Nightbane (Lightlark, #2)(119)

She had to decide. As Grim and Oro dueled, so did past and present Isla.

Don’t do it—

She had to do it.

DON’T DO IT—

Her fingers shook. Tears blinded her. She closed her eyes and followed Remlar’s instructions.

She reached for the link. The one between her and Grim. It held every memory of them together, like beads on a bracelet. She saw them in her mind. The first time they met. The first time they kissed. The first time they were one. The first time she made him smile. A sob scraped the back of her throat, and Grim’s eyes went to her. A stream of power was hurtling toward him, and he didn’t seem to care. He looked at her.

It nearly broke her to reach for their thread. To reach for his power.

And take it.





BEFORE


No.

Isla’s chest was ripping in two. She was helpless. Stuck here, on the Wildling newland. It would take months to sail to Nightshade, and even then, even if they let her in—

It would be far too late.

No. This wasn’t happening. She hadn’t finally found someone who understood her only to lose him.

Tears and salt and gasps turned into a predatorial silence. All her senses sharpened like a dagger.

Grim was a demon. He was the feared ruler of Nightshade.

But he had become her friend. They had faced countless challenges together. He had touched her in ways that made her feel alive, and like the space between stars, and she had felt, for once, that her body belonged to her. Not the realm. Her.

For all his remarks and attitude, he had believed in her. He had trusted her.

And she trusted him.

He had saved her.

She was not going to give up on him.

Thousands of miles were no space at all, not for them. He was right. They were infinite. She reached out, looking for her demon, for him. The one who had pressed shapes against her skin, the one who didn’t know he had a dimple because he so rarely smiled.

Her mind emptied of anything other than him. She could see him in her head, could smell him, could feel him.

She reached out with every ounce of herself, threw her marrow through the world—

And found him.

When everything else cleared away, the universe fading like ash and smoke, only a link remained. She could feel it now, tying them together.

Isla didn’t think about what it meant. Not then. The thread was wrapped in power, and she didn’t know how to use it; it slipped through her fingers, but she had one ask—one request.

Take me to him.

With the sword in her hands, she grasped Grim’s power to portal with every inch of herself and vanished.


She landed on her knees.

Dreks were falling from the sky like pieces of night smelted into rain. Hundreds. Thousands. Grim had told her about them, but nothing could prepare her for seeing them—hearing them.

They were far smaller than the dragon, but whereas the creature was graceful, these were like throwing stars, shooting across the sky, falling to the ground, talons first.

Grim was at the center of it all.

There were others. They did not last long. She watched Nightshade warrior after Nightshade warrior be plucked up and away. Some were torn in half in the sky; others were eaten whole. Blood, everywhere, screams, men twice her size yelling for their lives.

Grim. He was rumored to be one of the strongest rulers.

Shadows erupted from him, and where they struck, everything died. He was seeping, everywhere, roaring—

It was not enough. The curses had dimmed his power. There were too many. And some seemed immune to even his shadows. They barreled toward him, and Isla knew how these injuries worked. They rotted flesh and bone and did not heal. How many times had he already been struck?

The scar ran across the ground, for as far as she could see. Grim said it went across all of Nightshade. Right there, so close, was a village Grim had told her about—the one that had been deemed safe. Dreks swooped down into the streets. Cries. Children.

Grim looked up, as if sensing her. And Isla had the feeling that no matter where they were, even on a battlefield, he would always be able to find her.

Horror. Pure, unfiltered horror, and devastation, to find her here, in a place where everything would soon be dead.

Then—surprise.

Understanding. He had taken her starstick. There was only one way she could possibly be here.

They stared at each other, and for just a moment, it was like no one else was there. Just them. No dreks. No soldiers.

He looked at her like she was the beginning and end of his world, and he smiled—smiled because he had found love, even if it was just before he died.

Grim closed his eyes, and she knew what he was going to do. He was going to portal her away. He was going to die.

Before he could, a drek pierced his chest. Its talons went right through him.

She screamed, and it didn’t sound human; it sounded like scratching the night sky with a blade, like pain spun into a sound.

Other dreks shot down. Grim roared, and they all descended, seeing their chance. They gripped him by the shoulders, and his head went limp. They were going to tear him in two—

No.

No.

Isla didn’t hesitate before she took the sword in her hands—and dug it deep into the ground before her.

Nothing happened, not right away. She didn’t know how to break the curse, she didn’t know what to do, but she was desperate.