The truth in his golden eyes struck Bridget's soul. Her vision blurred and her pulse roared in her ears.He knew.He’d known about the bond the entire time. Whether from Marin or the conversation he’d overheard with Stellan, it didn’t matter. Heknew. And it was too late to change it or the silent goodbye layered beneath every breath.
“I love you,” Cade said, voice hoarse and low. But it struck Bridget like lightning. It wasn’t for Vega. It wasfor her, buried beneath the rage and ruin of her sister.
And then Bridget knew what he was going to do.
She thrashed inside herself. Clawed at her own muscles. Tried to push Vega out. Tried to scream or shake her head and stop it. But Vega only smiled. Her grip tightened on Bridget’s mind like a vice and twisted hard.
Blood dripped from Bridget’s ears.
Cade dropped his sword. “I’m sorry.”
NO—
Bridget’s arm lifted.
The sword hovered in the air for a heartbeat of eternity. She begged every fiber of her being to stop. To drop the blade. To miss. Todo anything but this.But her muscles obeyed Vega.
She drove the blade straight into Cade’s chest.
Chapter thirty-five
Cassia
Cassia had always thought of herself as a helpless person, unable to help or do anything of value. She’d lived with the feeling her entire life. But it had never utterly consumed her. Until now.
She stood just beyond the courtyard’s edge, the fire wall hissing inches from her outstretched hands. Its heat stung her cheeks and fingers. She could have pushed harder. Could have drained it faster. She should have. But she hadn’t. She’d frozen.
While her brother bled. While Bridget wheezed and fought and broke beneath the weight of something she never should’ve had to carry alone. And now it was too late.
Bridget’s hand moved, slow and mechanical, like something guiding it from inside. Her fingers slipped into her coat pocket and withdrew a small, shimmering red stone. The Bloodstone.
Cassia’s chest caved in.
“No,” she whispered. Her hands shook as she finally drew more of the flame into herself, draining it with reckless abandon. But the air was already shifting, thickening with ancient magic. It was happening.
Bridget—Vega—lifted the stone high. Cassia surged forward, the fire crumbling around her, but not fast enough.
“Don’t!” she screamed.
But Bridget’s hand closed into a fist and crushed the stone as she muttered something under her breath. Magic exploded outward in a brilliant, blinding shockwave. The sound cracked like thunder as a web of glowing fissures snaked across the courtyard floor. The blood-soaked stone behind Nylah split with a shuddering groan. A distant rumble echoed beneath their feet. The air howled.
Cassia stumbled against the earthquake building beneath their feet. Seconds later, Bridget collapsed beside Cade’s still form. A gust of wind rushed past them. And then Cassiafeltit. The shift in the air. The change in Bridget’s body. Vega was gone. Back to her own, most likely. Ready to appear before them.
Cassia didn’t wait. She ran. Behind her, she heard Castor yelling for Delphine. Stellan shouted something to their father. But all she could see was her brother lying bleeding and unconscious, while Bridget curled around his body like she could will him back to life.
And then Bridget screamed.
It wasn’t human. It was raw and grief stricken; it shattered something inside Cassia’s ribs. Tears streaming down her face, Nylah squeezed Bridget’s shoulders, nearly falling from the rumbling beneath them, but she wouldn’t move. Cassia dropped to her knees beside them as Castor skidded to a stop behind her.
“What do we do?” she breathed. “There has to be something we can do.”
Castor just stared in shock as her father stumbled to the ground beside her. He was pale as Bridget clawed at Cade’s tunic, blood staining her hands. Cassia followed their gazes and faltered. Cade no longer looked entirely human. The spell that had masked his true self was gone. His once-rounded ears were now sharply arched. His features had shifted slightly. They were more defined, otherworldly. Tuathan.
“No,” Bridget sobbed. “I didn’t—I couldn’t stop—he—he—”
“Bridget,” Delphine whispered, touching her shoulder, but she didn’t flinch. She just screamed again, and the sound cracked across the broken courtyard like a curse.
Cassia’s heart pounded against her ribs like it wanted to escape. Her eyes swept the courtyard, taking in the ruptures spreading across the ground. Glowing lines of magic split the stone, the sigils carved into the courtyard now crawling with bloodred light.
