Zev’s back is turned, fighting the other waterwielder.
The one fighting me flicks his blue gaze between us.
Assessing. Deciding.
He chooses Zev. I grit my teeth. He chose wrong.
Water rises from the ground, thin ribbons, frozen into serrated shards, at least thirty of them.
All aimed at Zev’s back.
No.No.
I dart across the clearing, pumping my legs faster than they’ve ever moved, arm raised to command the water. I manage to slow their trajectory, melting a few of the shards, but the waterwielder doubles down.
A sickeningsquelch. Zev kills his opponent.
He turns.
I fling myself in front of him, blunting some shards, melting others. But there are too many, too fast. Two serrated shards pierce my flesh, one embedding in my shoulder, the other in my thigh. A strangled cry tears from my mouth, and I crash backward into Zev.
He catches me. He always catches me.
Lightning crashes down with a fearsome roar—I’m not sure if the sound is thunder or if it’s Zev. The metallic stench of burned flesh invades my nostrils. The wielder’s unrecognizable body falls to the ground.
Zev whirls me around. “FuckingSkies, Mayah,” he growls, wild eyes scanning my injuries. “Itold youto let me handle it.” I’ve grown accustomed to him being angry with me, but there’s a desperate sense of fear undercutting it now.
“You were about to be impaled,” I mutter, breaths shallow. “I couldn’t just watch.”
He’s panting hard. I can almost taste his rage in the air. “If something happened to you, then—”
“Then what?” I whisper, hope fluttering in my chest, even as my wounds bleed. “If something happened to me, then what?”
He cradles my face, pressing his forehead to mine.
“I—”
Zev freezes, the words dying on his lips.
My brows furrow, mouth poised to ask him what’s wrong.
Then—“You’ve always been a disappointment, Daughter.”
My blood freezes in my veins.
“But I never expectedthisfrom you.”
Chapter Eighty
Hiswordspunchtheair from my lungs. Father stands before us, moonlight casting sinister shadows across his face.
He looks every bit the monster I know him to be.
“Why are you here?” I snarl, teeth bared. “To kill me?”
Pain sears through my shoulder and thigh, Zev’s arm snaked protectively around my waist.
For a long moment, Father regards me, his expression unreadable. “No.” He clasps his hands behind his back. “To take you home.”
