It’s not a plan. We’re only trapping ourselves. This buys us a minute, maybe two. But I won’t accept Kel’s death or mine. Faustrius can drag me, kicking and screaming, into the unknown.
Kel follows me, his expression blank, mindless. He’s in shock. As long as he can move, that’s all that matters. I pull him up the steps of the stone battlement, Irahn’s old home. An arrow whizzes past us as we run, and I spare a glance down. Faustrius is flanked by rows and rows of underfae. The first line wields bows and spears.
“Again,” Faustrius says calmly. “Bring them down.”
A spear hisses up, and I stop running just in time to miss it. It wedges in the wall. I duck underneath, tugging Kel with me. “Keep moving!”
We run and run up the steps until we get to the top landing. Irahn’s office lies within.
I try the door handle. “Locked.”
Another arrow speeds toward us, but Kel acts, yanking me out of its path and slamming me against the wall. He places two hands on either side of my head, shielding my body with his own.
“Kel!”
“I will not fall, Rosalina.” Kel’s long, white hair has fallen loose. His skin is slick with snow, sweat, and blood. The beautiful garments he’d worn for diplomacy are now torn and bloodied. “I will not fall until you are safe.”
“Kel, what are you doing?”
The first spear hurtles through his chest with such a force, I can see the point sticking out. Blood spatters my face, and I can’t hold back my scream.
His shoulders shake, but he does not move. He holds his body protectively around mine. The second spear makes his legs buckle as it impales him.
“Kel,” I whimper. “Stop this.”
His brilliant eyes shine, his teeth gritted. “I will not fall.”
An arrow arcs upward, lodging itself near his spine. He cries out in pain but stays standing.
“Kel.” I say the word like a plea, a sob, a prayer.Let us go together. Please, don’t leave me alone.
His face is an agonized grimace, legs buckling, arms shaking. But his eyes blaze with blue fire.I will not fall.
Tears cascade over my cheeks, mixing with blood and sweat. Snow falls heavily, plastering my hair to my face. My Kel. He’s always sacrificed for me. I touch his jaw, clinging to whatever I can for as long as I can.
Another spear pierces Kel’s chest, and blood sputters from his mouth.
“No, Kel, no, no, no!”
“Rose—” His eyes struggle to focus.
“Kel, stay with me!”
But this time, there’s a rope attached to the hooked spear that snags his shoulder. I scream as Kel’s ripped out of my arms. He careens off the bridge house, collapsing in a heap at Faustrius’s feet.
My cry echoes over the bridge and across the chasm. This can’t be the end. How could it all have gone so wrong? Where are my mates? Where is my magic? There has to besomething!
I fall to my knees, clutching my chest, as if I could protect all the pieces that make up my heart.
“Come down, Rosalina,” Faustrius calls from below. “Do not attempt to run again.”
There has to be something within me?—
Protect them.
The words boom across my mind.
I… I know that voice.
