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The desperate pulses of magic are much more urgent than his meltdown. I stretch my silks until they form a wavy mass around me, letting me triage every Sentinel on the field at a glance.

Mallory’s metallic power grates my senses the harshest. As death corrupts his soul, iron needles ripple across his skin. Screaming with agony, he swipes at his own arms.

I dart to grab his wrists.

Stopping him almost dislocates my shoulder. Shadows snap to bind him, but a metal spike breaks off and slices across my palm.

“Easy. Easy, Mal.” I keep my voice soft, ignoring the sting to keep contact with his skin. “You remember me.”

As soon as his silks soften, I’m in.

Mallory is only A-class, and his meridians are well-maintained. Pulling out the lich king’s threads is as easy as unraveling a sweater.

All I have to do is tug and ball up the power that doesn’t belong. Mallory happily lets me control his slicing, dicing magic, but as soon as the invading energy is cleared, I push away his overly friendly silks.

“Iris…” Yearning drags out his voice. He totters as he reaches for me.

Before I can bat him away, a shadow mitten bunches his hand and drags it to gag his mouth.

“Help your squad!” I call, already darting to the next Sentinel.

Glenna Goss is a B-class from a lineage of succubi, and her charm is just as bad a match for the lich as Vhex’s hellfire. She lashes herself with her wings and razor-tipped tail. Pain warps her beautiful horns and fangs into a screaming mask.

“Glenna.” I approach slowly, waiting for an opening that doesn’t get me sliced in half.

Vhex charges past me and flying-kicks her to the ground. He steps on her ribcage.

“Stay. Down.” His voice comes out hoarse and deep with dominance.

Even deep in the lich king’s thrall and about to rip off her own wings, she doesn’t lunge at me again.

Glenna trembles under the pressure from Vhex’s superior bloodline.

When I crouch, reaching for her arm, I notice the shadow bandage flexing across my cut palm.

My heart flutters.

I say a silent thank you to Remy and refocus.

Glenna is another easy fix. After her horns shrink and her eyes clear, Vhex lifts his foot. I offer a hand to help her up. She ignores the hand and crab-crawls away from us.

Vhex cracks his knuckles. “Who’s next?”

I sense for a moment, then turn toward the loudest psychic scream. “Sentinel Baruche. Over here.”

Vhex plays bodyguard at my side while Remy’s shadows run interference. Their powers streak back and forth, controlling everyone on the field.

When they work together, no Sentinel has a chance to lash out at me. I sweep through the guard, cleaning up the A-classes who are too strong for the other Guides to handle.

Vhex and Remy seethe with chaotic emotions every time I touch a Sentinel that isn’t them.

But they don’t complain.

Instead of stopping me, instead of holding me back or forcing me down, they get out of my way and help me do what only I can.

Finally, the field falls silent except for a sniffling sob.

With rising dread, I turn to face the sound.

At the center of the platform, Luca weeps around Kevan’s ankles.

My ex looks like a stack of garbage bags, mummified in Remy’s shadows.

Kevan kept me in a drawer like a handful of batteries he could drain and recharge whenever he needed a boost.

Now, there’s nothing I can do for him.

With Vhex and Remy at my back, I look down on Luca. “You need to isolate the threads of death magic that don’t belong.”

“It’s all death magic. It fucking hurts .” Tears drip sideways down his face as he strangles Kevan’s shadow-wrapped ankle.

“It’s not difficult,” I press. “If you work together?—”

“Do it yourself!”

Is he really this weak?

If it were me, Kevan would already be free.

“You imprinted,” I say with more patience than he deserves. “You’re the only one who can save the duke.”

So…

Kevan is toast.

A lot of restless shifting in the Deathguard says I’m not the only one connecting the dismal dots.

As their ranking captain, Tiago steps forward. I meet his gaze, expecting him to step up and take command.

His lip twists as he takes in Luca. Then his expression softens as he turns to me. “What do we do?”

Every Sentinel who used to snub me looks to me to save their ass.

A strange pressure fills my chest. It’s heavy and light at the same time. I’m not sure if I want to cackle or choke.

You want me now?

I shrug. “Kill him?”

Luca gasps. “You bi?—”

A shadow muzzles him just a liiiiiittle harder than necessary, smacking his cheek to the ground.

“Kill them ,” Vhex offers, lifting a fist of flames.

“Not so fast.” I grab his hand to snuff the hellfire. Any other time, I’d let him loose. “We need a safe way to take him out of play. If the lich king possesses Kevan’s body, we’re screwed.”

Death would usually do the job.

Kevan’s undead soul can snap back to the rest of its carefully hidden pieces, which are attached to relics somewhere in his estate. After a few days of coalescing, he always resurrects and zooms right back to tell me how I failed.

I brush off the shadow stroking my cheek. “Is he moving under there?”

“Not a breath,” Remy answers.

Yeah. That’s not good. “What about a heartbeat?”

Remy hesitates, which is answer enough.

If the vampire can’t find your pulse, you’re in deep shit.

I keep a touch on Remy’s power to make sure he doesn’t overextend himself for Kevan.

It’s not worth it.

Baruche, the Sentinel in charge of Deathguard’s teleportation, offers me an actual salute, cupping his palm over his fist. “We can send the duke back to Kyorgos. Distance has solved possessions before.”

It’s not a bad idea, but we don’t have time for much trial and error. I glance at Remy. “Any suggestions from the archives?”

“Just a personal observation,” Remy says, offering a dark smile as his shadows squeeze Kevan’s throat. “If there’s no body, there’s no body to possess.”

“No shit,” Vhex mutters. “The bat speaks the truth.”

Dismembering my ex is a fun fantasy, but I’m not confident we can chop him into small enough pieces.

“We’ve seen bones and ashes responding to the lich king’s call.

We’d better not let him lose a single drop of—” Well, hell.

I turn to Vhex and Remy with a twist in my mouth. “Did you already make him bleed?”

“Gave him some air holes.” Vhex’s shrug flashes his rib-holsters. He’s missing a knife. “But they were cauterized?” he adds thoughtfully.

“Right bicuspid,” Remy drawls.

“So I hit him,” Vhex replies. “I didn’t make him spit the blood. You’re the one who carv?—”

A shadow chokes him off.

“Unimportant,” Remy says and takes my hand. “Whether through blood or other means, Kyorgos is compromised beyond saving.”

Great.

I bet it’s totally a coincidence that the lich king popped up from his nap right after their fight splashed Kevan’s blood-ichor all over the streets.

Unconcerned, Remy plays with my fingers. “What would you like me to do with the body?”

I sigh. “Keep Kevan and Luca bound. We need to?—”

My badge buzzes.

An emergency alert from Cherise.

“The keep. Defenses are failing.” I grab Vhex, ready to wink. “Let’s go.”

“Wait.” Tiago rips the Deathguard badge from Kevan’s uniform. He jogs over, then bows slightly and presents it to me with both hands. “We’ll follow you.”

“Always have,” Mallory adds.

Luca kicks in muffled protest, but the rest of the Deathguard nods or throws salutes.

It’s vindicating but so frustrating.

A nod of approval every so often would’ve been all I needed.

Now, they’re handing me all their expectations after so much shit has hit the fan that it’s raining raisins.

Whatever.

I’ll take a turn using them like they used me.

The Farguard is my priority.

I snatch the badge from Tiago’s hands..

The blue-tinged metal is cold to the touch and shows the Deathguard’s flaming skull emblem. Not so long ago, I would’ve held it like a sacred artifact.

Now, I make a puckered face as I erase Kevan’s weakening mental imprint. Fighting a bit of resistance, I ruthlessly weed out his energy and make my own mark.

As soon as I become the Deathguard’s sword major, a dizzying amount of information whooshes into my head. Before I shut it down, I can’t miss the firm sense of approval beaming at me from every member of the guard.

I’ll never forgive them.

I also won’t let them down.

“Form four squads, one for each defensive tower,” I order the captains. “Take out the horde with the same formations we used during the beast tide at Severed Shore. While you clear the walls, delegate Guides to treat the possessed Farguard Sentinels.”

As the captains regroup the Deathguard, I whirl to Remy. “Can you shadow-walk us all at once?”

“Easily. As long as I have your guidance.”

“You have it.” I’m not letting Remy out of my sight until the lich king is down. “Whenever you’re ready.”

“Wait. This is important.” With zero sense of urgency, Remy peels the Deathguard badge from my fingers. He carefully pins it next to the Farguard’s shield, lining up the angles as his shadows smooth the wrinkles out of my cape.

Then, he steps back to admire his work.

“Done?”

“Close.” With fingers of smoke, Remy lifts my hand to his mouth. His bandages peel back, and he licks the blood off my palm with the flat of his tongue.

Pleasure ripples, hot and ticklish, but I can’t tell if it’s mine or his.

Probably both.

A hot grip tilts my jaw and breaks Remy’s hypnotic gaze.

“I want orders,” Vhex murmurs, drawing closer to my lips. “Tell me where you want me.”

I shiver. Hard.

One word from me, and we can be back in Remy’s bunker with no stress, no responsibilities, and not a single fuck given for the fate of the world.

It should worry me how little they care.

Instead, my jitters calm.

I always care about everyone and everything else. I’ve got that part so under wraps that I’ll never need help.

“Watch my back,” I whisper as I sneak a smoky kiss. Vhex’s fire sparks against my lips. I pull back, trying to lick away his heat, but the tingles sink into my teeth.

“You’re all I ever see.” Vhex’s hands are everywhere. His kiss finds my throat. He mixes soft, longing licks with the scrape of the fang that drives me fucking insane.

“Not now.” I twist from his grip and hope no one catches me holding back a shudder.

I’ll take care of saving the day.

Vhex and Remy only need to care about me.

“Later?” Vhex asks.

Remy takes my hand. “Shall we try to make it sooner?”

I like that plan.

“Don’t forget our bags.” I jerk my chin toward Luca and Kevan. With adrenaline heating my blood, I raise my voice for the guard. “Be ready for the fight.”