“You,” I hiss. “What have you done?”
He doesn’t say a word. Coward. I’ll burn him alive for this.
Cora smiles, and it splits her face into something ancient and dreadful. “I’ve come for what’s mine.” Her white eyes pan from me, landing on Marik.
Motherfuck. As much as I would love to throw Marik back to Coraand kick her the fuck out of Squall’s End, I need him.Weneed him if we have a chance of beating her.
“You did all of this for a male? How embarrassing,” I say.
She quirks an eyebrow. “Well, heisquite talented with his tongue.” Her grin is malicious.
Ew. My lip curls in disgust. “Unfortunately, you can’t have him.”
Her smile slips, and her attention turns to Marik. “Do you let her boss you around now?”
He doesn’t respond. From my peripheral, I can tell the way he stands rigid as he faces her. His hands are balled into fists. He looks nervous, uncomfortable, and I hope he hates himself right now. I hope he’s going through every decision he made and regretting every single one. I hope the weight of his regret smothers him, leaves him gasping for every breath just to survive.
“Come now, Marik. I know you can’t stand her.” Those bone-white eyes turn back to me. “You should have heard all of the awful things he said about you dear,” she tuts. “The way he mocked you and how you pined after his brother. Pathetic, I think was his most frequent adjective he used about you.”
It’s not so much her words that stoke fire, but more so the way she speaks to me like she feels sorry for me. I don’t bite.
Her head twitches back to Marik. “What’s your choice? Are you going to come back home? Or do these people need to die? Just like the wedding guests?”
“What are you talking about?” Marik asks. “They were released. You gave me your word.”
She snorts. “I lied. Surely you can’t think I’d be that dumb to let them go after they knew the truth?”
My blood turns to ice. Everyone. Dead. Innocent people, their only crime wanting to see me get married. Cally…If Asmo hadn’t gotten Cally out…
“Enough of this, Marik. Come.” Cora’s voice is harsh as she speaks to him. Like a dog.
“No.”
The ground shakes. Dirt falls from the ceiling as Cora faces Marik. Her black aura sputters out, then flares.
Fuck this. I summontwin daggers from a witch’s belt. I snatch them from the air and imbue them with my flames. Rage courses through me as I surge toward two witches and sink the hilts into their necks. They drop, and the two freed hybrids dash to the other side of the room.
Asmo fires blazing paths of black flames to two more witches, downing them, but not killing them. They douse the flames with their cloaks and reach for their captives, but Marik finally jumps into the action and hurls fire at them. They hiss and drop to the floor to dodge the blast, and the hybrids escape.
Cora’s nostrils flare as she watches Marik. But she doesn’t watch for long. She hurls a burst of black magic at him and Elle. Marik grabs Elle and they narrowly avoid the blast. It collides with the walls, oily black patches spreading and slowly corroding them. I remember the way her magic burned my shield like acid.
“Help!” one of the hybrids pants. Asmo and I sprint for the remaining four witches and their hostages, but we’re too late. They drag their nails across their neck. Blood pours down their chests. William’s face flashes through my mind. I will not lose another.
With the hostages now on the ground, I fire white flames at the witches’ heads. Bile rises as the scent of flesh catching fire now fills the air. All four witches burn, while Cora’s black aura forms a protective shield around her. I want to scream and rage at her and pour more fire into it, but I shift my attention to the four hybrids bleeding on the floor instead.
But I’m just one person, just two hands, and I can’t help them all at once. I can’t I can’t I can’t and I swore no more, but they are now on a list that was already too long. William and the executed and the wedding guests and now these four at my feet. Tears well at the helplessness, the frustration, the entire fucking situation of this whole thing, and I let them fall uselessly, so fucking uselessly. I wipe them away in a hurry and shake my head, shake the thoughts away to focus. But I don’t know what the fuck to do.
I place my hands on their necks, but that still leaves two more dying. Elle flies toward me and covers their wounds, blood seeping between her fingers.
“I don’t know whatto do,” I say.
She looks back at me through tear-lined eyes and shakes her head.
Mother, please,I beg. But the hybrids beneath me still, as they lose their fights with death.
Behind me, Marik yells, “No!”
And then Asmo bellows, and my world tilts, and every nerve ending in my body lights in pain. A dagger is embedded in Asmo’s chest. His face is white, lips pressed together tightly as he fists the handle and rips it from his chest. He clamps a hand over the wound, blood seeping between his fingers. He gives me a shaky nod.
