Page 115 of Worse Fates

Emma’s dark gaze bounces from me to Rurik, who’s killing the last of her spawn; to Apollo, grinning like a maniac; Kai, trying to get out of the way; and to Summer, with hereclipse-black eyes. Then to Golden, finally managing to get Ramy out and helping him up.

She may be powerful, but the intelligence shining in her eyes tells me she’s not stupid. Emma knows she’s trapped.

“Jace!” Despite the fire, her voice is cold as ice. “Give me the spellbook. I can save you!”

I curse and lunge for the spellbook at Jace’s side—he’s got two, so I try to take them both. It doesn’t matter. Emma’s faster. A spear slices into my chest, and I’m lurched backward, pain screaming through me as I drop the brat to the floor with a thud.

Roaring, refusing to let my bleeding shoulder slow me down, I reach for Jace.

Just before I can grab him, the blood leaking from my shoulder rips out of me—like it’s become a rope, yanked. My blood then siphons over his shivering form, coalescing into a hard shell tinged blood-red.

“THE BOOK, JACE!” Emma shouts, enraged.

How dare this piece of shit usemyblood to protect himself.

Blind rage surges through me, and I shout it out as I bring up my fists down—my shoulder screeching in agony—and slam them into the hard shell. It shatters like a dropped snow globe, red pieces flinging out.

I hear a wet grunt from Jace, a sharp intake of breath from Kai, and then—as the shards of red scatter and melt back into blood, I see Emma catch a spellbook.

“Please…” Jace cries. “Save me, Aunty…”

She doesn’t.

She never was going to.

Emma turns, smirking in pure satisfied victory and runs towards the exit.

Yet Rutik is hot on her heels and surges forward, however Emma has plenty of blood to use, and pulls two pools of blood up, shaped into spears, and fires with a sniper’s precision.

My brother darts behind a flaming beam, narrowly avoiding being skewered. I expect the spears to slam into the wall—but they twist midair, and go for Summer. Startled, the shadow mage lets out a curse and falls into her own shadow.

“C-come back, please, Aunty…” Jace wails.

Just as Emma’s about to get to the exit, Rurik rushes towards her, Summer shooting back up and holding out her ringed hands.

But Emma is still powerful, and blood flows freely from the necks of her mages.

With a wave of her hand, somehow graceful even as she sprints—spellbook tucked under her armpit—all the blood on the ground snakes towards her, then rises into a transparent wall of glass, tall and wide as the warehouse.

Apollo grabs hold of Kai and drags them both away from danger.

“GOLDEN!” I scream as, with a flick of Emma’s wrist, the wall shatters. “GET DOWN!” The shards—long as my hand and sharp as my fangs—don’t fall. They hover, suspended for a breath.

And as I charge toward Golden, they shoot out.

Jace is impaled and dies instantly, still reaching for Emma as she vanishes through the exit.

Ramy and Golden shove themselves into a corner. I bolt to them, around boxes full of clothes and supplies splintering open. Shards cut into my body, but I don’t care as I race faster to the only person I’ve ever truly loved.

The boxes protecting them disintegrate, leaving them unprotected as the last barrage of shards head straight for them. And to my horror, a second before I get to Golden, he shovesRamy away for a shard to pierce Golden directly through his chest.

“NO!”

Ramy’s eyes go wide as Golden collapses into his arms with a cry of pain. When I finally reach them, I’m not gentle as I push my little brother aside, dread chilling my veins as I pull Golden to me.

“No, no, no, no!” I chant, as if that would fix him.

“Lucero,” he coughs up blood. “You're here…”