Page 78 of Sanctuary of the Shadow
Salizar’s palm was wrapped around the hilt. He’d pulled it from beneath his coat.
Raith looked back into the eyes of his enemy. Flexing his arm, he squeezed the hand around Salizar’s throat. The Enchanter choked, yet even then, pride and defiance still blazed in those brilliant blue eyes. He jerked on the blade, twisting it in Raith’s abdomen, but Raith just squeezed tighter, waiting to see a plea for mercy in that gaze, or even just a hint of fear.
It never came.
Raith tilted his head, studying him.This is for Harrow, Salizar had said before he’d blasted him with lightning until he convulsed into unconsciousness.
“You should have killed me when you had the chance,” Raith said quietly.
Surprise flickered across Salizar’s face.
Strangely, Raith felt a begrudging respect for him. Salizar did what he had to do to protect his people. He had cared for Harrow, kept her safe as long as he could. He obeyed his Queen and fulfilled his duty with honor and pride.
Raith had none of those qualities. Raith had no people to protect. The only person he’d ever wanted to protect was the one he’d hurt worse than any other. Raith’s Queen was an unhinged miscreant whom he hated more than he hated his own miserable existence. He had no purpose, no duty, no pride. His life was a curse.
But at least it washislife now that he was free of Furie, and it was his choice what he did with it. And who he killed.
Harrow deserved to have vengeance, and he wanted to give it to her. He’d told her he wanted to destroy whoever hurt her, and now, he was actually in a position to do something about it. Delivering himself on a platter to Darya would take care of part of the issue but not all of it.
Killing Salizar seemed unnecessary. After all, he had helped Harrow when she needed it, and he had only tried to do what was right by her.
So Raith shoved the Enchanter away by the hand at his throat, his back hitting the wall, and then he ripped the dagger from his stomach, keeping it in hand. He was going to need it later. Blood pooled around the wound and spilled down his leg. Salizar was already pulling yet another enchanted weapon from beneath his coat, still staring at Raith in shock.
Turning away, Raith folded his wings against his back but didn’t disappear them. There was no more hiding what he was. He stumbled across the room to the window, black spots obscuring his vision.
Rather than opening it gently as he had with Harrow, he simply dug the claws of his free hand into the frame and ripped it right out of the wall, tossing it away to smash on the far end of the room. Shards of glass rained down on Salizar’s wounded men, who were sprawled about the room in varying states of injury. Everyone was frozen, staring at the wraith as it turned away from the destruction and started to climb through the window.
“Wait,” Salizar called out in a hoarse voice.
Raith turned around, seconds before he would have slipped away.
“Why didn’t you kill me?”
Raith said nothing. He doubted the Enchanter would believe him anyway. The thought of Salizar’s death didn’t fill him with satisfaction anymore. He had something else to focus on now.
Vengeance for Harrow.
Turning away, he climbed out the window and scaled the building to the roof. Beneath the moon and stars, he spread his wings wide, shaking off the weakness from the fight. His body was a bloody mess, yet he barely felt it.
He was an abominable instrument of death, after all.
Bending his knees, he pumped his wings and sprang upward, launching into flight. The air rushed by his ears with a roar, the city of Allegra quickly shrinking away as he flew higher and higher, leaving it all behind.
He swooped right, using the constellation Harrow had shown him to navigate the night, though he needn’t have bothered. The direction he was heading sang to him, beckoning him to return like a tether on his tainted soul.
He flew directly south.
Raith moved with the deadly speed of his species, a blur streaking through the silent sky, the knife coated with his own blood clutched tightly in his grip. At his rapid pace, it would take him mere hours to reach his destination.
The Queens were immortal, but Raith had been in close contact with two of them, created by their very magic, and he knew their weaknesses.
He knew that not even an Elemental Queen could survive a beheading.
Chapter Seventeen
Malaikah was so worried about Harrow she could think of nothing else. After Salizar’s pronouncement that night in her caravan, she’d been dying to sneak back into the Underground, but there hadn’t been a chance.
Salizar had people watching the perimeters of the fairgrounds relentlessly, and even if she managed to get past them, she wasn’t sure she’d get so lucky with Ouro’s gang. There’d been a pair of salamander Hybrids hanging around outside the circus grounds all week, making no secret of the fact that they were watching her.
