I bolt toward them, sword flashing in the night.
Steel arcs through the air and finds flesh. Knees buckle, eyes lose their light. Blood seeps from gaping wounds, soaking the rain-damp earth.
Two men, dead.
Two more to follow. They gain their bearings, schooling their surprised expressions. An ice spear hurtles toward me. I duck out of the way, but it grazes my arm, leaving a bloom of pain.
In my periphery, the other warrior turns towards Mayah, attacking her with a water whip. I grit my teeth, focusing on my opponent. The quicker I kill him, the quicker I can help Mayah.
Sword slashing the air, closer and closer. Every time he raises his hands, I lunge. I maybe have one more good lightning strike left in me, but I want to keep that power tucked away.
I manage to slash his arm, but he darts out of my reach again. Wily fucker. Well-trained, though, I have to admit.
Mayah’s energy signature thrums wildly, drawing closer to me. Fuck—she needs help.
One last push, and my sword sinks into the waterwielder’s stomach with a wetsquelch. I whirl, ready to strike down the assailant that dared attack my Mayah.
Except I’ve barely turned when Mayah throws herself in front of me. A dozen ice shards catapult toward her. Terror robs me of breath. Some of the shards melt to the ground, but one pierces Mayah’s shoulder, another embedding in her thigh. A pained cry escapes her, and she falls backward.
I catch her in my arms.
I summon the lightning strike of nightmares. It crashes into the warrior with a roar, but I can’t hear it past the blaring in my ears.
His corpse falls to the ground, smoking and unrecognizable.
My hands shake as I spin her around and examine her wounds. “FuckingSkies, Mayah. Itold youto let me handle it.” My breath escapes in shaky exhales.
“You were about to be impaled,” she breathes, brows pulled tight. “I couldn’t just watch.”
Panic and anger and remorse and guilt take turns battering my senses until I can scarcely draw half a breath. She’d nearly died protecting me. “If something happened to you, then—”
“Then what?” she whispers, a sliver of hope illuminating her eyes brighter than the dappled moonlight. “If something happened to me, then what?”
I couldn’t bear it.
I cradle her face, pressing my forehead to hers. “I—”
My body freezes, the words dying on my tongue. Another fucking energy signature approaches us.
Without looking, I know who the unfamiliar currents belong to. Who the four warriors were protecting.
“You’ve always been a disappointment, Daughter.” The torment on Mayah’s face nearly undoes me. “But I never expectedthisfrom you.”
Chapter Sixty-Nine
Mymuscleslocktightat the sharp gasp that escapes my wife. I snake my arm around her waist, holding her to my chest. Slowly, she turns to face him.
“Why are you here?” she snarls. “To kill me?”
Tormik says nothing. Just studies her with an icy, narrowed gaze, mouth twisting with disgust as his eyes drag over my arm banded across his daughter’s waist.
“No. To take you home.”
Violent pinpricks rake down my spine.
“You’re lying,” Mayah hisses. “The warriors are trying to kill me.”
“Hmm. Perhaps they can’t forgive what you did at the camp.” Tormik raises a hand toward the sky, and thunder rumbles in answer. “Perhaps … I can’t either.”
