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Until the earsplitting sound of metal scraping stone caught my attention.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lorien backing Aleks against the wall. Aleks managed to duck a second swing—leading to another cringe-induing slice of steel across the stone wall—but Lorien followed with magic, this time, launching an assault of shadowy daggers with a wide sweep of Grimnor’s blade.

Aleks fell to one knee, hastily bracing Luminor in front of him. As he was swept up in the storm of sharp shadows colliding with his shield of light, our enemy turned and moved back toward me.

Spotting the currents of magic I was attempting to channel, Lorien paused.

And he laughed.

“That won’t be enough to save your dying world, you foolish woman.”

“Then why do you look so concerned about me doing it?” I shot back.

His darkly amused tone held as he took a few more steps toward me and said, “Habit, I suppose. It’s such a pity for one of our kind to waste their energy on something so trivial; I’m only looking out for you.”

“I have plenty more energy to spare,” I lied, letting more shadows bleed from my skin to prove my point.

“And yet, I can’t help my concernfor you.”

His gaze fell far too intimately on my face with the words, and I resisted the urge to recoil. He was only trying to get under my skin, I knew.

I wouldn’t let him.

He kept trying. His next words were a whisper in my thoughts, an attempt to exploit the Vaeloran link we shared, as he’d done this morning. I blocked him out well enough that I couldn’t understand what he was saying, but the mumble of his words was like a physical prodding against my mind, sharp enough to be painful along with unsettling.

“Stop it,” I commanded, my shadows darkening with the words.

He gave me a crooked smile—the one I had associated with Zayn for so long.

How many had he charmed with that stolen smile?

My hatred for him only grew at the sight of it, and he must have sensed this, because his tone became mocking as he said, “The offer to rule alongside me still stands, by the way.”

“I would kill myself a thousand times over before I ruled at your side.”

He chuckled. “Once will suffice.”

I braced a hand against the Aetherstone as he stepped closer. And without really thinking, I squeezed.

The Stone reacted to my violent grip by sending an equally violent surge of magic shooting into my body. Reflexes channeled it into a javelin of shadows, which I flung from my other hand, striking Lorien in the chest and knocking him backward.

Grimnor nearly slipped from his grasp as he caught himself awkwardly against the ground. I saw my chance, but I was dizzy from the amount of power that had just rushed through me—my attempt to repossess my sword came too slowly.

He gripped it tighter and launched toward me.

Aleks cut him off once more, exploding through the lingering shadows I’d created, Luminor’s blade burning brightly as it slammed into its darker twin.

“Eyes on me, motherfucker,” he growled at Lorien, his expression bordering on feral—a look that was only heightened by the blood trickling down his face.

Lorien staggered beneath the force of the collision. He tried to rebalance Grimnor, to ready his own attack, but Aleks was relentless, forcing him to move so quickly he scarcely managed to block, much less attack.

“Didn’t you hear her earlier?” Another powerfulswishandthwackof Luminor and its light, knocking Lorien further off balance. “We’re bothfinishedwith you.”

Lorien met the next swing more fully, letting out an annoyed roar as he began to fight back in earnest. He dove under the next swipe, and then cut upward with Grimnor, sending a current of both light and shadow flying upward.

Aleks danced back and away, narrowly avoiding another shower of shadowy daggers.

They resumed their battle on the other side of the room. Aleks seemed to be purposely leading him away from me and the Stone—but I found myself torn between continuing my work with that stone and chasing them down.