Oro landed in front of her, and power rumbled across the island.
Grim only smirked at the king. “And neither do you.”
And then he struck. A burst of shadows erupted from him, right at Oro, but the king shielded it with a covering of flames so saturated, they were tinged in blue.
Isla prepared to block herself from the shadows too, her Starling shield forming, but they moved around her almost gently, like extensions of Grim himself.
Oro burst forth with a thick cord of power—a mix of silver energy, water rushing from the sea, and flashing flames. Grim met it with a chain of pure darkness.
Their powers clashed and reverberated in waves. The bridge below them shook. Isla barely kept herself on her feet. She felt the force of their strength in her bones.
Both were too powerful. They roared, fighting, each with equal hatred clear on their faces.
Grim was gone—then, he was right behind Oro. He hit him with a wave of shadows, and Oro only just barely blocked it with a shield of crackling Starling energy. Still, the impact knocked him onto his back.
Before Grim could take another step, Oro’s arms went wide, and the sea rushed from hundreds of feet below. It hit Grim, then hardened, then cracked as he fought to melt through it with his shadows. He couldn’t move his arms. Oro shot enough fire to char Grim through the ice, but, at the last moment, he portaled away, leaving the frost behind. It fell back onto the bridge and shattered.
“Behind you!” Isla shouted, and Oro turned just in time to block Grim’s blade. Oro created a sword out of Starling energy, and they dueled across the bridge.
Grim grinned as if he was having the time of his life. “It’s been a long time since we fought, Oro,” he said, advancing. “What a shame that it will also be the last time.”
Oro let his sword disappear and shot up into the air.
Grim followed. He portaled so quickly that it was as if he were also flying, appearing then disappearing in wild spurts. They dueled in the sky, this time with streams of power.
Isla watched from below, finding herself cringing at every blow the other landed. She bit the inside of her mouth, dread churning in her chest.
There was no winning.
A rumble sounded before the sea below spiraled up, becoming a massive snake that lunged at Grim. In response, he spun a wolf formed of shadows. The creatures battled, mauling each other, protecting their creators.
Oro shot out his hand, releasing a dozen throwing blades made from flames. Grim blocked them with a dark curl of smoke before that shield became a dozen arrows all aimed at Oro’s chest.
They ricocheted against Starling sparks, and both of their attacks quickened. Grim was portaling so fast, she could barely track him in the sky, and Oro was creating so many weapons, she missed half of them by blinking.
Finally, Oro paused for a moment, as if gathering his energy. This was it. It was about to be over. The air seemed to go taut in anticipation before he shot out his hand—and released a strike of lightning. It raged across the sky, charged with energy, a combination of his abilities.
It all happened so quickly.
Before the lightning could hit Grim, he was gone, then replaced—
With Oro.
Grim had portaled him there, using his power, in that fraction of a second. Isla watched helplessly as Oro’s own lightning struck him.
And then, he was falling.
He landed on the bridge with a force that threatened to make it crumble away beneath them. She raced forward, but Grim landed between them.
“No!” she screamed.
Shadows burst forth from his palm, but before they turned Oro to ash, he came to and lifted his own hand. Fire, energy, and wind wrapped around and around. Their powers met in the middle.
Oro was injured. He looked like he could pass out at any moment. She knew what she had to do.
It was time.
Don’t do it. The voice was firm, speaking from the past. Her own voice.
She didn’t want to. But the oracle had made it clear—it was either Grim or Oro. Her choice would define the world.
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—