Tristan snarled through gritted teeth, the two of them advancing on Thibault together. “You’re the reason Audaxus died on the road, aren’t you? You fucking killed him so he wouldn’t be able to sell you out when we questioned him.”
Thibault laughed. “You thinkmi sanguinexoswould trust an imbecile likehimwith something like this?” He gestured at Cedric. “Iam Audaxus.”
Cedric gaped as Thibault—Audaxus—drew a darksteel dagger from thin air and sliced a long gash down his own forearm. There was a red glow in his eyes, crimson veins creeping out from the corners.
For a heartbeat, the gilded columns of the throne room were replaced with glowing walls of luminescent stone. And it wasn’t Audaxus who had red bursts of power ricocheting off his body, it was Belien Larkin, just before he sent that bolt of deadly blood magic straight into Cedric’s chest during the third trial.
Cedric blinked. No, itwasAudaxus, and he was here, now. He was the one responsible for the ambush in Dawnspire. He had almost gotten Elyria killed. Hehadkilled his own partner, his friend.
And he needed to be stopped.
Cedric threw his arm across Tristan’s chest, halting his advance.
“Let me,” he said, and Ashrender lit up again with white-gold sunfyre—a beacon of fate.
Audaxus’ red-tinged eyes went wide, smiling through bloodstainedteeth. “The son will rise,” he rasped. “Oh, my lord will be most pleased.”
“Your lord can fuck himself,” Tristan growled.
Cedric lunged.
Scarlet lightning danced up Audaxus’ arms. But it wasn’t Cedric whom thesanguinagimeant to maim—to kill. And even as a flaming Ashrender pierced the flesh over Audaxus’ heart, the man flung his arms out in a final, desperate move.
“No!” Cedric shouted, but it was too late. The magic had already been loosed.
Two jagged, thorny bolts of power arced out from Audaxus’ body. One shot straight up into the air, then plummeted nearly as sharply, aiming for Tristan. Cedric managed to kick his friend aside, just enough for the blow to hit Tristan’s shoulder rather than the center of his head.
With a yelp, Tristan spun into a heap on the floor. He clutched his shoulder, muttering a string of curses. But that he was alive was clear, which was all that mattered. All Cedric had time for, given that the other crimson bolt still curved through the air. It was slower, somewhat erratic—perhaps because its master was already dying. But also like it was enjoying its freedom, dancing across the throne room in pursuit of its target.
In pursuit ofher.
Elyria looked up as the blow careened toward her, immediately darting out of its path, her wings flaring wide as she took to the air.
The magic followed.
Like it was tied to her, like it would seek her across the realms, it pursued Elyria across the throne room. Cedric watched in horror as she bobbed and wove, zipping through the air in a serpentine fashion. Still, it did not stop.
Skewered on the end of Ashrender, Audaxus released a wet laugh—his final sound. A small branch of scarlet power split from the main bolt, jumping ahead, clipping the very edge of Elyria’s wing. A flash of searing pain rippled down the bond, tearing the air from Cedric’s lungs. His heart plummeted into his stomach as she crumpled to the ground on the far side of the throne room.
“Ellie!” cried Kit. She was moving. So was Nox, and Sephone, and two of the remaining royal guards.
None of them were close enough. None of them fast enough.
Cedric didn’t think.
He didn’t have a single conscious thought.
Didn’t know what he was doing when he hooked himself onto that shimmering thread between them andsteppedtoward her.
He emerged from the shadows right in front of her, just as she was getting to her feet. Her eyes were wide as they took in Cedric, then moved over his shoulder to stare down what was surely that wild bolt of blood magic coming straight for them.
Through the bond, Cedric felt her fear. Not just for herself, but an all-consuming, visceral panic for him.
She wanted him to live.
But for Cedric, there was no choice to be made.
No hesitation.
