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Nyx made a turn, coming around again, and then a magically amplified voice rang out over the chaos.

“If you want your blood, come and get him.” A fae stood in the middle of an army of undead.He raised his hands, directing a hoard of them to fan out, revealing what lay beyond them.

My heart stopped in my chest.

Kol was bound to a pillar on a platform, unconscious and surrounded by dozens of sacks of Dragon’s Bane, which sat among piles of hay. He was alone there, singled out, with no sign of his ryder Elvar or the rest of the flight. They were likely already turned. He was bait. Then the fae snapped his fingers, and a spark fell onto the hay.

“Nyx!” I screamed.

If Kol didn’t burn alive, he would surely die from the Dragon’s Bane.

Nyx nearly fell out of the sky. He’d seen what I had, and he dove for Kol.

If he could get there before the entire thing went up, he could pull Kol out.

Another snap rang out, crackling through the air, and the entire platform went up, engulfing Kol and all the Dragon’s Bane. A cloud of smoke exploded from the middle, throwing the fumes out. They’d charged it and turned my wonderful friend into their weapon.

“Kol!” Nyx roared. Fire spilled from his mouth and rained over the ground beneath us as he banked steeply to save us from the explosion.

He flew furiously, coming around to pass over the scene again. The smoke was so thick he couldn’t get near, but even from here, I could see Kol was beyond saving.

“Nyx,” I warned.

“I have to get him.”

“You can’t save him,”I pleaded. He wasn’t seeing reason.

“He’s dying.”

Kol was gone. Nyx just hadn’t accepted it yet. I had to stop him from sending us to the Goddess with him, so I fought him the only way I knew how—with our magic.

It had to be enough.

SIXTY-THREE

NYX

Igrabbed at Kol’s threads, but they slipped through my grasp. There were too many of them. Too many to keep hold of. His lifeline hung, barely thrumming in my mind. He was so close to death but too far for me to reach.

I wasn’t in control of my own form. My wings wouldn’t listen, and the fumes were already approaching. I fought harder to get to him, and then I realized what held me back.

Since our full meld, Zaria’s power had multiplied. She pulled as I pushed, thwarting all of me.

“Nyx...” The word was soft, but it cut like a knife.

“I have to get his body. I have to go get his fucking body.”

“You can’t. You will die.”

Grief gripped me.

I shook with it.

I lost myself to it.

SIXTY-FOUR

ZARIA