Elyria rolled her eyes. “That’s not even how it works, you insane bit?—”
She didn’t get a chance to finish before Leona’s hand darted to her token. Elyria barely had time to yell a word of warning before she was thrown aside.
Kit and Gael darted out of the way as Leona and Belien barrelled toward the labyrinth entrance, narrowly avoiding the magical strikes Leona continued dealing left and right.
The blow that hit Elyria was like a punch to the gut. She gasped for breath as she scrambled back to her feet. She ran after the sorcerers, tossing a disbelieving glance at Cedric as she passed him. He was frozen, indecision stamped into every line of his face. Thraigg and Zephyr cast nervous looks at him, as if waiting for him to tell them what to do. Nox was nowhere to be seen—had they already taken off into the labyrinth without anyone noticing?
Fucking nocterrian.
A stream of fire flew over Elyria’s head, catching the tail of Leona’s cloak just as she crossed the threshold. Gael whooped victoriously, standing a few paces behind Elyria as Leona shrieked, stopping mid-run to stomp out the flames licking her feet.
Without a thought, Elyria shot out a hand, dark tendrils forming a ribbon of shadow, the edges sharp as a blade as they raced for Leona. Whatever flicker of surprise she might’ve felt from her shadows finally emerging was quickly smothered by the need to thwart the sorcerer. She would stop her. She would bind her. And then they would deal with her.
But Elyria had momentarily forgotten about Belien. He jumped into the path of Elyria’s shadow. With a burst of mana, he deflected the sharp ribbon, sending it in a wide arc over Elyria’s head.
No. No, no, no, no.
Elyria knew what had happened before she heard Gael’s shocked, pained gasp. Before she felt the earth shudder with the impact of Gael’s body hitting the ground. Before she saw the blood splattered across the grass or the severed wing laying at a grotesque angle nearby.
Bile rose in Elyria’s throat.
“Monsters!” Cyren’s roar was a battle cry as he raced into the labyrinth after Belien and Leona. There wasn’t even time to try and stophim. With a flash of silver-white wings, he was gone. As were the humans, having disappeared into the curving maze.
Elyria rushed to Gael’s side, her heart pounding. The flamecaller’s breaths were shallow as Elyria brushed a lock of wine-red hair back from her forehead. She was already so pale.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” Elyria muttered, frantic.
Zephyr and Kit were a blur as they worked in tandem to stop the bleeding.
“Stay with me, Winters,” Kit commanded as she wrapped tendrils of healing magic around what remained of Gael’s right wing.
“You’re going to be okay, I promise,” said Zephyr, her hands glowing as she ran them across Gael’s body and whatever unseen injuries lay within.
Guilt burned under Elyria’s skin. Ice slithered through her gut. Heavy footsteps and scraping metal sounded behind her head, and she knew without looking who was standing behind her.
“This is your fault!” she yelled, whirling on Cedric.
He backed up several paces. “Me? That’s?—”
She didn’t let him speak. Advancing another step with every accusation, she screamed, “You just stood there!”Advance. “You let them get away!”Advance. “What were you thinking?”Advance.
“I—”
“That’s right,nothing. You stood there like a fucking coward while yourhuman brethren”—she hurled the words at him like a poisoned dagger—“tried to cheat their way to the crown.”
Cedric’s face fell. “And do you think they deserve to die for cheating?” His voice was low.
It stopped Elyria’s rage in its tracks for a fleeting moment. He wasn’t just talking about Leona and Belien. “No,” she said with conviction. “But they do deserve it for what they just did to Gael. What they could be doing to Cyren now, for all we know.”
Gael coughed weakly. “Some . . . someone . . .”
Elyria was back at her side in an instant. “Shh,” she said. “Save your strength. Focus on healing.”
“Someone has to go help him,” Gael pleaded. “Help Cy,please.”
Elyria met Zephyr’s forest-green eyes. “Can she move?”
Pulling vial after vial from her belt, Zephyr shook her head. “Not yet.”
