Page 109 of The Last One Standing (Rogue X Ara #4)

ARA

S omething was wrong.

The blood oath pulled too much, and I couldn’t keep up.

When Auryna’s cavalry crested the northern foothills, I managed to get on my feet, my limbs weak and head fuzzy.

Pain radiated in my gut and throbbed in my temples. I rubbed my forehead with my good hand, the other still numb.

But Rogue?—

He stood tall. He wasn’t pale.

It worked.

I released a breath. I’d give him every ounce of life I had as long as it kept him alive.

Summoning my strength, I reached for more power. I latched onto a dozen humans, and white bolts formed between us, sizzling with each pulse as I pulled and pulled.

They dropped dead.

The energy didn’t touch the fatigue.

A sob crawled up my throat as I called the lightning anyway.

The bolts struck hard and fast, cutting Auryna’s cavalry in half. The rest of the mounted riders surged forward, crashing into the fray with blades drawn.

My eyes widened, horror curling in my gut.

Our soldiers fought for their kingdom, for safety and peace, and they deserved it. After everything Ravaryn had been through, they all deserved it, and we would take it on this field tonight, by any means necessary.

Yet, a large portion of Auryna’s men probably fought for similar reasons—duty, honor, justice, perhaps even prejudice—but their beliefs were built on lies, born of ignorance, undeserving loyalty, or naivety.

Those who did understand, who realized Ravaryn was not the aggressor, couldn’t leave. Adonis made sure of that with his bloodthirsty horde, all too happy to devour anyone who tried.

I grimaced, eyes and throat burning.

They were his lambs led to slaughter, the Puer Mortis his fence, and we were the unwilling butchers.

He forced us to fight for our lives, for all of Ravaryn.

Just like his men, we had no choice.

It was fight or die.

But Rogue was tearing down that fence. With every creature he felled, more of Adonis’s men slipped through the cracks at the edges of the battlefield—and he didn’t kill the human men that rushed him.

I sucked in a sharp breath as fierce, raw pride clenched my chest, twisting my disgust for Adonis into seething rage.

Rogue Draki, the enemy king, valued their lives more than their own ruler ever did.

I valued them too, but if forced to choose between their lives and preserving the power needed to sustain Rogue, it would always be them.

It was my turn to carry the weight of killing, so Rogue could be spared the burden.

I scanned the battlefield for Adonis.

He called Rogue the “Coward King,” but Adonis never showed his face, never stood alongside his dying men. He didn’t fight his own battles. He let others wield the weapons until his captives were in chains. Only then did he swoop in to taunt and torture.

He spent the last thirty years hiding behind glamours, buried in tunnels and dungeons, locked away in his castle.

No more.

It was time someone dragged him into the light and made him fight for once in his fucking life.

This would be the first and last battle he’d ever have to face.

I sent my magic out, its feelers searching the field again, their camp, the beach beyond, and the surrounding forest.

Fury boiled under my skin.

He wasn’t here.

Where would he go? His entire plan hinged on this night with these weapons in our hands.

No, he wouldn’t flee.

He was simply biding his time, tucked away somewhere safe like the coward he was—because he was vulnerable.

I’d cut every thread Severance revealed to me, severing his link to Calypso, to the Goddess, to his immortality.

He was mortal.

And he knew it.

My heart pumped wildly.

I palmed Sacrifice at my hip, its red light slipping through my fingers, whispering of death and mayhem, of freedom.

My fingers tightened around the metal.

One cut. That’s all it would take.

I scanned the battlefield again and found Rogue. He caught my eye and gave me a small dip of his chin just as a Puer Mortis lunged at him.

My heart jumped.

I moved without thinking, but Rogue struck first, Severance cutting straight through the creature’s heart.

Gus fought mere feet behind Rogue, coated in blood but brandishing his sword well.

Lee had resigned to dual daggers and used his brute strength to pummel through those who came at him, swiping, hitting, tossing.

Edana carved a path into the heart of the field, swords and hands flaming. Her phoenyx protected her back while a trail of corpses burned in her wake.

Drakyth mauled man after man in his dragon form, two arrows protruding from his back. Several long gashes marred his hips and legs, but he continued with teeth and claws.

Suddenly, the sea broke open, and a beast emerged from it—a wyrm. It had no wings or limbs, just smooth scales and a long, sinuous body that rose out of the water, fangs bared.

With a loud bellow, it snaked across the beach, tearing into the back ranks of the human army.

A female figure trailed behind it, eyes shining a cool blue-white in the darkness.

Iaso stood on the ridge with me, vines curled around her legs and eyes molten as she whispered, “Calypso.”

She hadn’t abandoned us after all.

A smile tugged at my lips as I turned my focus to Delphia and Thana, but it quickly fell.

They weren’t on the field, nor in either camp.

I expanded my search, heart pounding, and found them both at the treeline to the south.

With another burst of energy I didn’t have, lightning raced across the sky, and I shot my hand up. When it struck, I held and went with it.

Seconds later, I dropped at the edge of the forest. Splitting pain stabbed my temples, and I swayed, staggering a few steps.

Too far.

I’m too far from Rogue, and his wound… Hurry.

We have to hurry.

I rubbed my forehead and looked up. Two souls stood between me and the women, one large and winged, and the other?—

I stifled a choked cry. Doran stood before Adrastus, chin high and sword drawn. Behind him, Delphia dragged Thana’s limp body, leaving a trail of blood in the snow. Silent tears poured down Delphia’s cheeks, her face a solid mask of…nothingness.

Adrastus glanced over his shoulder at me with a laugh, and it grated my already frayed nerves.

Energy sizzled across my irises, matched by another crack of lightning.

I was tired of these fucking men—selfish, delusional, vile men who wouldn’t stay down, even when they were already fucking dead.

I stalked forward, sparks climbing my form. Another burst of pain cracked in my skull, my vision blurring, causing me to miss a step, but a hand caught my elbow.

Another soul.

I stilled when I met Evander’s gaze.

He helped me steady myself on my feet. My throat clogged with a hot knot and the words I didn’t have time to say.

“Thank you,” I managed. For this. For everything.

Another stab of pain.

I blinked and turned to Delphia and Thana.

Adrastus scowled. “Not that I need to explain myself to my son’s whore—a mutt, at that—but this bitch killed me. It’s my right to break her however I see fit.”

A mutt.

Energy pulsed beneath my skin, hot and angry. “You have a right to go rot with the rest of your bones, you evil piece of shit.”

Clouds churned overhead. Adrastus strode toward me, sword in hand. His eyes flashed. Talons tore from his fingertips.

“Goddess above, the world wanted you dead. Ravaryn celebrated in the streets, toasting to your untimely demise—untimely only because it should’ve happened decades before it did. You were the worst thing to have ever walked this realm, but your son is a damned close second.”

He lunged, but I caught the subtle warning just before he moved: a ripple in his shoulder, a twitch in his eye. I twisted away, barely a breath ahead, and his blade tore through the empty space where I had been.

I let out a cold laugh, despite my head swimming.

“Don’t worry,” I called, flashing past him toward Delphia. My vision blackened for a split second, but I grabbed her and Thana with a bruising grip. “The son you never wanted will join you soon enough.”

He roared and charged, but Evander and Doran stepped between us. None of them noticed the snarling mass of shadow and teeth that prowled from the treeline.

Vulture.

The creature of night—a consumer of rotten flesh and souls—let out a low growl and launched at Adrastus. He hit the ground with a strangled scream, thrashing as Vulture tore into him.

Lightning struck then, swallowing the sight of his soul being gruesomely devoured, and everything went white.

We landed back at camp hard.

I tried to soften the blow for them, bracing Thana’s head before it slammed into the frozen ground, but Delphia tumbled.

She managed to catch herself on her hands and knees before her head lolled, and she collapsed.

My body tried to fail me, too. When I attempted to get up, my arms gave out, and I fell back down.

I shouted for nearby soldiers as my magic snaked over the ground. They ran over and knelt at my side as I consumed a dozen more lives—two dozen.

“Take them to the nurses’ tent… Find Elora. Make…” I sucked in a deep breath. “Make sure she sees them.”

They nodded and scooped them up.

I crawled until I could see the battle front and?—

“Oh, Goddess.”

A quarter of it was in flames, burning in bright green wildfyre.

Rogue’s pain slammed into my gut then. I gasped and fought the urge to curl in on myself.

He’d fallen to his knees, face ashen, eyes unseeing.

“No,” I whispered.

My feelers snapped out.

In a breath, a thousand men dropped as I funneled their lives into Rogue with a clap of thunder. His spine bowed, his skin glowing brilliant white.

It wasn’t enough.

It sustained him for now, but it wouldn’t last.

A flicker of movement in the sky pulled my attention upward, a flash of lightning outlining a dark shape. A long, serpentine neck and a massive wingspan coasted through the storm clouds.

Guardian emerged, blacker than midnight.

“Fuck.” I pushed myself up, arms and legs trembling. “Just what we needed.”

Rogue’s face tipped up as Guardian dove.

He swiped a man from the battlefield in his maw and tossed the soldier into the air, mouth open to swallow him whole when?—

“Fuck!” I shouted.

Aurum dive-bombed from the churning storm and caught the man. With a thrust of his wings, Guardian followed after him, and they proceeded to fight over the body.

Blood rained down over the field as they tore him apart, then Guardian turned in my direction.

Rogue’s flaming eyes snapped toward us and found me.

Guardian landed in an explosion of dirt and snow. He edged closer to me as he turned on the battlefield, teeth bared, and let out a bone-rattling roar.

Aurum found Iaso and did the same.

They’re…protecting us.

I blinked hard and long. Swayed. Dropped to my knees.

The human soldiers froze, then slowly began to back away.

Helms shook.

Swords fell.

The human soldiers retreated. A few at first, then dozens. When they realized there were no Puer Mortis left to chase them, they left in hundreds.

Hope swelled in my chest as black crept around the edges of my vision.

Rogue charged through the swaths of men fleeing. His pain doubled, raw and ragged, his muscles screaming with each stride. As he crested the hill, Guardian lowered his head and roared at his king.

Rogue halted, teeth clenched, gaze locked with mine—until his eyes suddenly flared.

My brows drew together.

He darted forward, dropping when Guardian lunged. The audible snap of his teeth hung in the air.

Another wave of dizziness knocked me forward onto my hands, but my arms couldn’t hold the weight. My cheek hit the frozen ground, nice against my hot skin. My eyes fluttered.

Rogue roared.

A hand fisted in my hair and ripped my head up.

Sharp ice pressed into my throat.

No, not ice.

A blade.

A blade with a bloodstone in the pommel, throwing red light over the snow.