“Gods,” he drawled, surveying the scene with feigned pity. “She’s put you both in a sorry state, hasn’t she?”
“Galen…” Leukos rasped from behind, barely audible.
The man didn’t flinch. His gaze slid over his dying brother without a flicker of recognition. “It’s Velthur, now,” he corrected, the words stripped of warmth.
Alena’s heart thundered in her chest.
This was the man who’d helped Leywani. Who’d passed them information about the legions’ movements. He was their ally… wasn’t he?
Alena edged a step closer, driven by desperation. Now wasn’t the time to untangle truth from deceit. Leukos was bleeding out behind her. “Please… he’s your brother. If you don’t help, he’ll die. We’ll do whatever you want. Just… save him.”
Velthur tilted his head, as if weighing her plea. “Save him?” His tone was almost tender. “Alena, darling, you misunderstand.”
Then he moved closer, his cuirass polished to a mirror sheen, untouched by the muck and blood that coated everything else. Each step was measured, deliberate—a predator closing the gap.
Up close, the resemblance to Leukos was uncanny. But where Leukos’ eyes held flecks of ice-blue, carrying strength and pride, Velthur’s were a void—black, fathomless, glinting with greedy intelligence and a cruelty that relished her fear.
“We didn’t come for him.” A thin smile curved his lips. “We came for you.”
Alena’s blood froze in her veins.
From behind him, another figure appeared—a blonde woman cloaked in shadow. The same legate Alena had seen at the base of the cliff, weaving darkness into portals to flood the battlefield with soldiers. Her face was cold marble, and in her hands, burnished gold bracelets glinted under the clearing sky.
Magic dampeners.
Alena’s pulse crashed against her ribs.
“Run,” Leukos rasped.
She spun?—
Velthur struck, his hand snapping around her arm with crushing force. She struggled, nails raking across his golden skin, but his grip didn’t loosen. His other arm coiled around her waist, pinning her as if she weighed nothing.
“The Emperor,” he murmured, voice like silk dragged across a blade, “will be so pleased to finally meet you.”
“Alena!”
Her head whipped towards Leukos.
He was trying to rise, blood pouring down his abdomen. Ice-blue light flared in his eyes, burning as fiercely as winter fire. He slammed his palm into the blood-soaked ground, fingers splayed wide.
Alena screamed. “Leukos, no!”
The ancient circle should have suppressed all magic. It should have been impossible. And yet?—
Frost exploded outwards, racing across the stones and grass, sheathing the circle in glittering ice. The air turned brittle with winter’s breath.
For a heartbeat, Velthur’s grip slackened.
Then the light sputtered. The frost stilled.
Leukos collapsed with a strangled sound, his magic vanishing into mist.
“Leukos!” Alena wrenched against Velthur, panic splitting her chest. She lunged for her husband with everything she had left.
She didn’t make it two steps.
Velthur hauled her back, lifting her clean off the ground.
