Page 222 of The Legacy of Ophelia
I lifted my head, searching for the dagger to finish this with no distractions, and I made the same slice to my skin that the others now had. I knew their promises had been sealed—Vale, the final piece, included—because the cut didn’t only sting, it burned with a bright white light. Purer than any star, more powerful than any god. One derived of ancient realms and restoring Balances.
I sighed in relief.
Only one more step now.
My gaze dropped to the steel of the Vincienzo dagger, pressed between my hand and the cracked stairs. The metal reflected the burning wall of Angellight, and within it, a wavering shadow emerged along the sharp edge.
My head snapped up, pain shooting through my lungs. I coughed over the dirt swirling in the air, squinting at the glimmering gold wall as shocks of light shot up to the deep purple clouds.
I was hallucinating. I had to be.
But no.
From within the light, a figure emerged. Her tall, willowy frame drank up the shimmering gold, a sapphire gown draping low between her breasts and gusting around her legs under the force of my magic.
And I wheezed, “Aimee?”
Chapter Eighty-Five
Malakai
Ophelia is goingto sacrifice herself.
That’s what Vale had told me as we raced around the edge of the square, speeding to a set of side steps leading up to the capitol building. The entire front of the building had been crowded with warriors and creatures alike.
“You have to stop her,” Vale panted as we climbed. We tried to have the khrysaor fly us in, but Vale insisted we had to be on this side, and there was too much smoke and debris to navigate the narrow alleys on Dynaxtar’s back.
“How the fuck am I supposed to stop her? Do youknowhow fucking stubborn Ophelia is?” I asked as I scaled what used to be a pillar but now formed a waist-high wall of rubble across our path, then turned to help Vale.
“The Fates didn’t tell mehow.” Vale jumped down, her short sword clanging against the rock. “Tackle her if you have to, I don’t care. But get that dagger away from her before she?—”
Golden light exploded at our backs. I ducked against it, and when I stood, the air burning, Vale was gone, swept up by Valyrie and flying around to the front of the capitol building.
As the Angel held a dagger to Vale’s collarbone, she called, “Go, Malakai!”
I hurried up the rest of the stairs, trying to figure this out. When we were in Damenal, the book I found about other realms said on Revarris, they’d fought off the gods by discovering their fatal flaw, taking them out with a weapon of their own trove. That was the weapon Ophelia had forged, but what if it wasn’t only about the weapon.
What if she wasn’t the only?—
“Holy fucking Spirits,” I swore as I emerged onto the wide landing in the center of the main flight leading to the capitol building.
A wall of Angellight stood at the foot of the stairs, separating Ophelia and Echnid from everyone else. With purple lightning feeding into it, the barrier towered over the city, but through the wavering gold, I could barely make out Mila fighting off Rozelyn with—were thosespirits?By the fucking Angels, is that where she’d gone?
As I watched, Rozelyn’s serpentine hair snapped out at Mila. Her vicious smile from earlier flashed back to me. ShewantedMila, wanted me.
A snaking tendril whipped out from Rozelyn’s head and came within an inch of biting down on Mila’s neck. It took every fucking ounce of strength not to run to her, to fight with her, as more of those deadly serpents flashed their fangs.
I looked between Mila and Ophelia, and I knew which way I had to choose if I wanted to end this for good. Not just save Mila for another few moments, but ensure she got the peace she sought after so many battles. That everyone did.
Ophelia was on her hands and knees, coughing as she squinted into the light. With her limp wings dragging through the dust, she looked so tired. Defeated. My Bind twisted in pain for her. I couldn’t let her do this.
A figure emerged from the gold wall, parting it like it was nothing more than a waterfall. There was something so familiar but so out of place in her features, the cascading dark hair.
I’d seen her earlier tonight, leaving the room with Artale’s mural. But also?—
“What in the fucking realms is she doing here?”
Chapter Eighty-Six
