Page 42

ELIAS

T he second her body collides with mine, it’s like the whole godsdamn world rights itself.

Kaia’s shaking, clutching that crystal like her life depends on it—and maybe it fucking does. Her scent is everywhere, wild and electric, full of blood and magic and defiance. I bury my face in her hair, holding her tighter than I probably should, but fuck it—I almost lost her. Again.

"You got it?" I rasp against her temple, voice wrecked, breath catching in my chest.

She nods once, and it’s like something inside me finally exhales.

But there’s no time. No time to fall apart or hold her like I want to or promise her every goddamn thing she deserves.

Because the Veil’s splintering faster now. I can feel it. Like the world’s spine is snapping right down the middle, ready to bleed into chaos.

And the Order?

They’re not about to sit back and let it happen.

"Then let’s end this," I growl, stepping back enough to look her in the eye.

Golden-amber, blazing with pain and stubborn hope.

We move fast, ducking back through the ruins as the coalition pushes hard against the Order’s final defenses.

Magic whips through the air, hot and vicious.

I catch a flash of Sonya flinging an enforcer across the courtyard with a flick of her wrist. A shifter in his wolf form tears into another guard’s throat.

It's brutal.

It’s beautiful.

It’s survival.

Kaia presses the Veil Heart to her chest as we run, the crystal pulsing with a slow, heavy beat that syncs with her magic—and fuck if it doesn’t make my own power rear up in response. Like the wildness in my blood knows what’s coming. Like it’s been waiting for this moment too.

We slip down an alley between the fallen walls of the east tower. It's quieter here. Too quiet.

I slow, instincts prickling. "Something’s wrong."

Kaia whirls around, scanning the shadows. "Trap?"

"Or worse," I mutter.

Then the ground shudders.

I shove Kaia behind me just as a rune explodes from the broken stones, white-hot light blinding, pressure slamming into my chest. Wards. Ancient ones.

Fuck.

A squad of black-cloaked Order hunters steps out of the smoke, weapons drawn. Their armor gleams, etched with sigils meant to neutralize magic, to cage beings like me. Like Kaia.

"Hand it over," the leader sneers, his voice low and mean. "You can still walk away."

Kaia steps up beside me, chin lifted, shoulders squared. "Not a fucking chance."

I’m so goddamn proud I could burn this place down with it.

The lead hunter sneers at her. "You’re no better than them now, little girl. Might as well put a collar around your own neck."

Kaia’s smile is razor sharp. "Come try."

I don’t even wait for the command. I shift, partially—fangs elongating, strength surging—and we tear into them.

Kaia moves like a storm, magic sparking from her fingertips, blades flashing in each hand. She’s pure fucking chaos, and I swear to every god that ever breathed, she’s the most terrifying, beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.

I rip through two hunters, shoving another into the ward rune and watching him convulse under his own magic.

But they just keep coming.

Kaia shouts something, my name—but I’m locked in a grapple with a hulking bastard built like a brick wall. His blade scrapes across my ribs, biting deep, but I twist and snap his neck with a snarl and drain him lifeless, fueling my own power and need.

I turn just in time to see another hunter grab Kaia from behind, wrenching her back, a blade pressed to her throat.

"No!" My voice rips from me.

She struggles, eyes wide, fury and fear flaring across her face—but she’s trapped. For now.

"You think you can win?" the leader sneers, advancing on me, sword gleaming with the same golden rot that pulses from the citadel. "The Veil’s going to fall either way. All you're doing is choosing how ugly it gets."

Rage tears through me, red and blinding.

Not her.

Not Kaia.

Not today.

I pull the darkness up from my core, the blood magic, the rage, the power that terrifies even me. It explodes outward in a wave of force, slamming the hunters backward like rag dolls.

The one holding Kaia flies into the broken stone, bones crunching on impact.

Kaia scrambles up, panting, eyes burning gold.

"You okay?" I rasp, staggering to her.

She grabs my face in both hands, trembling, but nodding.

"I’m fine. You?"

I grin, blood dripping from my mouth. "Never better."

We don’t wait.

We bolt.

The Veil Heart pulses harder against Kaia’s chest as we race through the last halls toward the courtyard where the coalition is pushing into the final breach.

But every step feels heavier.

Every breath feels like it could be the last.

And deep down, I know, this is it.

One way or another, this is the beginning of the end.

For the Order.

For the world.

For us.

I glance at Kaia as we run, my heart splitting wide open inside me.

I’m not losing her.

Not to the Order.

Not to the Veil.

Not to fate.

I already made my choice.

I’ll pay any price to make sure she survives.

Even if it costs me everything and I hope she understands when I have to bind my soul to hers to keep me, and the world, from losing her.