Lynx lunged for her but was immediately surrounded by Nightshades. She gasped for breath, watching helplessly as he was surrounded in shadows.
No.
Two figures came crashing down from the sky.
Ciel and Avel.
Relief rained down her spine. “Thank you,” she croaked as Ciel reached a hand to help her up.
Even now, they were still watching out for her. Even—
Ciel’s kind face twisted in shock as a drek’s talon went clean through his stomach.
Avel’s scream shattered the world. She rushed to catch her twin in her arms, her hands shaking as she tried to keep all the parts that were falling from him together.
No. With a roar, she turned the drek to ash. She fished in her pockets for one of her last remaining vials of Wildling healing elixir. She poured it all over Ciel’s injury, hand shaking.
It was too late.
His eyes were cold and unblinking.
Avel cradled her brother in her arms and screamed.
This was her fault. Ciel was trying to help her.
Dreks landed all around, tearing limbs.
“You need to get up,” Isla told Avel. “They’re going to—they’re going to—”
She refused. She cradled her brother and wouldn’t even look at her. Tears swept down Isla’s face as she created a small dome of Starling energy around them both, hoping it would hold.
She heard a growl. Lynx. He was fighting off too many soldiers. Isla gathered her power and raged against all of them, until they were nothing but dust.
Her energy was drained. She fell to her knees, and Lynx shielded her with his body.
Through his legs, Isla watched, helpless, as death drowned everything around her. The dreks were endless. Grim must have made more.
It was just like her coronation. Limbs being torn. Screams turning to silence. Bodies fell from the sky more than dreks did. The flight force had been reduced to just a few units.
They didn’t stand a chance.
The island would fall. Oro would die. She would die.
A deafening roar sounded across the Mainland. Even the Nightshades stood still. They watched as a serpent with its jaw pulled all the way open swept across the land, swallowing all the Nightshades in its path.
The serpent-woman. She came. She stood on her massive tail and picked dreks off from the sky, stabbing them through with her fangs.
The dreks attacked the serpent, but their talons could not penetrate her scales. The storm Azul had created kept the dreks flying low, and she took out a dozen in a few seconds, hitting them with her tail, piercing them with her teeth.
Oro fought nearby, charring the skies with his flames. Zed sped through multiple dreks. Enya was a phoenix, fire-wings curling behind her as she fought.
It still wasn’t enough.
Isla looked around. The dead were everywhere, from both sides. Grim still hadn’t revealed himself, but this had to be put to an end.
Lynx helped her onto his back, and they raced across the Mainland, passing battling Vinderland, and Remlar, who had been fighting near the woods. He brought dreks down with the smallest movements. They shared a look.
The forest flew by in a flash, and then she was at the bridge. She slid off Lynx.
He would come to meet her. She knew he would. Isla waited for minutes, wincing as she heard the battle raging, willing Grim to come find her.
When more minutes passed, she almost pulled her necklace.
Then, the woods filled with shadows.
At once, the bridge was blocked by a new wave of the Nightshade army. They drew their shadows. They were everywhere.
A howl broke the air in half.
“Even think about touching her, and I’ll kill you,” a voice said. Steps sounded behind her. “Hello, heart.”
BEFORE
When Isla finished training, Grim was waiting for her in her room.
It had been weeks since he had told her the truth. She hadn’t sought him out, and he hadn’t returned.
“I told you I never wanted to see you again,” she said. The betrayal was still raw.
She didn’t mean it. She had missed him so much, but she needed time before she could think about forgiving him.
Grim tried at a smile. “I might have good news for you, then,” he said.
“What do you mean?”
He looked so serious.
Grim swept across the room and took her in his arms, and she let him, because she knew something was wrong. He studied every part of her face, as if trying to commit it to memory.
Her starstick was hot against her back. It was glimmering in his presence, as if in warning. Something isn’t right, it was saying. She gripped his chest and said, “What’s wrong?”
“The scar has opened. In a place it never has before. A place previously deemed safe.” Isla’s stomach sank. He had told her about the scar, about how he didn’t think Nightshade could survive much longer. “Hundreds of people live near it.”
Isla gasped. She opened her mouth, but he beat her to it.
“Whatever happens to me, heart, I want you to know something.”
“What?” she said. She tried to shake out of his arms. “Grim, nothing is going to happen to you, nothing—”
“Let me talk, heart,” he said, pressing a finger against her lips. “Interrupting is very rude.” She could tell he was trying to distract her. Trying to make her smile. She did not.
“I need you to know that you changed everything.” He ran his thumb down her cheek. “The gods don’t listen to people like me, but I would go on my knees and beg them to let me keep you. You were once the bane of my existence . . . and now, you are the center of it.”
He couldn’t possibly be saying this, not him, demon in the shadows, ruler of darkness. Not him, looking at her as if she was the answer to all his dreams. “My entire world was night, and you lit a match. No matter what happens to me in this life, I’ll find you in the next one. I’ll always find you. What I feel for you can never be extinguished. Like the nighttime sky, it is infinite. You and me . . . we’re infinite.”
Tears streamed down her face. Why did it sound like he was saying goodbye forever?
“No. Don’t go,” she said. “I can help you. We can figure this out, whatever it is, Grim, together. Let me go with you. We can try the sword. Let me go.”
“Okay, Hearteater,” he finally said. “You can come.”
He kissed her. It was quick, and brutal, and then soft—
She didn’t even notice when he slid a hand down her spine. By the time she did, it was too late.
He had taken her starstick and vanished, making sure she wouldn’t be able to follow.
DAY AND NIGHT
Grim stepped onto the bridge. Exactly where they needed him. He was wearing his full armor, the one she had seen in her memories. Spikes everywhere. On his shoulders. On his helmet. He looked the part of a demon. Shadows swirled and lashed out around him.
But the ones at his feet puddled. “This is obviously a trap,” he said, taking a step forward. “You knew I’d find you.” He smiled. “You knew nothing could ever keep me from you.”
“Even certain death couldn’t keep you away?” she asked, voice trembling.
He smiled wider. “Oh, Hearteater,” he said. “You and me . . . we’re infinite. Death doesn’t stand a chance.”
Isla couldn’t breathe. She was drowning from the inside out, knowing what was about to happen. Knowing what she must do—