time—
Something trickled through the back of her mind. A feeling she couldn’t place.
She tried to look down again, but Gavin tilted his head, capturing her eyes. “One last stand.”
Ellie swallowed hard, then the world blasted into focus. She saw Rion first, the male standing close, both arms raised, sweat pouring down his face. Earth and rock surrounded them, tendrils tearing through the horde threatening to close in.
It was only now that she realized he’d been calling her name. She met Rion’s gaze and found … anger. Determination. A soul unwilling to falter.
He’d suffered and still, he fought.
He already knew how this story would end.
But still, he fought.
Ellie curled her hands into fists. She turned to Gavin, then reached for the male’s belt, tearing it from his pants before looping it around what was left of his arm and yanking it tight. Gavin screamed out in pain, gritting his teeth.
She stared down at the wound again. They couldn’t treat it out here. She didn’t have medical supplies. Arianna was nowhere to be found, and they were surrounded by enemies with Rion barely holding on.
Gavin would die.
She’d fail again.
Ellie’s lips trembled.
Her heart was being pulled in too many directions at one. She wasn’t even sure she knew who she was anymore. Maybe she never would. But—her gaze lifted to Rion again. The male had his fangs bared, blood coating his teeth.
One last stand.
“You shouldn’t have come,” Ellie whispered.
“I’m glad I did.” Gavin winced when he tried to stand. “And if—”
“No,” Ellie interrupted. “I can’t—” She didn’t want any more words haunting her. There were already so many. Thosewho’d begged. Those who’d cursed her. Those who’d fallen to their knees, tears streaming down their faces.
“Ellie,” Rion screamed her name right as a group of creatures broke his line and charged. Ice exploded from her body. It raced across the ground and collided with the creatures, freezing them on impact. Then her fury spread, consuming those beyond Rion’s circling defenses.
Ellie rose to her feet. She clenched her fist and the Dark Fae shattered like glass. She tottered when the images in her mind tried to assault her again.
Some wanted her life.
Some wanted her to suffer.
One beckoned her to join him in the afterlife.
Another tug in the back of her mind had Ellie peering at Gavin.
