Page 31

T he morning after next came quicker than any of us expected, leaving us little time to prepare. Amiyah and Annelise helped to cover us in skin spells that would ensure fast healing and increased speed and strength. Despite the added protection, we would still be much slower than the Noctani.

I sharpened Stormslayer, dreading the fact that the very blade Nikolai had forged for me might be the blade to kill him. I shook my head, trying to clear those thoughts. I needed to be positive. I needed to be strong and clearheaded going into this.

Everything would go to plan.

It had to.

I strapped the freshly sharpened Stormslayer to my thigh sheath, securing my throwing knives in my boots and strapping a scabbard with a sword across my back, just in case. The others were equally well-armed.

Seeing everyone in fighting gear—strapping themselves with weapons—had me feeling as if we were already marching into the lion’s den. I sent a prayer up to the Mother that we wouldn’t encounter more of Donika’s soldiers and we could successfully lure out the group of Noctani from their hiding spot.

We had lured them out unintentionally once before by simply walking the streets of Dragon’s Hollow…

how hard could it be? I was nervous to veer close to The Stone City again, but we couldn’t exactly meet the Noctani on the streets of Prins, in the middle of civilian territory.

We wanted to keep the casualties as low as possible which meant we needed to protect the innocent people of Istmere.

There were families and children in the realm who needed protecting, who didn’t have a place entrenched in the fighting.

As we passed through Prins, the other resistance members Zion had called upon would meet up with us. The greatest number of Noctani still resided within the castle walls, my dream walking had assured me of that much. We were all skilled fighters and we wouldn’t be caught by surprise again.

We would be leaving the seaside cabin empty for the first time in a very, very long time. I tasted salt in the back of my throat as I glanced back at Tyr’s childhood home, wishing he was marching with us today.

He deserved to be here, too.

We had transferred the bright red antidote from the glass tube to plastic bottles, easier to carry on our person and minimizing the risk of breaking the glass and losing the potion altogether. I carried one bottle in my jacket pocket, the other was with Zion.

As soon as we had lured them out, I would need to cure the blade with the antidote, suspending it in the liquid. Then I would fight Nikolai. Then Isaac.

Nik might not waste the opportunity to steal my magic a second time.

I needed to be extra careful to stay away from his fangs.

He was stronger and faster than me. I would need to use all the skills he had taught me to evade him.

The only problem was… he was the one who had trained me.

He would likely be able to predict my moves.

But the same held true for me—I knew his fighting style. I would be ready.

The group of us were silent as we crossed the first river, traversing the forest and clearings towards the second crossing. A calmness had settled over our group. As if we all accepted the fate that was about to come to fruition, no matter what it was.

The calm before the storm.

My anxiety had my magic pressing against me, begging to be released.

I kept my breathing steady and pushed it back gently, over and over again.

I needed to keep my focus… I couldn’t keep splitting my attention trying to keep my magic at bay.

I missed the sensation of being bound, my magic listening to me acutely and responding to my every whim.

We filled our canteens at the second river crossing, unsure of how long we might be away from our makeshift camp.

We had a large breakfast to ensure we wouldn’t need to stop again until we were almost out of Prins.

I hoped we might be able to stop into the tavern in Akra at some point to see Fleur again.

She had been kind to me in a time of need, and I wanted to thank her once more.

As soon as we entered Prins, eyes were darting in our direction. The eight of us were dressed in dark training leathers, strapped to the hilt with weapons of all kinds. We were marching to war—and this time—we weren’t hiding it.

We weren’t lying low.

We wanted them to find us.

The resistance members Zion had called on joined our group right before we passed through The Shadow.

There was a sense of security with our numbers being this strong.

We stopped to camp for the night right outside the border of Prins.

We would journey towards the far reaches of Akra first thing in the morning when dawn began to kiss the sky with pink rays.

We traveled in silence, a heavy weight settling on all of us now that we were close to our destination.

What happened next would likely determine the outcome of this war and the thought had me swallowing back my anxiety.

I kept my eyes on my boots, my mind racing through every possible scenario as we breached the tree line.

We had made it to Akra in merely two days’ time.

Zion dropped his pack to the earth, settling himself against a tree as he watched the sky above with careful eyes. His gaze flickered to Kenna momentarily, and they engaged in a silent conversation. Kenna nodded, shifting into her raven form and taking to the skies above us .

She called out once, then disappeared into the cloud cover.

“Now what?” Tess asked, coming to my side and dropping her own pack.

Zion clasped his hands between his bent knees as Annelise joined him.

“Now… we wait.”

A hand against my mouth had my eyes snapping open, a scream on the tip of my tongue was snuffed out by the thick, leather glove covering my lips. My eyes flew wide in alarm, my head shaking back and forth.

Nikolai bent before me, his hand clasped tightly over my mouth, his knee against the cold, hard ground as he crouched. He brought a slender finger to his lips.

“Shhhh, Firecracker. We don’t want to wake the others.”

I tried to snap my head to the side—to see the rest of the camp—but Nikolai held me firm.

Where were the others? Weren’t Puck and Saanvi on the first watch? Had he killed them?

We had gone to bed that night knowing the Noctani were close.

We could feel a cold chill in the air, creeping into our bones.

The forest was devoid of all sound, a sign that there was dark magic among the woods.

No birds chirped in the trees—no deer grazed the forest floor. It was utterly deserted .

Nothing living wanted to venture this close to the soulless creatures Donika had created. I had settled into my bedroll, anxious for dawn to come, never expecting Nikolai would find us so quickly. It hadn’t even been one full nightfall before he had made his move.

“If you promise not to scream, I’ll remove my hand.” The pressure on my mouth eased as Nikolai leaned back, his eyes narrowed at me.

“What did you do to them?” I asked, sitting up in my bedroll and closing the distance between us.

Nikolai didn’t move back. He studied me with those black, endless eyes. His gaze traveled from my brow, down my nose to my mouth. His gaze stopped, a smile lifting the corner of his own lips.

“I never imagined I’d see you again this soon. Couldn’t stay away, could you, Firecracker?” he asked.

He reached his hand out, tucking a piece of stray curls behind my ear. When I flinched, his smile turned down.

“What’s wrong?” His brows furrowed in confusion.

What’s wrong?

It was my turn for my eyes to narrow, incredulous. My gaze traveled sideways to see there were full bedrolls beside me, soft snores filling the surrounding air.

“What did you do to them?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

I wasn’t worried about waking the others.

I needed to wake the others. I simply needed to give the appearance that I didn’t, lulling Nik into a false sense of security while I reached for my blade.

Stormslayer was tucked beneath my makeshift pillow, the antidote was in my pack, which Tess was currently using as a head rest. Her breathing was soft, undisturbed.

He hadn’t hurt those in camp who had been sleeping, at least.

Nik cocked his head to the side.

“Puck and Saanvi,” I explained slowly.

His tourmaline eyes sparked with something akin to recognition before he stepped back, his hand moving to his sword and sliding it free of its scabbard. I was on my feet in a heartbeat, Stormslayer sliding easily from beneath the pillow, held tightly in my grip.

Puck and Saanvi had let him in.

Alone.

They had baited him into camp, hoping he would come to steal me away, and now he was cornered. Footsteps stirred the brush as Puck and Saanvi jumped into the clearing, wielding their weapons in the space between us.

Tess stirred, and I kneeled at her side, shaking her not-so-gently. I needed the antidote, and I needed it now.

A wicked smile spread across Nik’s lips, his fangs protruding from his mouth a sharp reminder of who he truly was in this moment. His sword moved to Tess’s neck, and I stilled.

Tess peered up at him, unmoving.

“Not another movement from you,” he snarled.

“You wouldn’t hurt her,” I protested.

His gaze flitted towards me. “Says who?”

Everything felt as if it happened all at once.

Once moment Nik was entirely outnumbered, caught in our web with no reinforcements.

In the next moment he slid the sword away from Tess’s throat, nicking the skin and leaving a thin line of blood trickling down her collarbone.

Puck and Saanvi had burst through the brush, but so had the rest of the Noctani.

We were now surrounded by them, the cover of darkness making it difficult to see exactly how many of them there were. I did a quick scan, and there had to be at least seven of them. Maybe eight. We were evenly matched.

“You think I’d come here alone?” he asked, his head tilting to the side, his gaze never leaving mine.

“I came to take you back, Diana. And I won’t fail again. You’re mine .” His teeth bared, sending a shiver running down my spine.

My palms were slick with sweat, my grip on Stormslayer sliding beneath my clammy hands.

Tess still lay against my pack, but Zion had moved slowly in my periphery.

He held the bright red antidote in his grip, shielding it from view inside his coat.

He nodded towards me, but I didn’t dare shift my gaze from Nikolai.

Annelise was on her feet now, too. Kenna had joined Saanvi, and Amiyah and the shades from the resistance were armed and ready, closing in the perimeter. We were scattered in a circle, holding our collective breath waiting for someone to make the first move.

“You wouldn’t kill me,” Nikolai protested, his eyes narrowed at me, fire brimming within their black depths.

I swallowed hard, a lump in the back of my throat as I spoke. “No, Nikolai. I wouldn’t kill you. I want to save you.”

“ Save me?” He laughed, his head falling back and his eyes closing. His golden hair glimmered beneath the light of the moon, casting him in an eerie glow. “Why would you need to save me, Diana? I have never been stronger. Never been faster. Never been more clear-minded .”

I shook my head, biting my lip against the urge to turn back. I dug my heels into the dirt at my feet, my legs bent, shoulder width apart.

“You aren’t yourself.”

“I’ve never been more myself,” he argued, the sword in his grip slicing down between us.

I shook my head, my magic pressing against me painfully.

I hoped that with our numbers, I wouldn’t have to release it. I was so close to being bound once more. From saving Nikolai from being cursed as a Noctani.

Footsteps drew our attention as we all turned towards the figure entering the clearing.

His head was bent, his hair shorn low against his head—but when he lifted his gaze to meet mine—I couldn’t mistake that gaze. Despite it now being swallowed by darkness.

Isaac.

He moved into the center of the clearing, his gaze landing on each of us as he moved forward.

We all remained still. Waiting.

He examined me with a predatory affect, his head bent, his eyes narrowed.

“She’s too dangerous, we can’t risk letting her get away.” When he spoke, his voice was cold.

Jarring.

Nikolai nodded in understanding.

It might have been a trick of the light from the moon, or the reflection off the blade he held between us, but I could have sworn his bottom lip quivered. Was he… scared? My gaze met his, but his eyes didn’t betray him.

When Isaac spoke, it broke the unearthly silence that had fallen among us. Broke another piece of me, when I hadn’t thought it was possible to break even more. His words set the Shades in motion, a flurry of flying blades, grunts, and blood.

“To the death, then. Kill them all.”