Chapter1
Eva
You were too late. You couldn’t save them.
The ground quaked beneath me to match the pounding heart in my chest. I couldn’t breathe; there was not enough air to take into my lungs as I stared at the lifeless figures before me. It was dark, and I was shrouded in complete darkness save for a single light shining down from above.
My mother and Erina were dead. Their soulless gazes stared back at me—an empty, cloudy pit of despair I couldn’t help but sink into. There was nothing left. Not even a single spark.
I screamed out, hoping someone,anyone, would hear me and it wouldn’t be in vain. But there was no one. I was alone.
Scrambling forward, I clutched their bodies to mine as if I could give myself up for them. They were cold, had been cold for days now as I sat here and cried. No one was coming. I was trapped inside my mind, a quiet fortress that continuously replayed the worst events of my life.
Footsteps sounded across the marble floor. Damien appeared out of the shadows, his bright blue eyes shining as he looked down at me with pity. For a moment, he looked normal. Like the boy I remembered.
“Please,” I begged. “Please help them.”
He stood in front of us with his hands behind his back, clicking his tongue at me. “You can’t save them, Eva. You never can. How many times have you tried, and yet it is not enough?”
“I can. I can save them. I just need help. Please!”
Orion was next, a horrific smile stretched tight across his face. “She’ll never learn,” he said to his son. “She is weak. She has always been weak.”
“I’mnotweak!” I screamed, but I didn’t feel the power behind the words. Because I was weak. I couldn’t save them. I couldn’t save anybody.
“They died because of you, Eva,” he sneered. “Everyone will die because of you.”
They would. I could see it.
My vision changed. Suddenly I was surrounded by heat, the clashing of iron ringing in my ears. A battlefield of flames brought right to the city proper. People were screaming and crying in the streets. I ducked low, shielding my head as an explosive sent debris ricocheting into the air.
To my left, I saw Renai and Kalen defending a group of women and children, trying to get them through the palace gates before they came crashing down. Wards crackled around the mammoth building, offering a semblance of safety to those who could make it inside. Renai turned, gripping a pair of children around their stomachs and running toward safety. Their screams echoed in my mind. Two by two she moved until there was only one woman and child left behind. She grabbed them, pulling them along as she called for Kalen over her shoulder.
I screamed in horror at the same time she did, seeing a Horde general plunge a sword into Kalen’s chest—right through his heart. He stumbled to his knees, looking down at the protruding weapon.
Renai ran, ushering people to safety before turning back for Kalen. She slid to her knees next to him, trying and failing to pick him up and drag his body across the line, to no avail. He was already gone, his form going limp against hers. She screamed, cursing the gods as two men came up behind her and grabbed her waist. I knew what would happen, what The Horde did to women before butchering them. They disappeared into the crowd, the sound of her begging imprinted on my soul.
To my right, Matthew and Luka fought against a legion of scaled creatures with solid black eyes. Dark armor gleamed from their riders. More and more swept down from the sky, overrunning the streets until I could hardly see the two men. I screamed and screamed until my voice was hoarse, but I could not move. Could do nothing more but watch as Luka was torn to pieces in broad daylight. His blood coated the cobblestones.
But then the scene quieted. A menacing figure wearing a horned helmet stepped forward out of the crowd. Lachlan was here.
With a final exhausted cry, Matthew surged forward into the arms of the unrelenting army. His shadows descended, talons sprouting from his fingers. He moved as quickly as death, ripping limbs from any bastard who dared to come close. But it wasn’t enough.
As he reached his father, Matthew swung his sword, only to clash against Lachlan’s. The two warriors battled one another, their strength failing. With one great heave, Lachlan pushed Matthew to his knees and brought the blade to his throat. He leaned down and whispered something into Matthew’s ear. My mate turned, tears streaming down his face as he stared at me.
And then Lachlan swung, the sword piercing flesh and bone as Matthew’s body fell back.
“Do you see what you did, Eva?” Orion hissed. “You killed them all. You cannot save your friends, your family, or your mate. They will all die at Lachlan’s command, and it will be your fault.”
I squeezed my eyes shut, willing the vision to go away. It’s just a dream. It’s just a dream. At least, that’s what I tried to tell myself. But it plagued me whether I was awake or asleep. I spent every moment living in fear, wondering who would be next.
Fiery blood soaked into my skin as it sprayed from casualties around me. I saw each of their deaths over and over again, unable to stop the torrent of images colliding in my mind. One by one, they fell. Each death was different, as if to show me every way they would meet their tragic end. And each time, I was too late to stop any of them from happening.
As I woke up to the bleak morning light, I barely made it out the door before I erupted into a maelstrom of flames.
Chapter2
Damien
