Page 58 of The Curse of Gods (The Curse of Saints #3)

Will’s lungs burned as he raced through the crowd.

He’d found her. He’d found her, and he would be damned if he lost her now.

“Aya!” He screamed her name again and again, desperation bleeding into his voice as she sent pulse after pulse of lightning into the sky.

He could just make out a cluster of people standing beside her. Her head was tilted back, her eyes fixed on the sky, her arms splayed wide.

He didn’t know why, but the sight filled him with dread.

“Aya!” Her name cracked from him as he ran, his sword swinging with deadly precision toward anyone who dared step in his way.

He had begged like this before. On his knees on the cold streets of Tala when his power had reached for her only to sense nothing at all. On his knees in the throne room in Trahir, when he’d watched that blade enter her chest.

He could not afford to fall to his knees now.

He had found her. He had found her.

His eyes burned against the brilliant flash Aya sent into the sky.

Behind him, he heard Aidon let out a vicious curse. He risked a glance behind him to see his friends following, their blades and affinities flying, keeping his back clear of attack.

“Go!” Aidon shouted as he caught his gaze.

Will pressed forward, his attention darting between the battle and Aya.

Tyr swerved to the left, toward the path that would lead to the citadel’s doors. The wolf let out a long, desperate howl, and Will followed it with another cry of Aya’s name.

Someone lunged for him, but Will’s sword struck true, and when he looked up again, he found Aya staring down at him, her eyes wide.

For a single moment, a single breath, the world stilled to nothing but the two of them.

But then Aya was whirling toward the woman on her right, and a Kakos soldier was diving for Will, and he was thrown back into motion.

I’m here. His heart threw the words into the wind that had begun to stir as he cut down another Kakos soldier, then another. The path began to incline, and he was close enough to the base of the wall now that he couldn’t see Aya anymore.

But it didn’t matter.

He had found her, and he refused to lose her again.

***

Those seconds had felt like an eternity to Aya. The world had gone quiet, the battle fading into nothing as she met Will’s stare.

He was here. He was here .

Aya was wrenched back into reality by Evie’s arm twisting in her grip.

No.

She had been prepared to end this. She had to end this. With the demigod’s power, she could fix the veil. She could make sure the gods never interfered again.

But Evie was ripping her arm away, her eyes fury-bright, and Aya knew she had mere seconds before Evie’s rage consumed her. She flung her palm out, calling her power forward. She did not care which form it took, as long as it found its mark. As long as it bought her time.

But suddenly Aya was being shoved backwards, a hand colliding with her chest and forcing her out of the way. She fell to the ground hard, the world reorienting itself just in time for her to see Lorna wrap her shackled hands around Evie’s neck, steely resolve written on her face.

“No!” Aya gasped. But it was too late. Lorna flung herself through the gap in the wall, dragging Evie down with her.

Gregor roared in fury, and for a moment, Aya could do nothing but watch with the guards and the king as the two women disappeared from view.

Aya’s mind raced, her pulse in her throat. She wasn’t sure such a fall would kill Evie, but she could not stay to find out. Lorna had given her life to buy Aya precious time, and she would not waste it.

Aya snapped into action just as Gregor barreled toward her.

She jumped to her feet, lightning bursting from the center of her palm as she flung her hand toward the king.

The power struck him in the chest, stilling him in his tracks as his eyes widened—the surprise of a quick and far too simple death.

“No!” Dav yelled as he lunged for his king with the guards. Aya didn’t wait to watch them confirm his death.

Aya burst into the inner hall of the fortress, her arms pumping as she sprinted faster than she ever had. Her limbs were weak, her strength not yet regained with Dav’s measly week of training, but she pushed forward, toward freedom.

Toward Will.

The shouts of the guards arose behind her, Dav leading them in their pursuit, but Aya pressed on, reaching deep into her well as she called as much power forward as she could.

Every second she had spent waiting, every moment she had leaned into that control Galda had been trying to drill into her since she was eight years old, every ounce of power she had forced herself not to use—she let it free now.

Her breath punched from her as she focused that power down, through the thick cement walls, through the floors caked with the blood of prisoners who had been tortured here before being shipped to Kakos—the floors where the Vaguer now walked, guided by the man who had stolen her power first.

Down, down, down, to the very bedrock itself.

Aya channeled her Terra affinity into the earth as she ran, her path creating a jagged trail miles below.

It was fitting, perhaps, that this was how she should pay homage to her father.

She ran, and she pushed, and she ran.

The building began to tremble.

The shouts of the guards transformed into cries of fear as the ground shook beneath their feet. And still, Aya ran, dodging a falling piece of cement as she raced through the heart of the citadel. She threw a quick glance over her shoulder to see Dav and the guards scatter to avoid the debris.

Keep going, mi couera. Her father’s voice was a whisper in her ear as she sprinted, her gaze fixed on the soft light from the open double doors that grew closer and closer.

The guards standing just inside the fortress lowered their swords as the building began to shake in earnest. They glanced up, their cries of terror lost to the sound of cement crashing to the floor just before them.

Another piece of the inner citadel wall fell.

Another.

Another.

The guards abandoned their sentry and ran for the doors as the building swayed beneath Aya’s boots. She scrambled to keep purchase as the floor buckled, but she did not release the flow of power she kept channeled into the earth.

She was so close. She could see the clearing beyond the doors, a lone figure and wolf sprinting across it.

The walls groaned, as if resigned to their fate.

Behind her, Dav let out a vicious swear.

Aya put on a final burst of speed, her lungs aching as she threw herself through the doors, her boots hitting the cobbles of the square just as an almighty crack ricocheted through the air.

She saw Will freeze, his sword buried in the stomach of one of the escaping Kakos guards. Terror clouded his face as the ground lurched, sending them both stumbling.

“Aya!”

His scream was lost to the roar of collapsing stone as Aya brought the citadel down.

***

Will froze as a cloud of dust rushed toward him, enveloping Aya entirely.

No.

No.

No.

He didn’t realize he was saying the word aloud until he tasted the soot on his tongue. Will stumbled forward a step, his eyes burning as the citadel continued to crumble.

He couldn’t lose her.

He couldn’t lose her.

He couldn’t—

A body slammed into his, sending him staggering backward. His arms came up instinctively, his chest seizing as they wrapped around the circle of a waist he would know anywhere.

“Aya,” he gasped.

A broken sob wrenched from her as she squeezed him tighter, her arms thrown around his neck.

“Aya.”

Her name tumbled from his lips again and again as he hugged her to him fiercely, one arm around her waist, the other on the back of her head. Dust continued to rain down on them; dust, and debris, and gods knew what else, and Will could do nothing but hold her tightly and shield her head and wait .

For once, it wasn’t an agony.

She was here. She was here, in his arms, and if the world didn’t feel like it was ending around them, he might just think it was a dream.

“I’ve got you,” he breathed against her ear, holding her as tightly as he could. “I promise, I’ve got you.”

It felt like an eternity before the roaring finally ceased, dust floating in the air as an unnatural stillness descended on Sitya. Will cupped Aya’s cheek, forcing her back so he could see her face, so he could prove to himself that this was real.

That she was real.

She was covered in soot, from her brown hair to her lashes to the wretched navy uniform she wore, but it was her blue eyes staring back at him, light like the ice patches on the creeks of the Malas, and it was her skin beneath the dirt and grime.

He could feel the warmth of it as he ran his thumb across her cheek, his forehead pressing against hers as he tried to breathe.

“I—” she tried, but words seemed to fail her as tears spilled over her cheeks.

He didn’t need them, anyway.

Will pressed his lips to hers in answer, uncaring about the dirt covering them both, and he poured every ounce of the words he couldn’t find either into his kiss, his voice rendered entirely useless by her presence.

I love you. I love you. I love you.

A low growl sounded from beside them. Will reluctantly pulled away to see Tyr in guarding position, his ears flattened as he looked toward the docks.

Another broken sound wrenched from Aya, her hand reaching for her bonded. She fell to her knees, and Will went with her, his arm still locked around her waist as she placed a trembling hand on Tyr’s shoulder.

“He’s…”

“Alive,” Will filled in when her voice broke. He could feel tremors racking through her, and he wasn’t sure if they were emotion or a consequence of the power she had just wielded. Either way…

“I promise to explain everything,” Will said, his grip tightening on her waist. “But we need to go.”

The citadel had bought them maybe a few minutes of distraction. He was not fool enough to believe the fighting had ceased. Already, he could hear shouts coming from the docks.

He swallowed roughly, his mouth going dry as he thought of their friends.

Gods, he hoped they’d gotten clear of the destruction.

He looked back to Aya, but she was staring past him, her lips parted in disbelief.

Will turned to see two wolves walking through the haze of debris. Behind them, soot-covered but very much alive, were Aidon and Liam.

Aidon broke into a run as soon as he saw them. Will helped Aya to her feet, his arm remaining protectively around her as she swayed.

Gods. She’d…she’d destroyed the citadel. The realization hadn’t quite dawned on him until now, now that he had her in his arms and could see the toll such a feat of power had taken on her.

Aidon skidded to a halt just before them, eyes wide as he took them both in. He reached for Aya, his fingers nudging her chin as he gave her a watery smile. “Fucking hells,” he swore wetly. “You just had to tear down a building, didn’t you?”

Will waited for Aya’s response, but it didn’t come. He glanced down to find her blinking at Aidon, her gaze hazy.

Liam caught up to them, frowning at Aya’s unsteadiness. Aya didn’t even acknowledge him.

“Is she dead?” she asked instead. She swayed again, and Will moved with her, his grip tightening.

“Who, Aya love?” Will prodded.

She blinked once more, as if trying to clear her mind.

“The demigod,” she rasped.

It was the last thing she said before her body went entirely limp in his arms.