Beside me, his hand now clasping mine, Brenton’s smoke surged, ready to strike at my command.
Eiran clapped a hand to my shoulder, his voice filled with pride. “You were never made to surrender life, but to command it.”
Zaicha screamed, fury pitching her voice. “You can’t?—”
“I already did.”
Zaicha struggled behind the bindings. The tip of her sword’s edge dug into the once shimmering grass. She hissed between her teeth, fury warping her beautiful face.
I stood over her, chest heaving. Every breath tasted of smoke and death. The power that had poured through me still vibrated in my veins. Restless and wanting.
“Enough.” Eiran’s voice rumbled.
I turned toward him, blinking sweat from my eyes. The shadows that clung to him seemed denser now.
He peered at Zaicha. “It is decided.”
I hesitated. The threads of my magic coiled tightly inside me, my magic responding to the ache that still burned in my chest. I could end this. I could make sure she never hurt Brenton again.
I could still feel the searing heat of her sword cutting through his flesh. The way our bond had gone silent for two beats too long. The terror of losing him.
My magic flared at my fingertips.
“She stands defeated,” Eiran said, his tone infuriatingly composed. “Her will no longer governs her fate. It is mine.”
My jaw tightened. “I’m not finished.”
“You are,” he replied.
The words lashed across my chest.
“She harmed Brent,” I said, my voice breaking. “You permitted that.” I turned to face him. “You permitted her to harm me.”
His expression didn’t change, but I felt it. Something dark slunk beneath my skin. The weight of his magic pulled on the threads of mine.
Wanting me to claim the moment when he’d barely helped.
“Finley,” he said. “There are things you do not yet under?—”
Whatever he meant to say died on his tongue.
The astral realm went still in a way I’d never felt.
The wind froze mid-breath. The rippling shimmer that lived here turned to glass. The light fractured.
Then the cold hit, too sharp. My breath came out in a billow of smoke. Beside me, Brenton’s did the same. Alastor swore softly under his breath, stepping in front of us as if he wanted to shield us from whatever was coming for us.
Zaicha’s lips curved in a slow, knowing smile. Her bindings flickered, my hold on them loosening.
No.
I sent a stronger wave, forcing the bindings to tighten and hold. They snaked around her again.
Frost crawled across the ground in perfect silence. The light dimmed, splitting the brightness further. Above us, a void split.
“Eiran?” I breathed out.
His face contorted into something unrecognizable. His shadows writhed.
