Page 115 of A Legacy of Wrath and Reckoning

Holt came to her side, his scent washing over her and soothing her as Zack’s heartbeat began to slow.

“Help me,” she begged through her tears. There was so much blood. Too much blood for a human, but she shoved the thought away. Her mate’s hands came around hers, magic and sorrow spilling from him. Zylah’s eyes darted up to his face, scanning for injuries, her vision blurring from her tears and from using too much magic.

Zack’s blood pooled everywhere. So much blood, but she wouldn’t stop. Even when her body trembled from the effort, even when the black spots in her vision blotted everything out around her. She couldn’t stop. Not yet, not if her brother could hold on just a little longer.

“Just stay,” she pleaded. He had to. He had to hold on. If not for her, for Nye, for everything that was waiting for him at the end of all of this. Zylah clenched her teeth, groaning and sobbing at the strain of it all as Holt reached a hand to her face, his thumb stroking her cheek.

You can let go now, sweetheart.

A low, keening sound escaped her as Zylah’s gaze shifted back to her brother’s, fear curling around her heart at what she might see there. What she already knew.

His eyes were still fixed on her face, his hand still rested over hers. But he was gone, and another ragged sob tore from her chest at what he’d done. Forher, to save her.

Holt’s arms came around Zylah’s waist as she sagged against him. So fast. It had all happened so fast. Barely even seconds for Zack’s life to slip away beneath her palms.

“No!” she choked out, taking her brother’s lifeless hand in hers.

It wasn’t meant to be this way. They were meant to have time together. To find a way for Zack to become immortal. For him to live, to fall in love, to discover who he was outside of fighting.

I’m so sorry, Zylah.Holt’s love wrapped around her, as strong as his embrace. She slipped loose of his hold to close Zack’s eyes, a hand resting on her brother’s face. Like this, he could be sleeping, his expression peaceful despite the commotion around them. Like this, he looked almost like the boy from her memories. Far too young.

We have to go,Holt told her gently.The others are waiting.

Chapter Fifty-Seven

Zylahcouldn’ttearhereyes from her brother’s lifeless body as Holt gently pulled her away.

We’ll come back for him, Zylah, I swear it. But we need to go.His thumb brushed against her ribs where he held her, his magic and something else rippling over her skin.Do you feel that?

The strange magic. She forced herself to look away. To swallow down her pain and grief, to let it fuel her ire. Her vision began to clear; Holt had been healing her as they moved, his magic pressing against hers, checking, testing, reassuring. Kej’s and Daizin’s voices registered over the clash of metal. Nye’s too. They were at the rear of the palace, a wide expanse of stone paved terrace, soldiers fighting around them.

Zylah called her sword to her hand, moving with Holt to strike down a vampire before seeking out the source of the magic. A gasp escaped her at what awaited them. An upturned pool shimmering in the air, just like the one she’d seen in Nye’s book back at the Aquaris Court.

“My grandfather calls them gates,” Raif said beside them. Rose stood wide eyed at her brother’s side, black blood splattered across her face, her blue eyes silver as they reflected the strange magic.

A window felt like a more obvious description to Zylah, but if it was indeed a gate to another location, Ranon and Aurelia were undoubtedly there. Holt’s agreement echoed in her thoughts, and Kopi chose that moment to swoop down to her shoulder, a quiet trill his only greeting. She had no doubts he’d been in the city for days, likely since she’d asked him to remain with Saphi at the camp.

Kej scoffed beside them at Raif’s words. “Magical trapdoor? Convenient.”

The soldiers at their backs seemed to share the sentiment, but Zylah was already unspooling her threads, gritting her teeth as she sent them through the gate to whatever lay beyond. “Priestesses. Dozens of them. And Ranon and Aurelia.” Waiting for the blood moon to be at its peak, to begin the ritual to free Sira.

“Then what the fuck are we waiting for?” Kej stepped forwards, but one of Daizin’s, or maybe they were Nye’s, shadows shot out to pull him back.

“I’ll go first.” Rose’s swallow was audible, but Raif didn’t protest, and Zylah knew that was precisely why the Fae had offered.

It had been barely minutes since Zack’s death, and though she hated the thought of leaving him behind, every moment they hesitated was a moment Ranon and Aurelia came closer to releasing Sira. Zylah didn’t want to consider what chaos the three of them together might be capable of unleashing, what suffering they could inflict across Astaria.

Rose stepped up to the gate, her reflection glancing back at them for a moment as she held her palm up to the shimmering light. The soldiers beside them gasped as the Fae disappeared through the pool of magic, a hand poking through the glittering ripples a moment later, beckoning them to follow. Raif tried to go first, but Nye’s and Daizin’s shadows held him back, the general stepping through before the vampire. With a tug at her shadows, Raif followed, Daizin and Kej trailing after him.

Zylah glanced over her shoulder, but her brother’s body was already out of sight.

He’ll receive a general’s funeral, Holt reassured her.

Kopi hooed, pushing off from her shoulder and flying through before Zylah had the chance to send him away. He’d never led her astray before. She stepped through the gate, Holt following, the strange magic passing over her skin. Her threads were working, moving, spreading out in every direction including down as she took in the details of their new location.

An icy wind whipped at her hair as what remained of Nye’s unit followed through the gate. Above them, the night sky with its blood-tinged hue, below, rock and root and passages Zylah was all too familiar with.

“This is how you came and went,” she said to Raif. How he had moved freely to and from Ranon’s maze when he held her captive, somewhere amongst the rock and dirt beneath their feet.

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