Silence fell over the clearing. Sebastian, unable to look at Ciana, held Lucas’s stare. It was wild and cruel and heartless.
With a final clang of broken defeat, Sebastian knew Lucas would do it. He would do it, if for no other reason than as revenge against Sebastian.
Lucas would rather kill Ciana than allow her to find happiness away from him.
Dying would be easier than letting the Blaise’s take her again. But Sebastian couldn’t be the reason she died, too.
He finally let his gaze drift to Ciana. He begged and pleaded and hoped that she could see all he felt—all his love, all his hate, all his rage and loss and fear and panic.
“I’m sorry,” he said in a broken whisper. Ciana released a strangled sob.
Sebastian’s sword hit the grass with a dull thump. He dropped slowly back to his knees.
Kol smiled, teeth gleaming. “Good pet.” He turned, shadows pooling around his feet. “Now, we must be going.”
Leon Blaise nodded, giving Sebastian one final, victorious smile, before ushering his son and Ciana back into the carriage. She went without a fight, despite the tears still streaming down her face.
Sebastian knew why. It was how she had survived before. She would dull all her light, hide everything she was, and retreat into the farthest corners of her mind. Her only escape from the evils being inflicted on her.
He hated Kol. But in that moment, he hated himself above it all.
The carriage door closed and a whip snapped. It rolled away, back down the forest path, taking the last bit of Sebastian’s will to live with it.
Light flashed and shadows gathered. Two massive shapes took form, blotting out the sun. Ydros, the deep earthen shade of his scales warm in the afternoon light, spread his wings and launched skyward without a word.
Kol swung his head around the clearing. His gaze landed on where Andrian still knelt, clutching Mariah’s lifeless form to him, catatonic and broken.
His black, scaled tail swung, smashing the little that remained of the Salis’s home. His red-gold eyes burned when they landed on Sebastian.
“There is nothing left for you here, Armature. One day, I look forward to your allegiance.”
Kol launched into the sky, golden-veined wings catching the dying sunlight. He and Ydros circled for a moment before spearing off to the east—toward Verith, where his army waited for him.
Sebastian didn’t know how long he stayed there, broken and kneeling in the blood-stained grass, empty and cold and alone.
Chapter 96
Andrian didn’t move for hours.
The sun slowly set, crawling across the sky. The moons rose, bathing the clearing in pale silver-gold light. Melancholy birdsong returned before tucking away for the night.
Andrian hated all of it.
He hated the moons most of all.
The summer air stayed warm even when darkness fell. But the girl in his arms was too cold, too still. If he kept his gaze on her face, he might’ve been able to convince himself she was sleeping. She only ever looked this relaxed, this content, this youthful when she was asleep.
She was still too cold. He’d stroke her skin, desperate for that spark of fire, and the ruse would shatter like glass, oblivion claiming him again.
The stars were fully out, twinkling overhead, when a hand gripped his shoulder.
“Andrian.” Sebastian’s voice was soft and hoarse. “We need to move.” A pause. “We need to movethem.”
Again, if Andrian tried hard enough, he could almost convince himself it was because they couldn’t all sleep out here.Summer storms weren’t uncommon; the smart thing to do was find shelter.
Almost.
He didn’t answer Sebastian with words. Everything was too numb and frozen in his chest. He’d been reduced to his baser self, surviving because his instincts wouldn’t let him die, but feeling none of what made a person alive.
