Page 81 of When Storms Ruin

As we moved down the street, the sight of the bodies strewn about the rubble had bile rising in my throat. I recognized faces from our own resistance, mingled with those of the Nightshade army we had taken down.

We would need to sift through the dead—to give those of us who stood against Donika a proper burial. I would need to ensure Tyr was treated with the respect he deserved. Everyone had thought he turned on us, but he had given his life to save mine in the end, and I would never forget it. Guilt rose within me, so heavy it felt as if it was physically weighing down my every step.

I did my best to swallow back those emotions, though they threatened to destroy me. I reminded myself—not for the first time during this long night—that the time for grieving would come later. For now, we needed to find the others and count our numbers, determining who had survived this ambush and regroup.

Anger bubbled inside me that Donika hadn’t even bothered to show up. I worried if her numbers were truly so large that the soldiers she sent here today were indispensable to her.

After a few minutes of walking, we found Isaac, Zion, and Puck in a group they could easily dispatch if we joined them. We jogged down the street, dodging the bodies and the fallen debris to engage in the fight with them.

It was almost over.

Almost.

I crept up behind the Shade that Puck fought with, easily sliding Stormslayer between his shoulder blades. He let out a shocked gasp, falling to his knees before he had a chance to turn and see who had come up behind him. I slid Stormslayer free as we moved onto the next Shade. A few of the Nightshades took one look at our group and took off, realizing the remainder of their army had either scattered or were slain in the battle.

Nik took on a Shade double his size, using his smaller frame and agility to evade him. Despite his size, the larger Shade was equally as fast. Puck joined him, and I turned my attention towards Isaac who was outnumbered, circled by three Shades at once.

An arrow sang through the air and hit the rubble a few feet from me, skittering against the rocks and missing its target. I turned, searching for the archer and where the arrow might have come from. Another arrow shot forwards, which Isaac dodged with his sword. His eyes narrowed.

My gaze scanned the buildings still standing in this part of the city. Was there an archer in one of these windows?

There, my sight snagged on a flash of light in the window of a fourth story town house.

“Isaac!” I called out, pointing Stormslayer. “There!”

“I’ve got it!” He called back.

That left Tess, Zion, and me to handle the rest.

Another arrow sang from the window, whispering through the air. This one didn’t hit the rubble as the others had. There was no dull sound of the arrow burying itself in the rocks.I heard a wet, fleshy sound that twisted my stomach into knots.

Cold dread settled over me as I turned, my mouth dry.

My eyes searched our group quickly. Tess and Zion had already taken care of the three Shades that had circled Isaac, and Isaac was climbing the stairs of the partially destroyed townhouse to dispatch the archer.

And Nik…Nik was still battling the larger Nightshade soldier.

But…something wasn’t right.

Nik’s face was chalky, a bright red spot blooming against the shoulder of his tunic. He glanced up at the soldier as he fell to his knees. The Nightshade raised his sword high as the realization dawned on me.

There was an arrow protruding from Nik’s shoulder.

I abandoned Tess and Zion, running towards Nik as fast as I could. I pumped my arms hard at my sides, using a boulder to launch myself up to the height of the Nightshade, burying Stormslayer into the side of his neck before he could bring his sword down.

He pushed me off with a grunt, and I realized I hadn’t buried it nearly deep enough to take him down. I fell to the ground beside him, my head cracking against a rock, my vision going dark for a moment.

But one moment was all it took.

All it took for the Shade to raise his sword.

And bury it in Nik’s gut.

He slid his blade free and Nik doubled over. His hand immediately went to cover the wound, the arrow still protrudingfrom his shoulder. Blood bubbled to his lips as our eyes met, and for a moment, all I thought was thatthiswas what hell must feel like.Thismust have been how Nik felt earlier, when I was the one who had been injured. My heart still beat in my chest, but it was as if it had been cleaved in two.

But my injury…it wasn’t…it didn’t…

He fell to his side, his breathing shallow. I wanted to run to him, to heal him, but as I pulled on my magic, there wasnothing.

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