Page 119 of Children of Fallen Gods

His hand lifted to my arm, skin against skin, a touch that only further awakened this torrent between us.

And then he said, “I can’t get up.”

“What?”

I looked down and realized that I was draped over Caduan’s body.

“Oh.” I pulled myself off of him. Together we staggered to our feet. Our power still roared. I could see the veins of life running through everything around me. It was intoxicating.

Is this how Caduan felt all the time? I knew he was powerful, butthis—

I glanced at him. He stared down at his wrist, at the bleeding mark, brow furrowed. Then at me. Back again. “What did you do? Why does this feel so…different—”

There was a crash in the distance, yanking him away from his half-finished thought. His gaze snapped to the sound — a collapsing building — and his expression went rigid, as if for the first time truly taking in the horror around us.

He didn’t need to speak. I could read it in his face:Not again.

“No,” I said. “It won’t be. I swear it.”

“The inn,” Caduan said.

I whirled in the direction of the inn, which had once been nestled high up in the trees, and my stomach plummeted as I saw nothing there but flames and splintering wood.

Siobhan. Ishqa. Ashraia. If they were—

No. I didn’t have time to let myself think about that. We just needed to get there.

“Let’s go,” I said. “Now.”

Caduan and I wove through the city, dodging falling debris. It was not easy to get back to the inn. The roads were blocked. Caduan’s magic pulled me in a hundred different directions at once. Humans surrounded us, and though I could not see their faces through the flames, I could feel their vile presence, like snakes coiling in the brush. My blades were out, and I fought through them, one after another after another. How fragile they were. How quickly they fell. I barely felt the wounds they left me as parting gifts.

I wasn’t sure how long it had been when I stumbled, disoriented, and Caduan grabbed my arm to steady me.

“Focus,” he said. “You’re running in circles.”

It was easier said than done. The air was strange and thick. The fire moved unnaturally, as if it were alive. Human magic was capable of so much, so harsh and violent. I had never seen it with my own eyes before, and it made a pit coil in my stomach. Fey magic was powerful, but I had never seen it inflict this kind of frenzied violence.

“There,” I panted, at last, thrusting my blade to our left. I could make out the shape of the inn caught in the trees halfway to the ground, burning but mostly intact. Surely, I told myself, our companions had survived that. We pushed towards it, beginning to scale a pile of debris that blocked it from us, when a fresh set of screams cut through the air.

Caduan whirled around. Ifelthis attention shift, like someone had yanked on the magic we shared.

In the distance, silhouettes clashed. Humans circled a group of Fey who were trying to escape. One look at the Fey told me they were merely travelers, not fighters. They would not last.

Caduan turned to me, jaw set. His hand tightened around his sword. He did not have to say anything.

“Let me lead,” I said. “You’re still hurt.”

He just shook his head, as if this was a silly statement.

We launched ourselves into the fight side by side. We rose up behind the humans like shadows in the mist. Our midnight training had paid off. Caduan was swift and lethal, and we fought well together, intuitively covering each other’s blind spots and weaknesses. His magic still pulsed in my veins. Our connection ran deep, as if we spoke a wordless language that only the two of us understood.

Bodies fell around our feet like autumn leaves. I relished every single one. I caught Caduan’s eye and the look on his face sent a shiver of satisfaction running up my spine.

We were winning.

I spun, ready to deal a killing blow to another human soldier—

And then, suddenly, I was blown through the windows of a fallen building, shattered glass raining around me.

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