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You can survive without breathing, she reminded herself as she wheezed. Only to feel the panic in her bloodstream when she could not.

It will heal.

You cannot die.

Naia mustered all her willpower and inched forward, her body lethargic from the blood loss. An intense heat stung her eyes, but she could see it. A monster of vivid orange flames devoured the brewery.

The breath evaporated from her lungs. The air polluted with smoke. As the fire blazed brightly, the floating figures of nightrazers swooped down from the night.

It rained blood.

With the burning windows as their backdrop, the Blood Heretics skillfully scaled down from the top story, leaving behind a trail of smoke and ash. From the warehouse, they poured out, some emerging from a secret door beneath a willow tree on the property.

The sphere-shaped objects soared like small meteors and detonated, one after another, in a downpour of blood. Pellets hit the top of Naia’s head, dripped between her eyes, and over her lips. The rush of copper twisted her stomach.

Naia had not considered the grim aftermath of the bombs, with his blood scattered everywhere; of Ronin sitting in his office, bleeding to supply all the bombs.

She dug her fingertips into the gravel to ground herself as the taste of iron seeped into her mouth, hitting the back of her throat. Her muscles were rigid and the purple blotches infecting her vision expanded.

Breathe.

She sucked in a deep breath until oxygen touched every inch of her lungs. The sensation fought away her lightheadedness.

Find him.

She fisted her gloved hands and climbed up.

Screams rang out as nightrazers tormented the area. Against the darkness, their phantom forms blended seamlessly, barely distinguishable. The sickening sound of tearing flesh and bodies hitting the ground from the top floor of the crumbling brewery accompanied the sight of them whirling and writhing like serpents in a deadly dance. They were careful to avoid the fire, as it was their enemy. Those caught in the blood bombs crossfire lagged, proof it affected them.

Naia reached for her hairpin as a reflex, only to remember she was no longer in possession of Wren. Vex had stolen it.

A lump swelled in her throat.

I am useless.

Chaos ensued around her, accompanied by the bone-chilling screams of the victims, leaving her uncertain of their fate.

I am weak.

Their enemy was practically invincible?—

Unless she could find Marina and take her out.

Keep him safe.

The pain receded in her chest, and she sprinted towards the burning building.

Any slight movement in her peripheral vision had her instinctively ducking and swerving. The nightrazers were circling vultures.

As Naia lost hope, a woman less than a yard away let out a furious scream and thrusted her arms up. The movement lifted the blinding wall of the flames eating the brewery and slashed them across the dark sky, burning the nightrazers to cinders. Their collective screeches echoed in sweet harmony.

The woman heaved her arm out again.

One after another, the Blood Heretics banded together and mirrored her movements until the midnight sky was painted in bright blue and tangerine flames.

All around them, nightrazers wailed in agony as they withered into dust.

One slithered through a crack of the fire and dove straight for the woman.