Page 141 of On Brutal Thrones

“Stay there!” Thorian roars.

He tries to come down, but as he does, three bolts hit between us. He stops. So Talon comes from the other side, but lightning drives him back too. Fenric tries next. More lightning.

It isn't random. The realization comes with terrifying clarity. This isn't the mountain. This isn't the Trial. This is Valtor.

The three men stand above me, trapped only because every attempt to reach me brings another barrage. And I can see it in their faces: they’ve come to the same realization I have. After everything we’ve been through, Valtor can’t stand to let us win.

Thorian looks toward the sky. “Haven't you had enough?” His voice cracks across the mountain almost as violently as the thunder. “Haven't you done enough? Fucking stop!”

Lightning flashes behind him. For a heartbeat, I don't see the man I've come to know. I see a little boy. A child standing helpless while his mother dies because of his father. And Valtor is making him do it again.

My heart breaks, but because I'm afraid. I finally understand. Valtor could have killed me with the first strike. He's a god. He doesn't miss. But the Vultures are dead, and we're almost at the Spire. His team lost. Thorian won.

And Valtor is punishing him for it.

Another bolt crashes down behind me, close enough that heat rolls over my back. I flinch but don't move.

This is why I'm still alive. Valtor wants time. He wants Thorian to watch me scramble away from every strike. He wants him to hear me scream and know that eventually one of those bolts is going to hit me.

Just like he couldn't save his mother. Valtor is going to make sure he can't save me either.

Thorian is still screaming at the sky, every word rawer than the one before it.

“Look at me!” I order.

He doesn't.

“Thorian!”

His head snaps toward me. Fenric and Talon turn too.

The air crackles against my skin. Every loose strand of my hair lifts around my face, and that horrible metallic taste floods my mouth again. Another strike is coming. And there is nothing any of them can do to stop it.

“Go.”

Thorian stares at me. “No.”

“Go to the Spire.”

“No.”

He starts toward me.

Lightning explodes between us.

“STOP!”

He freezes.

My whole body is shaking now, but I force myself to stay where I am. “He isn't going to let me leave this mountain.”

Talon's face changes.

Fenric shakes his head. “Nyx.”

“You know I'm right.” My voice nearly disappears beneath the storm. “If Valtor wanted me dead already, I'd be dead.”

Thorian's face twists. He knows. Of course he knows.