Page 118 of The Court of Secrets
“The only thing that can kill him is this.” I motioned at the Sword of Impervius. “I need you to do something for me, Adius, if we have a chance at killing him.”
“Anything.”
I think he half-expected me to hand the Sword over, holding his hand out. I shook my head and whispered, “I need you to go and get the girl away.” I pointed at Neoma’s cage. “Get her out while I take care of the necromancer.”
“He killed hundreds of people with one blast. What makes you think you can get close to him?”
“Because.” I blew out a shaky breath. “While you’re trying to get Neoma free, it’ll distract him enough. When he turns to you, I’ll strike before he can reach you. The Objects of Kai are a blind spot with foresight, and for him. He won’t know I’m coming. If he sees me trying to free her instead, he won’t hesitate. He’ll disappear. He knows Morgana and I hold objects that can kill him. He’ll think she’s with me. If he sees you, he will think a soldier has come to help the poor girl in the cage. He won’t suspect my being there,” I said before he could push for him to do the deed instead of me, again. “I need to end this. Today.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Adius snuck around to the cage, surprisingly stealthy for his tall, muscular figure. Neoma gripped the bars, hushing her tears as Adius placed a finger to his lips. I hid in a collection of large fawns, behind a patch of purple wildflowers. They smelled beautiful when mixed with the pine hanging in the air. The smell was familiar, bringing me back to a memory or something I couldn’t place my finger on.
The necromancer’s dark eyes moved to where Adius picked the padlock. His back was turned to me, water dripping down the black robes he’d acquired to his bare feet. His thin lips whispered unintelligible words, and snakes emerged from the bushes and rivers, slithering toward Adius. The orange-and-red ones were the fastest, sliding along the mud and rocks with ease. A dark-green one rattled out from behind me, but it wasn’t focused on me. It moved past as if I were a tree or one of the fronds and slithered through the underbrush toward Adius.
He pulled his staff and cast a spell to shield himself and Neoma. The necromancer stepped to the cage, pushing footprints into the sloshy mud. He didn’t care when a jagged rock slit into his skin, leaving behind a trickle of blood.
Licia was entranced with the golden-haired girl. She couldn’t have been older than fifteen, but the way he doted on her, it wasn’t like a lover; she must have been his daughter. I gasped, realizing she was who he’d wanted to bring back to life.
As silently as possible, I crept out from the fronds, ignoring the snakes that set my anxiety on edge. I hurried up behind him and lifted the Sword. This time, I would not fail.
A whoosh of cold coated me, and the Sword tumbled from my grip. The necromancer turned, shaking his head, his sadistic grin curling up more as he looked me up and down.
“I was wondering when you would come for me.” His words dried, seeming to suck the hope from the world.
Gritting my teeth, I tried to grab the Sword, but he kicked it from my grasp and picked it up. The metal burned his flesh, and to my horror, he let it. He didn’t even wince as it melted from his bones, then healed and melted again. Over and over. I willed back the vomit threatening to erupt from my mouth.
His deranged eyes regarded me, his head tilting as if to get a better look. There was an invasiveness to his stare. The air thinned, and I sucked in deeper breaths. He laughed hollowly, devoid of humor, as the plants and trees in the area died.
“You’re sucking the air out.”
He laughed again as I fell to my knees. Adius’s bloodshot eyes found mine. Neoma gasped for breaths, and only then did the necromancer stop, allowing us breath before it took our lives. “Be lucky I need her alive.”
“Please, don’t,” I pleaded, knowing it wouldn’t do much good, but it was worth something to try. Without the Sword, we were nothing but at his mercy, needing a miracle.
“Winter, run.” Adius’s gaze narrowed, tears pinching the corners of his eyes. “Get out of here. He’ll kill you.”
Prickles ran over my skin, sending goose bumps along my body. Adius stood, brandishing his sword. The river trickled, babbling down rocks that led up the banks on either side. Licia watched us, apology in his eyes as he took the opportunity to hurry himself and the girl away. I cursed under my breath as they rushed between the trees, disappearing from sight.
The necromancer held the Sword of Impervius with amusement in his stare and a terrifying laugh trickling from his lips. “Will you die for a woman you do not know?”
Neoma looked up at Adius, then turned her head to look at me. “Help me,” she cried, and my stomach knotted.
“Adius, don’t.” I reached out, gripping the air as he stood between the necromancer and Neoma.
“Run, Winter.” He stepped forward.
I ran, but toward them. If I could get the Sword of Impervius, I could…
The world slowed around me. My lips parted and a gasp escaped them as my eyes refused to believe the scene unfolding.
The blade pushed through Adius’s torso, soaking blood through his unform and forming streams between cracks in his armor. Shock widened his eyes as he moved his gaze down to the blood-stricken blade.
The necromancer wrenched it back, and Adius fell to his knees. Holding his hands over his stomach, he turned to look at me, struggling to release the final words from his lips, but they dried out before I could hear them. He fell forward and his face pressed into the mud on the bank.
Tears blurred my vision as my hands shot to my mouth. Neoma screamed, pressing her back against the cage. The necromancer simply laughed.
“I’m going to kill you,” I promised, my fury-drenched stare on him.
