Page 256 of Shadowblood Souls: The Complete Series

Maybe sensing my intentions, Nadia sends out another searing blast of light before the blotches have faded from my vision from the last time. I freeze with my hand against the wall, pained tears welling in my eyes as I struggle to see.

Her voice reaches me again, ragged and trembling. “You said we were blood. You said you’d save us.”

I swallow thickly, the guilt that hit me before expanding through my abdomen. There’s nothing I can say that will persuade her to back down.

So I might as well be as honest as I can be.

I pitch my voice to carry, though my throat is getting scratchy from the smoke.

“I hate that I couldn’t save all of you.

I tried so hard… But being blood doesn’t mean you always have to stand with someone if they’re doing things you can’t accept.

Balthazar was my father , but he was trying to ruin the whole world.

I couldn’t live with myself if I let that happen. ”

Nadia lets out a sound that’s both choked and derisive. “Like you’ve never hurt anyone? I’ve seen what you can do with your scream.”

I wet my lips. “I realize that I’ve hurt a lot of people. You know…”

The memory that wells up in my head brings a sharper pang of pain, but I push myself onward. “I almost killed myself . I was afraid I was going to lash out and hurt people I didn’t want to, and in that moment, I thought maybe it’d be better if I was dead. If I couldn’t stop otherwise.”

“But you’re still here. Why did you change your mind about yourself, but you’re taking us out?”

My mouth twists with a bittersweet smile. “I realized there was more to me than the anger and the brutality. I cared about people, and people cared about me.”

Nadia scoffs raggedly. “You think I don’t?”

“We tried to give you that chance. When you were in the hall here, you walked right past that little girl while she cried out without even stopping to see what was going on. You?—”

Nadia breaks in with an urgent note in her voice. “What little girl? What are you talking about? Did you hurt an actual kid ?”

I hesitate. Did she really not notice Andreas’s projected memory?

I guess it’s possible the impression didn’t quite penetrate her awareness, if she was hyper-focused on Cutler and his goals. I can’t remember exactly how close to the doorway she was—she might not have been in a position to see much of anything. And she walked into the gymnasium almost immediately.

She sounds as if she cares now. Like she has a conscience.

Maybe we could have saved her after all. And here I am stalking her, waiting to murder her.

“No,” I say. “We didn’t hurt anyone. It was a test to see how you’d all react. Some of your friends went to go help her, and they’re going to live.”

There’s a momentary pause. But Nadia spits out her next words. “You’re lying. You’re trying to distract me, mess with my head so you can kill me now. I’m not going to let you. Cutler was right—Cutler had a plan. I won’t let you use him either!”

Before I can fully process what she means, a figure dashes into the range of my mottled vision, racing toward Cutler’s slumped body with a metal shard gleaming in her hand.

Nadia’s going to kill him and destroy all hope of us stopping the rogues for good.

Without thinking, I shove myself toward her, my supernatural speed thrumming through my legs. Light explodes from Nadia’s body, blinding me all over again, but I’m already in motion.

The thud of her footsteps guides me. I’m at least twice as fast as her—I hurl myself into her taller frame before she’s within reach of Cutler.

We roll over on the floor, my head jarring against the linoleum. The razor edge of Nadia’s makeshift dagger rakes against my arm.

Her face appears blurrily above me. She’s raised her hand, the metal shard clutched in it, her face contorted with anger—and desperation.

In the second before she drives the blade downward, my shriek leaps up from my lungs. But my throat constricts around it.

There’s hope for her. She was worried about the little girl.

Sorsha and Jacob will have heard that too—if I sacrifice myself, maybe they can save her after all. I’ll have saved her.

The thought passes through my head, and the rest of my body balks.

No.

I want to live too. I want to save myself. I’ve fought so hard for my freedom, for the love I wasn’t sure I’d ever recover, and I deserve it just as much as anyone.

The thud of the door crumpling all the way to the floor makes Nadia flinch. Her hand wavers and then jabs downward.

And I hear Zian’s and Dominic’s voices carrying through the room.

There’s still a chance.

I open my mouth and scream.

The sound tears into Nadia’s body just as her blade nicks my throat. Her arm shudders and jerks to the side with a crack of bone.

Her other hand lights up where it’s braced against me. The searing pain that comes with her glow in close contact lances through my shoulder into the rest of my frame.

But I already knew it wouldn’t be enough just to break her outer body if I wanted to stay alive.

The agony of the burn makes my breath shudder, but I push a sharper scream from my throat and slam my power right into her brain.

Nadia’s eyes roll up. The vicious glow she was generating fades from her skin as she tumbles off me.

My muscles trembling, I heave myself over and touch her throat. Her pulse stutters on erratically.

I think she’s technically braindead—I couldn’t risk leaving her conscious when all she needs to do to set off her power is think—but she’s alive.

“Dom!” I shout. “You’ve got to heal her. We need Andreas to wipe her mind. We need?—"

Dominic drops down beside me. He sets his hand on my back while his tentacles reach toward Nadia. “I’ve got it. We can do this. You did it.”

He raises his head to look toward Zian, who’s come to a stop partway into the room in full wolf-man morph. “Go get Andreas. The others can wait a few minutes.”

As Zian dashes back out through the ruined doorway, Sorsha sways to her feet behind her toppled column. I try to smile at her and only manage a cough.

A shiver passes through my shoulders. Gripping Nadia’s hand, I turn to Dominic. “You need energy. You can take some of mine. I don’t want to lose her.”

“I know. You won’t have to.” Dom presses a brief but emphatic kiss to my temple. “It’s all right now, Riva. It’s over.”