Page 117 of Death Warden
His eyes narrowed and he scanned my features. “Loralie?” He blinked and shook his head. He was finding his ground, his sanity. I had to act while I had the chance, while his defenses were down.
I tore suddenly from his grip and ran toward the red door.
His roar of rage shook the earth, or maybe that was his pounding footsteps as he kicked up pursuit. The door loomed closer, and a handle appeared. I grabbed it and pulled, opening the spirit plane to a cosmos of swirling gases. My breath left my lungs with the urge to fall into the darkness. To be swallowed, cradled, unraveled, and reformed.
Part of me knew that I needed to move, that if I didn’t Dralos would smash straight into me, taking us both into this abyss. But my feet remained rooted, body swaying as survival instinct fought with the pull of infinity.
“NO!” An arm snagged me around the waist, yanking me to one side.
The abyss’s hold broke, and I cried out in alarm, grabbing at my savior.
“I’ve got you,” Finley said. “I’ve got you, Adi.”
I looked up to see Dralos headed for the door, a look of horror on his face, and it hit me that he was no longer in control of his trajectory, that the force beyond that door, the place where he belonged, had its claws in him.
“No, no, no!” Dralos screamed as he was sucked through. His body exploded into a mass of glowing orbs that rushed away from him, back into the spirit plane, dispersing in several directions.
The souls…all the souls he’d been keeping.
And then…Dralos was gone.
“We did it.” I turned to Finley.
He smiled at me with sad eyes. “Yes. You did. I’m so proud of you, Adi.” He stood and hauled me to my feet. “Now you have to close it.” He began to walk toward the door.
My scalp prickled with foreboding. “Finley… What the heck?” I grabbed his hand, but he kept walking toward the door, dragging me with him.
Shit. He was connected to Dralos. He wasmadefrom Dralos’s power. That meant…No.
“Stop. Just focus. You can stop. I can close the door and we can leave. We never have to come back.” I ran in front of him and pressed my palms to his chest to try and stop him, but he was too strong, or maybe it was the pull of that place that was strong.
“Adi, get out of the fucking way,” he bit out. “I can’t stay. I saw it all. I saw what I am, what I’ll become. I saw what I did. I killed that mage.”
“Hemadeyou do it.”
He shook his head. “I’m him and he is me. If I stay, then a part of him remains. I have to do this. To make sure he’s gone for good.”
“Youhaveto do…You’re not even fighting it, are you?”
He gritted his teeth.
I slapped him hard. “You listen to me, you fucking twat. I need you. You’re my best friend. You’re my home, and you’re your own fucking person. You might have been made from his power, but you have your own mind now. Your own destiny. Do you hear me? Fin, please.”
“Adi…”
I wrapped my arms around his neck and allowed him to drag me with him. “Fine, you want to do this, then you’ll have to take me with you.”
A figure appeared beside the door. Death, holding a milkshake. He winced and shook his head.
Shit, shit, shit.
You could let go, Death said in my head.You don’t have to do this.
Yes, I do. I won’t lose him. I can’t.
Self-sacrifice, a powerful tool.He sucked in his milkshake. Let’s see if he values your life as much as you value his.
My heart beat hard against Fin’s chest, breath catching in my lungs. “Finley, please…”
