A bundle of fur and fangs flew from the depths of the castle. Sirius whirled toward the creature a second too late. The beast slammed into his body and knocked him off his feet. When the creature, a small, wolflike beast, landed on top of him, it sliced its claws across his throat. Sirius let out a wordless cry, and blood spilled from his neck. The red light in his eyes suddenly dimmed.
Trembling, I shoved away from the wall and reached for Toryn’s hand. He was on the other side of the beast. Right now, it was distracted by Sirius, but if it lifted its head, even just the slightest bit, it would see Toryn standing there and looking at it in…
Awe.
He did not look afraid. Instead, he practically beamed as the beast launched off the god’s chest and sat on its haunches, blinking at me.
What in the name of light was going on?
Toryn knelt beside Sirius and peered into his vacant eyes. “He’s unconscious for now, but it won’t take long for these wounds to heal. We need to get out of here before they do.”
“Toryn.” I pointed a shaky finger at the wolf. It was licking its claws now. Licking the blood, I realized, my stomach turning. “What is that? Where did it come from? Is it…some kind of miniature shadowfiend?”
But despite the claws and the fangs and the fur, the monster looked little like those shadowfiends that stalked the mists and haunted my dreams. Its gleaming brown eyes were achingly familiar, and its chestnut fur was smooth and lush, its little ears twitching as if it listened and understood every word I said.
My breath shuddered out of me. “Nellie?”
But then Kalen was there, his hand on my face, on my arms, on my chest, and then on the back of my head. His eyes glowed with a ferocity that made my toes curl, and he drank me in like a parched man drinks in water.
“Tessa.” His voice was a shudder, and I swore every muscle in his body tensed. He looked two seconds away from slamming his fists into the wall to bring the castle down. “Tell me you’re all right. Tell me he didn’t harm you.”
“I’m fine,” I whispered, reaching up to palm his face with my gloved hand. “See? I’m right here. I’m fine.”
“I will fucking kill him.” He turned to the god sprawled across the floor. His blood no longer leaked from the wound Nellie had given him. Not likely a good sign. But then Kalenmovedwith lethal grace, raising his sword above his head and bringing it down on Sirius’s neck. The blade sliced through the air, through flesh and bone, but when Kalen pulled back, there was no sign of any wound.
It was as if the blade hadn’t even touched him.
“What the fuck?” Toryn muttered, gazing down at the god in horrified awe.
“Our weapons don’t work against them,” Fenella called out from behind us. We turned to find her heaving in the next corridor, her face and hands covered in soot and blood.Herblood, judging by the gaping wound in her side where her leather armor had once protected her stomach. She pressed a shaking hand to the wound and stumbled toward us. “We have to get out of here.Now. They’re coming.”
Kalen took one last look at the god. His lip curled back as a low growl emanated from the back of his throat. And then he sheathed his sword, gave me a look that I understood all too well—run—and collected Fenella in his arms. Together, we raced down the corridor with Toryn and Nellie just behind us. The open castle doors ahead revealed a gray sky pregnant with clouds. Before we could reach them, a boom shook the castle, reverberating through the floor. I stumbled, but then Nellie was there.Nellie.She ran beside me in some kind of wolf form, pressing her body against mine to keep me from falling.
Something like awe went through me. Claws and fangs, indeed.
We reached the castle doors and ran down the steps leading into the courtyard where the rest of the castle denizens were awaiting us. Thousands of terrified fae stumbled toward the streets beyond, ushered forward by a grim-faced Caedmon. Many fell silent and looked at Toryn. Their prince—or their king now, I supposed, at least until his brother came along to challenge him for the title. And now, once again, Toryn had wiped away any sign of fear or uncertainty from his face. Instead, he moved toward them with a sense of calm purpose, as if four of the most powerful creatures in the world weren’t behind us, coming to kill us all.
As Toryn called out words of assurance to his people and motioned for them to follow Caedmon, I turned to gaze upon the vine-covered castle one last time. Kalen had set Fenella down. She was kneeling with her eyes closed—calling upon her magic, no doubt, to heal her wound. Nellie sat on her haunches, blinking up at Kalen as he focused his power on the castle. If anything would stop the gods, it was that brutal power he carried within him.
And yet nothing happened.
“Come on!” he shouted. “For once, I truly need you!”
He stared up at the crumbling building, his fists shaking. Anguish pushed into me through the bond.
“Kalen?” I called out. “What’s happening?”
He turned to me, and the look in his eye made my stomach drop. “My power is gone. Sirius can mute it, just like Andromeda has in the past. We must run.”
Thirty-One
Tessa
The castle crumbled behind us as we ran. The streets of Gailfean were a blur of screaming fae rushing from their homes and shops, grabbing sacks of clothes or food, scooping children up into their arms, and running hard—fleeing as if the ground itself was aflame.
Thunderous booms shook the city as chunks of the castle broke off and plummeted. Dust burned my throat as it filled the air like fog. Up ahead, guards had thrown open the city gates and were frantically motioning for everyone to run outside onto the grassy hills.
I risked a glance over my shoulder at the city we were abandoning. The castle was a smoking pile of rock now, though the gods were still nowhere in sight. I frowned as I dragged my eyes back to the gates ahead. Why hadn’t they stopped us yet? Why were they letting the fae escape without a fight?
