Page 91 of Shadow Master
HARMON
She’s alive. She’s alive and wreathed in shadow, and more come. More shadows are hurtling toward her until she is gone, obscured by darkness. It pools and swirls around her.
Brady … Brady is holding her. His eyes blazing with stars.
Something is coming. Something immense, and suddenly, I know what it is.
The eye.
She is the power.
She is the missing link.
“Get down!” I shout before the world is swallowed by an endless night.
Twenty-Nine
My body felt like it had been hit by a wrecking ball. But it was worth it to walk amongst the ashes of our enemy. I could feel the power simmering inside me. The shadow caster power, stronger than ever, surging up in waves as Brady walked beside me. The militia had retreated to camp to celebrate.
Laramir was dead.
His army wiped out.
It was over. Truly fucking over.
I squeezed Brady’s hand. “How did you know?”
“Lugh’s thoughts,” Brady said. “I heard them the moment before he was set free. The power was in our world and passed down through the weaver line. It was hidden. When you came in contact with the talisman, the power came fully into its own.”
“I thought the eye burned a path through its enemies. I thought it was fire.”
“There are ashes here,” Brady said. “It seems shadows can burn too.”
Was that why the shadows hadn’t been able to extend far, why they’d refused to help me shield my allies or fight off a hordea? They’d remained close at all times, but when my body had touched the talisman, the power had intensified tenfold like a voracious hunger.
Hungry … that’s what it was. Still hungry. I clutched at Brady’s arm. “I don’t feel too good.”
“It’s the eye,” Orion said. “You need to get away from it. The components together are lethal.”
Brady stepped away from me and then slipped the amulet from his neck and handed it to Orion. “You’ll keep it safe?”
Orion nodded. “I will.” His torso was bandaged, his face smeared with blood and grime, but he still looked regal.
Hyde joined us.
We were alive.
We’d live to see another sunrise.
But not together. I’d saved Orion’s life and killed any chance of Hyde and me. Brady clapped Hyde on the back. “Good to see you made it.”
Hyde’s expression was grim. “We lost a lot of good men.”
The militia had taken the brunt of the attack. “I need to find Balan and Draka. I need to thank them.”
Orion shook his head. “Balan didn’t make it.”
Oh, shit.
