Iwas everywhere.Iwas everything.Iwas this world andIfelt the very last of that imprisonment melt away.
“Tori, it’s over.Comeback to me.”Abraxas’ voice sounded like it was reaching from the other side of the universe.
Iwas everywhere, and it was too far.Iwas everything, and it was too much.Ifelt it coming.Atidal wave of power.Mana, more than anyone could handle, more than any of us could handle.Isnapped my hands free ofJunandPallas, severing our connection as it crashed over me.
“Tori, what did we just—?”Pallastried to ask, but the last thingIsaw was horror crashing overJun’sface as he screamed, “STOP!”
Icouldn’t stop.Itried to pull back from that river, butIcouldn’t escape it.Thepower flow from the earth was too great; it was no longer a river but a flood beyond proportion.Theflow wasn’t warm and comforting but burning hot; the magma and heat of the earth tore through me.
Itwasn’t like dragonfire.Thatpain had been immense, but it had been real.Thiswas a pain no fae, human, or dragon was meant to feel.Itburned, and it froze.Itsliced, and it crushed.Itdestroyed, and it created.Thiswas the pain of an entire world, long abused, eras beyond imagination condensed into a single moment, andIfelt my body fracturing beneath the weight of it.Itried to see, but there was nothing.Itried to hear, but there was only infinite sound.Itried to move, but my body wasn’t mine any longer.Ireached for my bond, but there was nothing but the earth and the sky and sea.Alltried to speak to me in a languageIcould never understand.
Suddenly, the pain ended as if it had never been.Thenoonday sky was filled with stars that rushed for me, and that riverIdanced at the edge of my entire life finally consumed me.Icould hearAbraxasshouting through our bond and feel him tugging my heart back to him.Thistime, it wasn’t enough, and the river swept me away.
Chapter 73
Abraxas
Somethingwas terribly wrong.Insteadof the smile of victory thatIexpected to see onTori’sface, she was locked in place; her expression was contorted with pain.
“Tori, it’s over.Comeback to me.”Ireached out to her, but the surrounding air was hot enough to burn even me.Itried to push through, but the flesh of my fingers sizzled away and charred to black. “Tori, you must stop!”
Heronly answer was her body convulsing and seizing erratically as the power coursed through her.Hereyes pressed closed and then shot open, the blue light of the earth streaming out like a beacon.Sheopened her mouth in a silent scream, expelling more blue light.
Power, pure and undiluted, shot up from the ground beneath us.IsweptPallasandJunaway asIgrabbed her, my skin sizzling in a sensationIhad never felt.Manaflowed through me, but it was useless.Herskin cracked open beneath my hands; her body couldn’t contain the power inside.Idid the only thingIcould, holding her to me and keeping our bondtight.Thepain was unspeakable, butIwould endure it.Iwould endure anything for her.Anythingbut this.
Thebond that tied our hearts stretched, andIsobbed. “Tori, you can’t.Youcan’t leave me behind.”
Deathhad no pity.Thebond stretched until it was no more than the shadow of hope, and she was gone.Therewas nothing.Onlysilence.Shewas gone.Icouldn’t hear her laugh, her labored breathing, or the beating of her heart.Therewas nothing.Icouldn’t even feel her cold body in my hands or see her beautiful face.Herskin cracked like mud baked under the summer sun, the lines filled with the remnants of that glowing power that consumed her.Therewas nothing because, without her, the world ceased to exist.
Chapter 74
Pallas
Abraxasran into the eruption of mana that had exploded from the earth below.Itswirled like a giant twister, the vortex pulling us in.IgrabbedJun’shand and tried to pull him away from where the earth continued to crumble below our feet.
“Ihave to help her!”Icould barely hearJunover the thrum of power.
“Jun, there is nothing we can do.Abraxasis with her—”
Handsclutched my arms, andIwas being hauled up and away.KaleosandRaulagrabbed me andJun, pulling us back to the relative safety of the palace wall as we watched the mana rage.
Then, in an instant, it was gone.Somesunk back into the earth while the rest floated away into the sky.Atits core,Abraxasknelt withToriin his arms.
“No…no, no, no.”Junpulled againstRaula, but she held him fast.
“Itcan’t be,” she murmured.
Abraxasrose and turned, never once taking his eyes off his mate.Tori’shead flopped back as her arms hung down, swingingwith no control.Hernormally tan skin was sickeningly pallid.Itwas cracked in patches all over like all the moisture had been sucked out, and beneath it glowed a haunting blue-green.Hereyes were open, dull, and unmoving.Shewas very much dead.Notwisting shadows or uncertain fates.Shewas gone.
Raula’sgrip faltered, andJunlunged for his sister.
“Tori,Tori!WAKEUP!”Hegrabbed her face, twisting it towards him.Magichad no effect on the dead.
Hescreamed, and the entire world shook.Everyonecovered their ears, butAbraxas, who just stared at the woman in his arms, almost as lifeless as she.
Myears rang, soIcouldn’t hear what was said, butJunshouted atAbraxas.Hereached out and grabbed the man’s armor around his neck to shake him.Abraxasdidn’t even react.
Junsaid something else, and finally,Abraxas’ face changed; something like life returned to his eyes.Henodded and strode off.Junfollowed right behind him.Iran to follow whenJunspun around.Helocked eyes with me, andIsaw the apology.
