Someone laughed and it took a few seconds to realize that it had been me. My cheeks split with a smile as he straightened and faced me, all that terrible power focused only in one spot.
I wasn’t afraid.
We lunged at the same time, our weapons meeting again, each blow unrelenting. At first, I was lost in the intoxicating haze of vengeance, and I loved it, each wound a shot of alcohol, an unnatural high.
But Simon didn’t let up.
Raihn, surrounded by Rishan soldiers, was not coming to help me.
And Simon just kept coming, and coming, and coming.
The first little nagging shard of fear came when he struck me so hard I thought I felt something crack when I blocked his weapon. The pain shot through me in a lightning bolt, stealing my breath.
No time to recover, though. No time to counter.
Because the onslaught continued, that one devastating strike turning to two, three. Soon I couldn’t do more than evade, block, stumble backwards to get my footing— But I’d been knocked off balance. And I had no time to regain it.
The realization that I was fucked was slow and certain.
He opened a wound on my shoulder, my arm, my hip. Each one came with a breathtaking stab of pain, deeper than flesh. His magic, that red, noxious smoke, surrounded us both. The twisted creation in his chest pulsed unnaturally.
I could feel Vincent’s cold rage, his need for dominance, thrashing inside me, but it had nowhere to go. The magic of the Taker of Hearts was powerful, but it wasn’t as strong as whatever Simon had done to himself.
I leapt backward in a dodge and found myself against the balcony railing. Fuck. Nowhere left to go.
A hot breeze surged, blowing my hair back and yanking strands of Simon’s from its binding, making him look even more monstrous as he loomed over me, a bloody smile spreading over his lips.
Behind him, Raihn’s eyes locked onto me, as he cut through one Rishan soldier, two— He wouldn’t be fast enough.
Mother, I was going to die.
But, oh, what a death it will be.
I wondered if it was Vincent’s voice, or mine.
Simon reached out and touched my face, turning it toward his, as if in curiosity.
His smile soured.
“Just a human,” he said. “That’s all.”
A fighter’s death, I promised myself, as Simon raised his sword, and I raised mine.
His strike was devastating.
A burst of magic blinded me. A deafening crack left my ears ringing. Something sharp flew back against me, opening little cuts in my cheeks, my arms.
I barely felt them, because the pain was everywhere.
Simon had staggered backwards, doubled over, but it was too late.
I was falling, too. My body went over the railing in what felt like slow motion. The last thing I saw was Raihn, his eyes wide and terrified, as he yanked his sword from a body and ran for me— He looked so, so scared.
I reached for him, but I was already falling.
Worlds blended together in my weightlessness.
In one world, I couldn’t hear anything over the sound of screams and explosions and desperate commands.
In another, I could hear nothing but my father’s voice from an old memory. Could feel nothing but his grip, so firm it hurt—but then again, that was Vincent’s love, hidden in sharp edges and always just as painful.
I told you not to climb that high, he said, voice harsh. How many times have I told you, you can’t do that?
I know, I wanted to say. I’m sorry. You were right.
“Oraya!”
Raihn’s scream cleaved through the air, even through the sounds of a kingdom falling. I forced my eyes open to see smears of blurring color.
He was diving down after me, wings spread, covered in blood, a single hand reaching out for me.
Something about this image looked so familiar, and then it clicked—the painting of the Rishan man falling, one hand outstretched. I’d always thought he was reaching for the gods.
He was reaching for me.
Everything went black.
60
RAIHN
Retreat.
I flew over the battlefield, a sea of carnage, Oraya’s limp body in my arms. She was covered in so much blood I couldn’t even tell where she was injured, only that whatever Simon had done to her had been devastating.
She wasn’t dead.
She couldn’t be dead.
I could feel her heartbeat, slow and weak. I refused to accept the possibility that it would stop. That was not an option.
She was not dead.
I knew Simon was not far behind me, launching himself down into the fighting. And I knew—I knew the minute he landed, it would be over for all of us.
Retreat.
I found Vale in the midst of the bloodshed, hacking apart a Rishan rebel who plunged from the sky. I didn’t recognize my own voice when I screamed his name. He turned and took in Oraya and I in less than a second, his brow immediately contorting in grim dread.