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Skye’s blood howled at him for more—more death, more blood, more pain, more punishment.

Kill, kill, kill…

But he straightened, breath ragged. And with a vicious kick, he crushed the Sanctifier’s skull beneath his boot.

Bone crunched. The cobbles shattered from the force.

“Now, I’m done,” Skye muttered with a glance at Ivain, and moved towards the only thing that could ground him right now. Taly. Kneeling beside her, he stood guard as Aiden tried to calm her with a soothing spell and the Lowborn woman dripped pain potion into her mouth.

Ivain’s steps were slow, measured. His boots tracked through blood as if it were nothing. He eyed what remained of the Sanctifiers, now shuffling backward. None of them were particularly strong individually. Numbers had always been their greatest strength.

His attention finally settled on Taly. Her eyes were closed, her breathing too shallow. Her body was a mess of torn flesh, exposed wounds, and thorns embedded deep.

Ivain merely pointed and said with deathly calm, “Who did this?”

A man stepped forward, face bruised and swollen beyond recognition. But Skye knew him.

“Him’s the man that tortured her,” Ren said, pointing to one of the armored figures trembling in a line.

“Very well then,” Ivain answered solemnly.

There was no rush, no wasted motion—only patience and the restraint of certainty. The Sanctifier swallowed, realizing too late what approached. A giant of a man dressed in full armor, and yet he still looked strangely frail next to Ivain.

Ivain ripped the glamoured hood off the Sanctifier with a flash of aether. The man beneath the shadows was Highborn, surprisingly average, with bland features and a cruel expression.

“Hold him,” Ivain ordered, and two Gate Watchers stepped up. He leaned close, voice low, cold as the grave. “This will hurt.”

A faint glow pulsed at his fingertips as he pressed his hand to the man’s face, fingers splaying wide.

The crowd fell silent.

The Sanctifier gasped—then choked. His skin drained of color, his veins paling beneath the surface. As if somethingvitalwas being siphoned away.

Skye’s smile was nothing short of feral. This was justice. For the Fey, aether was everything. Even their souls were made of magic. He’d never seen a mage’s anima ripped from their body. It was the most severe form of punishment.

It didn’t take long. Ivain stepped away. The Watchers restraining the Sanctifier released their grip, letting the body tumble to the ground.

“Let this be a warning,” Ivain announced to the crowd, perfectly composed despite what he now held in his hand. A man’s soul. Ripples of his own violet aether snaked around the blue haze, keeping it grounded in their reality. “This is my island, and if anyone, for any reason, everlays another hand on this woman,thisis what will happen.”

And with that, the cloud of aether exploded outward, prickling in the air as the individual motes sparked, dispersed, and gradually faded.

The crowd gave a collective gasp. Ivain hadn’t just killed the man. Death would’ve been a kindness compared to what he’d just done.

He’d taken his soul and scattered it to the winds. He’d destroyed the person so completely, so thoroughly that there would be no trace of the individual left to find peace in the afterlife.

Two eternities—both extinguished in an instant.

The silence was absolute. The crowd, frozen in place, didn’t so much as breathe as the last wisps of the man’s soul dissolved into nothing.

“I’ve meted out my justice,” Ivain said with a glance at Skye. “The rest are yours. Avenge your mate as you see fit.”

Skye’s expression was carefully blank as he observed Taly. She was his priority now. “Let Sarina have them,” he said, and Sarina smiled. A cruel, terrible thing beaming through the flames that sprang to life all around her.

Ana swung off her cloak. He allowed her to wrap it around Taly’s body before kneeling to lift her.

“Wait.” The word was a rasp, barely more than a whisper. Taly’s eyes cracked open, slits of pain-filled gray. “I need to do something first.”

Carefully, Skye helped her up. She stumbled. He and Aiden both reached for her, but she waved them off.