Daxton’s wordless roar rang out once more, causing the volcano to shake, throwing me against the wall as his power lashed out in response to his grief.
The depths of his sorrow struck a blade through the center of my soul. Gods above, his pain was manifesting in his magic, on the brink of tearing the fabric of Valdor to pieces.
Then I realized… The stone. The fucking Heart of Valdor was amplifying his magic just like it had done with Skylar’s.
I will not lose my brother. I cursed the Gods.You can’t fucking have them both. Not this time.
Determination set in as I pushed myself from the wall and raced to my brother’s side. “Dax!” I roared,praying he could hear me through his grief. “Brother!” I screamed, reaching out to latch onto him.
I dug my fingers into his shoulders, which felt like hardened slabs of stone, trying to draw his attention away from Skylar and return to the current dangers threatening our lives.
My brother, my protector. The one who’d always been so strong.
“Daxton, please!” I cried out as he lifted his gaze to meet mine.
Tears streaked my brother’s face, and the canyon in my heart widened into a never-ending chasm, feeling his pain radiate from every facet of his being.
In our centuries together, I’d never witnessed tears fall from my brother’s face. Not when our mother’s body was burned at her funeral. Not when Daxton told me about our father’s death on the battlefield, nor when he finally returned home after a century in Minaeve’s court.
But now,this.
For the first time in over five centuries, I witnessed my brother’s true grief surfacing. Skylar’s death would forever leave a constant bleeding wound on his heart and soul.
“We need to escape, Dax,” I pleaded. “You need to get us out of here.”
My brother didn’t move. Gods, he didn’t even appear to be breathing.
“Dax!” I roared as I reached to take the stone from Skylar’s lap.
The movement toward her snapped him out of a trance. He bared his teeth with a feral growl, his eyes hardening as he abruptly got to his feet. Despite the stone no longer being in his possession, his eyes remained silver, his wild power pulsing in uncontrollable waves.
What in the Gods’ names was happening to him?
“Castor! Daxton!” Shaw’s voice broke the tension as he reached us, the alpha’s dagger clutched in his hand. “The volcano is collapsing! Please… Please, Daxton, get us out of here!”
The volcano rumbled as the heat in this death pit rocketed to an unbearable degree. I could see a survival instinct click in my brother’s mind, but I knew he was still lost in a haze of grief.
“Dax!” I yelled as I reached out to grasp his arm, motioning for Shaw to grab my shoulder. “Now!”
I don’t know how, but thankfully, my words reached my brother. And in a silver flash, he teleported us away.
Chapter Sixty-Nine
Castor Aegaeon
A battlefield was a deadly dance of violence intertwined with chaos. Complete and uttermadness.Which was exactly what Daxton unknowingly teleported us into the thick of.
The clang of steel and roars of battle filled my ears as we reappeared at the edge of our encampment. Floods of crimson stained the field. The cries of the wounded reverberated into the final hours of the darkened night.
The battle had begun.And clutched to my brother’s chest was the first sacrifice of our hopeful future.
“Watch out!” Shaw yelled as he drew the alpha’s dagger and lunged forward to block a sword wielded by a High Fae dressed in dark green armor.
With centuries of combat training ingrained into muscle memory, I instinctively reached for the blade strapped to my back. In one swift movement, I removed the head of our enemy from his shoulders.
“Don’t hesitate,” I told Shaw. “You do, and that pretty outfit Idris gave you won’t be enough to stop a blade aimed at your neck.” I reached for my other sword.
“You’re welcome,” Shaw huffed.
