Page 56 of Wrath Of Suns And Shadows (The Osparia #2)

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Emelyn

A silk nightgown wasn’t something I’d want to battle in if I needed to, but I didn’t have a choice. The clash of swords echoed from the opening above in the cave. The tang of blood and earth filled my nostrils.

A battle was happening outside. Was this what Kade had mentioned earlier?

There was no time.

“The battle is a distraction to get you out of here, but Valla is coming,” Kade said, turning toward me. “Listen to me, Emelyn. I have to glamour our bond. We have to put on another show.” Kade took his next deep breath, grabbed onto me, and completed the task.

The pain of the bond being ripped away was worse than anything I’d ever felt before.

Worse than any irons, worse than Valla’s torment.

The thought of him holding that bridge closed between us, inside himself for so long, pained me as I looked up at him.

His brow furrowed in pain and sadness as the sudden divide between us cleaved through both of us.

And then I realized I had felt a fraction of this when he’d left me at the rebellion all those months ago. He wasn’t able to hold it back fully.

“Know that I love you, Emelyn.” he whispered in my mind as he turned away and his face shifted to the princely mask I had learned so well over the last few months. My breath hitched, and a flame lit in the hollow cavern of my chest.

Love . . .

Valla appeared, coming around the corner of one of the jagged halls of the catacombs, Marlena on her heels. I bared my teeth at her, and she looked at me with apologetic eyes.

“My, my, my, brother, you have quite the hiding place. I’ll give you that.”

“Using a Soothsayer to make your job easier. I thought you were better than that, Valla,” Kade mocked, and Valla’s snarled at him. “What are you doing, Valla? Shouldn’t you be leading your armies during this attack?” She glared at him.

“Well, maybe if you weren’t running off with Daddy’s property, I would lead my armies.”

“What are you talking about? I am down here keeping her hidden, keeping her safe until all this is over. I dragged her out of bed the moment the battle started.”

“Hmmm,” she contemplated. “I find that hard to believe, brother.” Kade’s eyes volleyed between his sister and Marlena. “It reeks of both of you in here.” Understanding washed over his features, but he gave nothing away.

“What does me fucking my prisoner have anything to do with you?” He spewed his venom with an arrogant grin.

Valla sent a wave of fire toward me, and Kade leaped in front to diffuse the flames.

“What the fuck are you doing? Father wants her alive. You’re just as bad as the soldiers tearing through our gates.”

“How do you explain that the mighty Peacebringer is with you in no irons and chooses not to run—not to destroy you?” she inquired, getting into a fighting stance.

“Oh, dear sister, I’m quite capable of handling the Peacebringer, in more ways than one,” he said smugly, showing off his arrogant princely attitude as he ran a thumb over his bottom lip. If I hadn’t felt our bond, his love . . . I would have certainly questioned him. He played his part too well.

He raised a single hand, and a ball of fire sat in his palm. The orange glow of his firelight flickered against the crystals, causing an eerie glow to overtake the catacombs.

“I’m taking back what was rightfully mine,” Valla warned, taking a step forward.

“You’re not taking anything,” he defended, stepping in front of me. Shielding me from her wrath.

“Run,” his shadows whispered to me in my mind.

“I’m not leaving you,” I asserted, and a ball of wind, fire, and water circled and whipped around in my palm.

“Then you’re going to have to fight to escape. Make this believable.” He spoke to my mind, and I shot at both of them. Kade leapt back as Valla flipped to the side, out of the way of my elements.

Marlena scurried to the side of the wall to escape the middle of the battle, but she wouldn’t escape these catacombs.

I knew her power. As long as she lived, she would help Valla.

She would aid Ember in finding us, figuring out our plans, and ending us anytime she got the opportunity if it meant her life or ours.

She had made her choice. And I had already made mine.

A large tendril of water rose from the ground at her feet as my eyes pinned to her.

She tried to escape it, but it latched onto her ankle and threw her to the ground before spearing her through the chest. It shifted from a beautiful blue to red as my tendril of water took the blood from her like a starved sword desperate for blood.

She locked eyes with me as she went limp and her eyes fell empty.

Valla sent another wave of fire toward me, but I defused it and sent it right back at her as I tried to run again.

Kade grabbed my hair and yanked me back, making me fall to the floor.

I got to my feet, and a ferocious dance began between the three of us. A blend of fists, kicks, and elements.

I got distracted by a sound. A whistle—a call.

Ace. He had come for me. Valla hit me so hard that my head cracked to the side and my vision blurred as I stumbled back.

Kade blasted her backward with a wave of fire just as he went to grab me.

Worry crinkled his features as he noticed the red mark on my face, but suddenly he got blasted back by a gust of wind.

He slammed into the jagged wall of the catacombs with a harsh crack, and my heart stumbled. Ace grabbed me and cupped my face in his hands. Tears burst from me as I laughed and cried at the same time, unable to regulate the joy, sorrow, and terror of everything that had happened.

“ Mai lao kahi ,” I whispered, resting my head against his as he wrapped his arms around me and darted into the sky to fly out of the cave.

But a burst of blinding light came from behind him, and I shoved out of his arms to knock him out of the way from the lightning flying toward him.

He hit the wall of the cave and slid down it as the lightning exploded against the ceiling.

I fell, landing with a thud against the hard floor.

A low, cracking sound reverberated through the cave, followed by the unsettling pop of rocks fracturing.

It was as if the very foundations of the earth had groaned in protest at the assault Valla had unleashed on it.

I looked up toward the cave’s ceiling, where stalactites dangled like jagged teeth, ready to bite.

The first sign appeared as small pebbles dislodged from the walls, cascading onto the rocky floor below.

Then, with a heart-stopping, thunderous crash, a massive boulder broke free from its perch high above.

It plummeted toward the ground, shaking the very earth as it descended.

Valla darted toward the exit to make her escape.

Dust and debris filled the air, turning the cave into a swirling pool of chaos. The once-stable walls fractured, sending shards of rock and sharp crystals tumbling to the ground. The ceiling itself seemed to buckle and groan as the cave’s inner sanctum collapsed upon itself.

I looked to where Ace had fallen against the wall of the cave, his wings splayed against the wall, looking like a fallen angel of death. His leg had a boulder resting on it. His eyes locked with mine as I quickly scrambled to get to my feet to run across the cave to get to him.

To free him. To save him.

The ground shook violently, making every step treacherous. Jagged crystals and stones plummeted from above, shattering into fragments upon impact. The air grew thick with dust, making it difficult to breathe.

But as I reached for Ace, he outstretched his hand to me. His blue eyes were desperate and pleading, either for me to run or to stay. But then darkness clouded the edges of my vision.

“NO!” I screamed, just as Kade’s Hollow swallowed me.