Page 79 of Kiss the Dawn
Godor roars and lunges at her, but I throw out my hand to stop him. I won’t hurt her.
I can’t.
If this is my end, then so be it.
She’s almost on me, and someone shouts her name. A warning but for what?
She jolts to a halt for a beat, her eyes go wide, and the darkness retreats, freeing her eye whites. Gray irises flare.
“Ezekiel, it’s a trap!”
“NO!” The dark-haired man slams into me, attempting to throw me back.
Power singes my senses.
A trap.
A spell.
Orina screams.
“You killed her!” the man cries. “You killed my Agatha.”
“Master, let me free,” Godor pleads.
But I can’t. I won’t hurt this man. I’ve taken too much from him already. The pain in his eyes. Oh, so much pain.
I stop fighting him, and he shoves me, hard enough for me to lose my balance.
ORINA
The trap lights up, familiar lines and runes. The fae-made trap from Holly’s book.
The world seems to slow down as I run toward Ezekiel. Henry shoves him, and the vampire king stumbles backward. I won’t make it past Henry to catch Ezekiel. But I don’t need to touch him to save him.
The trap can only hold one.
I’ll be that one.
EZEKIEL
I catch myself and find my balance. Henry makes to shove me again, but his head whips to the side. To Orina as she barrels past us and straight into the trap.
My heart leaps up my throat, and I lunge toward her.
Too late.
The arcane power grabs hold of her and yanks her into the circle. A sharp crack sounds, and energy hits me in the chest, throwing me off my feet and across the room. I recover quickly and run toward the golden orb that holds the woman I love.
She’s held four feet off the ground by thick inky ropes of power.
“Orina!” I run at the orb, but it’s like hitting a stone wall. I bounce off it and try again.
Godor, now free of my hold, tries too.
“It’s no use,” Henry says, his tone defeated. “The trap is triggered.” He shakes his head, his face a mask of confusion as he looks from Orina to me. “Why?” he asks her. “Why would you do this, Miss Lighthart?”
Her head falls forward, and our gazes lock. “Why?” She smiles, and it’s the most beautiful thing that I’ve ever seen. “Because I love him.”
