When the light of the flames faded, I frantically turned and scanned the base of the mountain. Not brave enough to lay eyes on where my brother took his final breath.
Skylar dropped to her knees, trembling, tears cutting glowing streaks through the blood and dirt caked to her face. There was nothing I could do. There was nothing anyone alive could do for her. She’d chosen to save us, to save Valdor, but at what cost?
I willed my legs to move as I dragged myself onto my hands and knees, prepared to crawl to my queen to keep herwith us if I had to. A silence settled along the valley floor so deep that it made my bones ache as I moved toward her. Everyone else slowly came to their senses around me.
I had to get to her. Had to reach her, to remind her she was not alone.
We needed our high queen. We could not lose them both.
Gritting my teeth, I swallowed as I staggered to my feet. “Skylar!” My voice cracked, strained from the battle, my exhaustion finally settling in. “Skylar.”
I willed my eyes to open and saw the faint outline of gold and red feathers along her arms.
“No. No, no, no!” I said. “Skylar, you can’t lose yourself to your animal, you can’t—” The words fell from my lips as my mouth gaped open. My eyes were wide with disbelief as I collapsed, looking behind my shoulder.
“Gods above.”
Chapter Fifty-Four
Skylar Cathal
I could feel the shift coming, and I didn’t try to stop it.
The grief, the unbearable hollow ache and emptiness, was too much. Too loud for this world.
Why choose to keep living when the reason you smile, the reason your heart keeps beating and your soul is finally complete… is gone?
He was gone.
He was gone.
So why am I still here?
I understood why Magnus turned. Why my mother died of a broken heart after my father was killed.
And for the first time, I didn’t question any of it.
The Heart of Valdor was destroyed.
Minaeve was dead. Her creations, her magic, everything we fought for was now ours, and yet the cost of victory was something I was unprepared to pay.
“Skylar!”
My name wound through the settling dust left behind by the explosion, but I barely heard it. The world blurred, drained of color, drained of everything except the throbbing reminder that I was alone, and he… he wasgone.
I’d killed my mate.
The heat surged violently, ripping through my spine like a blade of molten light. My bones creaked under the pressure, my skin tightening as feathers of fire bloomed beneath the surface of my skin, begging to tear free.
I didn’t stop it. Icouldn’tstop it.
My grief was like a tidal wave, crushing every part of me, drowning me on dry land. The phoenix inside me screamed for release, to help swallow the pain and surrender.
Let the fire take me. Let it burn me.
The air around me quivered, shimmering with heat. My pulse stuttered, then faded, swallowed by the rising roar of flame that strove to devour everything I was. My breath halted as the world flickered into the abyss. And all my feelings drained out in a violent rush. The pain, the fear, every emotion dissolved into a white-hot void. And in that terrifying emptiness, there was silence. Beautiful, merciful silence.
Come and take me.
