As the flash of light settled in the cavern, Shaw and I gazed toward the inevitable sacrifice that would threaten to shatter the fabric of our worlds.
“Gods above,” I cursed as silver tears pooled in my gaze.
Daxton stood with Skylar cradled in his arms. His ironclad grip on her lifeless body held her upright, refusing to allow her to fall. I helplessly watched as my brother collapsed onto his knees, pulling Skylar into his chest. His stare locked onto the motionless body of his mate, refusing to believe the reality of what his eyes beheld.
Shaw forced himself to stand on shaking legs as a stray tear trickled along his whiskers. Lowering his head, Shaw’s lips pulled back in angst, revealing ivory teeth contrasting against his black coat. His claws extended and scraped the stone. Arching his back, Shaw released a loud, mournful roar into the chasm. The cry rattled my bones, filled with so much grief and emotion that it was hard to breathe.
I strained against the pain in my own heart as I willed myself to crawl toward my brother. I couldn’t imagine the grief tearing him apart, how it felt to hold…
Gods-fucking-dammit.
I felt a tug at my center, and somehow, I knew it was Nyssa. Something was happening back at camp. My throat cracked as terror began settling in my core.
The silence inside the volcano was otherworldly as I cautiously approached my brother’s side. Standing at hisshoulder, I cursed the Gods for bestowing this fate on Daxton and Skylar.
How cruel was it to allow them this happiness and then tear them apart so shortly after? My brother experienced so little joy in this world. Skylar had become his light, a ray of hope in the bleak existence he was forced to endure.
And now? Now…
I swallowed a heavy breath, my voice cracking as I dared to step closer. “Dax?”
My brother didn’t flinch at my word. Gods, he didn’t even blink. His stare was isolated solely on the face of his lifeless mate cradled in his arms.
I stilled, watching Daxton’s body tremble, and I swear even I stopped breathing. His hand quivered as he pulled back to gently cup Skylar’s cheek. The reality of his mate’s fate raged through his soul like a hurricane on the open seas.
Gently, Daxton brushed a strand of hair from Skylar’s brow, tucking it behind her ear as he gently kissed her cheek. Almost as if she were sleeping, and he was patiently waiting for her to wake from a dream.
“Dax?” I questioned once more, yet he still didn’t turn to look at me. Seconds passed in complete silence, five, ten, thirty… “Daxton!” I yelled.
Haunting silver eyes, not the gray ones I’d known all these centuries, snapped open to meet my gaze. I blinked and shifted backward, my eyes widening in shockat the vast well of power I felt emanating from my brother.
Daxton returned his focus to Skylar, lifting her closer and burying his face in her cascading golden-brown hair. His body shook as his grip on her tightened.
“No,” Daxton whimpered in disbelief. “No… no… no. Spitfire, y-you can’t—”
“Shaw, get back!” On instinct, I released my magic and created a barrier of ice to shield us. I didn’t have time to question how I managed to create the blockade. My brother’s magic was unstable, on the brink of exploding in a violent outburst.
“No!” Daxton roared into the chasm.
His scream was powerful enough to feel in the depths of your soul, followed by the most powerful blast of magic I’d ever experienced. I stumble back a step, holding onto anything I could to try and steady myself.
The pain of losing Skylar shattered him.
“No!” Daxton yelled once more. The depths of his loss echoed across the seas, atop every mountain peak and valley below—loud enough for all of Valdor to hear.
The magnitude of his grief caused the earth to tremble, threatening to tear the world apart as my brother’s soul bond to his mate lay broken.
“Castor, the volcano is going to erupt!” Shaw rasped in his human form as the pool of magma bubbled with boulders crumbling from the walls. “Castor! We need Daxton to teleport us out of here. The tunnel’s collapsed!”
“You think he’s coherent enough to do that?” I hissed as I lowered my ice barrier.
“It’s either that or we all die here with Sky!” Shaw inhaled a sharp breath as his expression hardened.
The admittance of his alpha’s passing tortured him almost as much as the reality of her sacrifice. Shaw’s eyes darkened as he scanned the rumbling ground near the entrance.
“I need to bring the dagger back to our people, and you need to settle Daxton enough to get us the fuck out of here.”
Without hesitating, Shaw sprinted across the way, dodging fallen boulders and leaping over fissures that would lead to a molten death to retrieve the alpha’s dagger.
