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“Wait here,” Evrardin said as he unsheathed his sword.

“No. I’m coming with you.”

Evrardin growled in his chest. “This isn’t up for debate.”

Mara squeezed the dagger in her hand. “No?” She grinned. Before Ev had a chance to deter her, she took off and darted into the cathedral, Evrardin hot on her heels.

“ Liten rev ,” he swore like a condemnation.

Mara gasped when she entered the large room, the Sun Sect gathered around a fallen crane which she assumed was the creature Cas had mutilated into. They appeared too busy with the commotion to notice the two of them.

“The gods abandoned humans for good reason,” a dark-haired man who looked an awful lot like Acastus chimed.

Mara’s attention shifted to the speaker.

“That’s the svik ,” Ev told her.

“If we kill him, will that stop the connection between this realm and the Veil?”

Evrardin took a moment to think. “I don’t know. Maybe. But we need to do something to cut off the Sun Warriors' power.”

“Looks like we don’t have any other choice, then.”

Evrardin told Mara to stay back as he began to approach the human svik . A member of the Sun Sect, Lord Alfson, moved to halt him.

“Out of my way,” Evrardin demanded.

“I don’t think so, Captain.”

“You do realize the reason your prince is on the ground is because of this… thing .” Evrardin gestured his sword at the svik .

“That may be so, but Kairth has been restored. Power brought back to the Sun Sect from the connection this svik brought. We owe him a great deal.”

“So, you don’t care about the thousands of people the warriors will desecrate?” Evrardin asked, astonished. Everyone knew Lord Alfson was malignant, but he never would have predicted this. Not of such a holy man.

“If that’s the cost, so be it.”

“Don’t make me cut you down, too, Eldric,” Evrardin threatened.

Lord Alfson grinned, the rest of the Sun Sect coming to his aid.

Evrardin’s eyes darted to Mara’s frame as she attempted to move stealthily along the flank of the room, weaving between pews, edging her way toward Acastus.

Eldric followed his eyes, a sly smirk forming on his rotten face. “I don’t think so, Princess,” he said with disdain.

Eldric moved to approach Mara, the Sun Sect surrounding Evrardin in an attempt to arrest him.

“Do not touch her,” he growled.

Lord Alfson turned back to Ev, his eyes glazed over with corruption, just the way Cas’ had begun to look. “You think you can stop us now? After our lineage has become so powerful again?”

“Why don’t you come over here and find out,” Evrardin goaded.

Lord Alfson bellowed, mocking him.

Evrardin grunted as he swung his sword wildly, knocking back several members of the Sun Sect. Evrardin was just a mortal man, but the rage that had been welling inside him for years had finally been set free. He was able to let it out, the toxins fleeing his system. His sword clashed against another, sending the man stumbling back. He jutted forward, plunging the tip into the high priest, a shriek leaving his lips.

Lord Alfson looked astonished, bewildered by the brute force. “Captain, you’re too late. There is no point in this.”

Evrardin didn’t acknowledge him, his sword moving from one body to the next, blood pooling on the ground in a mirror to the Hallowed Cistern. Red starbursts splayed across Evrardin’s armor and skin, his eyes furious, slaughtering anyone who stepped in his way.

His mind only halted when a feminine voice finally cut through to him. “Evrardin!”

He stopped, yanking the sword from the entrails of his final victim, his eyes glaring at Lord Alfson, standing stunned. If Eldric was a smarter man, he would have run when he had the chance.

Evrardin’s eyes flickered over to Maralena, her hands clutched around one of Acastus’. With his attention on Mara, Lord Alfson set to flee, the only option to dart around the austere captain. But that was his fatal mistake. Evrardin spun on his heels so fast that Eldric didn’t have time to react, the blade of his sword already slicking through the sinewy threads of his neck, severing it completely from his shoulders in one swift swing.

Mara cried out in shock, her eyes watering. Evrardin bolted to her side, collapsing on his knees, his entire demeanor shifting. He expected her to cower away from him in horror at the carnage he was the root of, but instead, she leaned into him, the blood on his armor soaking her clothes. “Are you okay?” he asked her breathlessly.

She nodded against him.

Both their attentions were pulled down to the dying crane before them as he laughed breathily. “I was right,” he screeched. Acastus’ eyes moved between his once friend and wedded wife, almost happy to see the way they clutched one another. “I’m sorry,” Acastus said, his gaze solely on Evrardin.

Ev didn’t speak. Didn’t move a muscle, just stared at the feathered mess that he once called his friend—though, that was many years ago.

“I don’t expect you to forgive me, Ev.” Acastus began to sit up, his body groaning.

Evrardin sucked in a rapid breath when Mara reached out to make it easier for Acastus to sit up. How she could find the sympathy to help this man who uprooted her life and made it a living hell, he did not know.

“Was it worth it?” Ev whispered.

Acastus’ eyes met his in shock, frozen at his words.

Loud, echoing stomps ricocheted through the cathedral, Evrardin instinctively reaching out for Mara. “It’s them,” he said solemnly. It was the Sun Warriors. They would soon reap whatever destruction the svik commanded.