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Tess peered up at him, unmoving.

“Not another movement from you,” he snarled.

“You wouldn’t hurt her,” I protested.

His gaze flitted towards me. “Says who?”

Everything felt as if it happened all at once.

Once moment Nik was entirely outnumbered, caught in our web with no reinforcements. In the next moment he slid the sword away from Tess’s throat, nicking the skin and leavinga thin line of blood trickling down her collarbone. Puck and Saanvi had burst through the brush, but so had the rest of the Noctani.

We were now surrounded by them, the cover of darkness making it difficult to see exactly how many of them there were. I did a quick scan, and there had to be at least seven of them. Maybe eight. We were evenly matched.

“You think I’d come here alone?” he asked, his head tilting to the side, his gaze never leaving mine.

“I came to take you back, Diana. And I won’t fail again. You’remine.” His teeth bared, sending a shiver running down my spine.

My palms were slick with sweat, my grip on Stormslayer sliding beneath my clammy hands. Tess still lay against my pack, but Zion had moved slowly in my periphery. He held the bright red antidote in his grip, shielding it from view inside his coat. He nodded towards me, but I didn’t dare shift my gaze from Nikolai.

Annelise was on her feet now, too. Kenna had joined Saanvi, and Amiyah and the shades from the resistance were armed and ready, closing in the perimeter. We were scattered in a circle, holding our collective breath waiting for someone to make the first move.

“You wouldn’t kill me,” Nikolai protested, his eyes narrowed at me, fire brimming within their black depths.

I swallowed hard, a lump in the back of my throat as I spoke. “No, Nikolai. I wouldn’t kill you. I want tosaveyou.”

“Saveme?” He laughed, his head falling back and his eyes closing. His golden hair glimmered beneath the light of themoon, casting him in an eerie glow. “Why would you need to save me, Diana? I haveneverbeen stronger.Neverbeen faster. Never beenmore clear-minded.”

I shook my head, biting my lip against the urge to turn back. I dug my heels into the dirt at my feet, my legs bent, shoulder width apart.

“You aren’t yourself.”

“I’ve never been more myself,” he argued, the sword in his grip slicing down between us.

I shook my head, my magic pressing against me painfully.

I hoped that with our numbers, I wouldn’t have to release it. I wasso closeto being bound once more. From saving Nikolai from being cursed as a Noctani.

Footsteps drew our attention as we all turned towards the figure entering the clearing.

His head was bent, his hair shorn low against his head—but when he lifted his gaze to meet mine—I couldn’t mistake that gaze. Despite it now being swallowed by darkness.

Isaac.

He moved into the center of the clearing, his gaze landing on each of us as he moved forward.

We all remained still. Waiting.

He examined me with a predatory affect, his head bent, his eyes narrowed.

“She’s too dangerous, we can’t risk letting her get away.” When he spoke, his voice was cold.

Jarring.

Nikolai nodded inunderstanding.

It might have been a trick of the light from the moon, or the reflection off the blade he held between us, but I could have sworn his bottom lip quivered. Was he… scared? My gaze met his, but his eyes didn’t betray him.

When Isaac spoke, it broke the unearthly silence that had fallen among us. Broke another piece of me, when I hadn’t thought it was possible to break even more. His words set the Shades in motion, a flurry of flying blades, grunts, and blood.