But I could see his true nature in his eyes.I trusted this man with my life.
I wasn’t scared.Not of him.
Darion spun around and threw the dagger right at Orlik, yelling, “Never call me yoursonagain!”
With a simple twist of Orlik’s hand, the blade stopped.Another gesture sent it hurtling back, stabbing Darion in the side.Blood soaked his tunic as he cried out—then fell silent, his body locking rigid.
I wanted to scream, but I could do nothing but watch.
“So predictable,” Orlik said to Darion.“Bad blood from that bitch mother of yours.You’re one of my biggest mistakes.”
Orlik turned his gaze to me.He clenched his fist.The dagger ripped out of Darion, dripping with blood.The blade turned, pointing right at my heart.
“Goodbye, Mr.Nightbrook,” Orlik said, his eyes as cold as ice.
Somewhere below, a massive explosion suddenly rocked the entire building.Mrs.Crowe’s time-release bomb had finally gone off.
The null field wavered.
Darion and I fell to the ground, freed from Orlik’s control for the moment.The dagger clattered to the floor in front of me.But I could already feel the null field returning and see the golden light shimmering around his ring.
In a single motion, I grabbed the dagger and flung it toward Orlik, aiming for his head.But he was wickedly fast and deflected the blade with a silver bracer on his wrist.
The moment he did, I drew the dagger strapped to my leg and sent it flying through the air.The knife hit its target, slicing two of Orlik’s fingers clean off.The ring clattered to the floor and rolled under the bed, its power gone.Orlik cried out in pain as blood gushed from the wounds.
I drew my last blade to finish him, but just then the entire building shifted, knocking me to the floor.Dust and loose stones rained down from the ceiling.A large rock struck Orlik in the shoulder.His face, normally a monolith of detached cruelty, was now filled with terror.He steadied himself, then raced out of the room, leaving a trail of blood behind him.
When the shaking slowed, I jumped to my feet.I peered down the hallway where Orlik had escaped.I could chase him and finish the job.
But then I turned to Darion, who was lying on the floor, wounded, with an ever-growing pool of blood surrounding him.
In the end, there was no choice at all.
Chapter forty-eight
From The Ashes
IracedtoDarion’sside.
He was no longer the man who had deceived me.He was the man who had stayed and sacrificed everything.
Blood flowed from a gash to the left of his stomach.I ripped off a piece of bed linen and tied it around his waist.“Try to keep pressure on it.”
He nodded with a grimace, hissing through his bared teeth.
I paused, wondering if I should look for Orlik’s ring.But the shaking building and ever-growing red stain on Darion’s side convinced me otherwise.
“C’mon, we have to go,” I said, helping him to his feet, his arm around my shoulders.“Can you walk?”
Darion yelped as he shifted his stance.“Not very well.”
His legs trembled, and for a moment, I thought he’d collapse.I tightened my grip and took more of his weight.
“We’ll have to make do,” I said.
We hobbled out of the room and down the hallway.
The building shook under our feet as we made our way across the balcony, heading for the central staircase.Sections of the walls crumbled.The king’s banners were ablaze, as was nearly everything else flammable.The last remaining people poured out of the keep.
