Page 191 of Daughter of No Worlds

“It’s time to stop. We need to get these people out of here and leave.” He placed his palms on either side of the wall above my shoulders, leaning over me with a wrinkle between his eyebrows. The desperation in his eyes gutted me.

He was talking to me, not it.

And Reshaye made that realization at the same time that I did.

{The two of you. Of course.}

My blood turned cold with Reshaye’s anger and my dread.

No,I begged.

{I have had enough.}

“I have had enough.” My palms pressed to either side of Max’s face.

{You chose him over me.}

No!

{You already did.}

Max winced as veins of blight slithered across his cheeks. His fingers clutched my shoulders. “I need you to come back, Tisaanah.”

I made a mad rush for control. And I felt it, for one moment — for one moment I felt the warmth of his skin beneathmyhands.

But then Reshaye grabbed me and threw me back.

{No. You have made your choices.}

I fell further and further into the web of my own mind, where the shadows and the memories grew darker. Threads bound me, strangled me.

My vision began to go dark.

The last thing I saw was a grim determination on Max’s face as those eyelids slid back and he dissolved into flames.

Chapter Seventy-Five

Max

The world was blinding and bright and too damn fast. Every movement was a deliberate attempt to temper the sheer power that burst from my every muscle. Every breath felt like I was inhaling lightning. I was everywhere and nowhere. I was free for the first time and more trapped than I had ever been.

I spun away from Tisaanah, coiling through the air over the heads of petrified partygoers. Pain still radiated through me, even though my body was a very different form. Her magic seeped into my blood.

The room grew darker and darker. Tisaanah drew herself up, death trailing her feet across the floor. The blue flames burst forth in gushing waves, but they weren’t hot, and they didn’t give off light. Still, they devoured the curtains, the walls, and the flesh of the guests.

“You abandoned me.” Her voice leeched and echoed with unnatural, unnerving bite. “I gave you everything and you threw me away.”

She paced forward. Decay and blue flames slithered closer to the guards and the guests, who were by now climbing over each other for escape.

I threw myself in front of her, separating her from them with the wall of fire that was my body. A smattering of ill-advised soldiers —idiots!— made a dive for us, though many of their companions instead turned to flee.

I dove in front of her, coiling to surround her with a shield of my body. But I was not accustomed to controlling this form. I couldn't evade the way I normally would. A shock of pain ran up my spine — a slash far down my body.

What the hell is wrong with you?!I wanted to snap.I'm trying to help!

A hiss graveled from my throat as I shoved the soldiers against the wall with as much force as I could muster. But I was in an impossible position here, protecting her from them and them from her, like there were two sets of teeth clamping down around my throat.

Another screech cut through me as I was hit with another strike. This one so much worse than the first. The kind of pain that took my breath away, sending this unfamiliar body spiraling and lurching.

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