“Well, this little reunion has been fun and all, but we should really be going,” Eryk says, nervously looking around at his dead army. He was content to stay in the background until now. “It seems this was just one big misunderstanding.”
He looks around for Frederick.
Kingston throws what looks to be a piece of an arm at his chest. It rolls down and sticks to the sand. I can only assume it’s the only part of Frederick that’s left.
“Unfortunate,” Eryk says nervously under his breath, staring at the severed limb.
One minute, he’s speaking, and the next, Kingston is standing behind him, dragging a dagger across his throat. His dark, rimmed eyes never leave mine as he cuts into the flesh and bone.
Ambrose pulls a dagger from its sheath, throwing it with deadly precision.
It comes so close I can feel it slice along my cheek as it lands in the center of Yaretta’s throat. My hair slips through her fingers, and the thud of her body echoes across the pit.
Rhett raises his hands in the air. “Okay, let’s slow down a minute and talk about this.” He backs up, hands raised, until he hits the metal bars of a cell.
Ambrose runs over to me, removing the bindings.
I fall forward, my fingers digging into his shoulders.
“Shh, I’ve got you. I’ve got you,” he whispers in my ear.
Everything in me feels broken. My bones, my will, and my heart all shattered.
Kingston steps toward Rhett. “Fix her,” he demands, venom in his tone.
That fucker isn’t coming near me.
Kingston’s attention slides back to me.
He makes one wrong move, and he’s a dead man.
“He’s a healer. He’ll make this right,” Finnley says, taking in the terrified way I’m looking at his brother. “I promise.”
“He’s the one who fucking did this,” I answer back, fury and pain saturating my words.
Rhett gulps and walks back over to me. His eyes are pinned to the dark wielder, the one whose eyes are burning with the need for vengeance.
Ambrose stands and hovers at Rhett’s back. A promise of retribution follows in his wake.
Kingston’s eyes track every movement, shadows stirring in his palm, waiting for his command.
Rhett places his hands on my back, causing me to jump and shiver uncontrollably. His touch is associated with pain in my brain, and I can’t undo it. Ambrose watches him with barely contained fury.
Warmth seeps through my limbs. Broken bones mend themselves, and torn ligaments fuse back together. The dull throb of pain throughout every vessel slowly starts to dissipate. I finally take a deep breath, void of discomfort for the first time in hours.
Ambrose pulls another dagger from a sheath at his thigh.
“Whoa, whoa,” Rhett says, holding up both hands as he shuffles back. “I fixed her!” he yells, stumbling over his feet as he retreats.
“Stop.” Finnley steps toward Ambrose. “Please, stop. He’s my brother. He’s all I have left.”
“I’m his brother,” Rhett says, frantically nodding in agreement. “He needs me.”
He doesn’t care about Finnley, though, just his own hide. I’m pretty sure deep down Finnley knows it as well. He looks at his brother with such disappointment. But through that lingeringvoid is love. Unconditional. I know, at this moment, if it’s between Rhett and me, he’s choosing his brother.
I also know Rhett isn’t making it out of here alive. I’m pretty sure he knows it, too. He may be a Veil, a soldier, but even after graduating and enlisting, he’s no match for the two students standing in front of him.
Finnley looks at me with a small, sad smile on his lips. “Remember, Nori, we’ll die one day, but today is not that day,” he whispers to me as if we’re the only ones in this pit.
