Two buses reached us, soldiers pouring from them, my former instructors at the helm.
Cyrus grinned. “Looks like you’ve run out of time, sweetness.”
“Wrong.” I jutted my chin. “I’m still breathing.”
We stood in a stalemate, the battlefield between us a nightmare of lifeless bodies and scattered limbs bathed in the unflinching light of Theirland’s twin suns. Lavender and gold streaked the sky, casting an eerie glow over the blood-soaked earth, where rivers of crimson carved fresh paths through the flatland. Overhead, a restless flock of scavenger birds circled, their shrill cries piercing the thick, heavy silence as they awaited their feast.
The fresh wave of CURED soldiers flooded the scene, surging from behind the former high prince and hurrying to kill the array of glowers trapped around me. Men and women I admired. Many more would die today if I didn’t stop Cyrus. But how could I strike down the man I loved?
Was he still the man I loved, though?
In the morning’s brightness, I noticed his missing facial brand. No sign of it remained, and my guts twisted. More evidence of the monster he’d become.
What other changes had Astan made to his body? To his mind? Hisheart?
“It doesn’t have to end this way, Arden,” he called, grin widening.
“You’re right.” I huffed and puffed my breaths. “Walk away, and I’ll spare you.”
His grin turned wry. Thin, snakelike shadows coiled up his arms and banded around his neck before absorbing into his skin. “I admit, your new confidence is adorable.”
“Isn’t it?” I rocked on my heels and gripped my sword with more force. Cyrus was a god of a man in more ways than one. Beautiful, tall, and powerfully built, with features somehow both surprisingly soft and far too harsh. The contradictions fit. He’d always been a paradox. Demanding yet indulgent. Mysterious but open. Perfect in his imperfections. An opponent feared by the world and yet my greatest ally. From the moment I’d first laid eyes on him, he’d fascinated me. And now, here we were, soldiers on opposite sides of a war I’d only just learned I’d been fighting my entire life.
A chorus of grunts and groans and clinking metal accompanied pops of gunfire.
“You won’t kill me.” Urgency whipped at my back, propelling me on. Soal claimed I would stab the new emperor and live a romance. The comeback story of all comeback stories. Very well. I would do what I didn’t do before and trust him. “But I will hurt you if you continue on this path.”
He tsked. “You give me too little credit and yourself too much. I will do whatever proves necessary to secure my rule.” A promise he’d made at the start of this journey. “Join my team. Merciful leader that I am, I’ll give you one more chance. Refuse, and my desire for you will no longer factor into my decisions.”
There was no reason to ponder my response. I lifted my sword. “I will never help you destroy Soal.”
Cyrus hiked his broad shoulders. “That’s disappointing but not shocking. Just know you chose this, sweetness.”
Lie! “No, sweetie.Youchose it.”
He drew in a deep breath, then released a short, sharp exhalation. “Let’s get to it, then.”
“Yes. Let’s.” Heart a war drum, I ran at him.
He ran at me.
We met in the middle ...
I swung my sword of fire. He blocked with ease, as I expected—and hoped.
“Come now, Lady Pink,” he said, grinning as he deflected my next strikes. “Your jealousy is cute but tardy. You had your chance.”
I knew I couldn’t get past him in a physical fight. He’d trained me, and this student hadn’t yet surpassed her teacher. But overcoming him with my skill wasn’t Plan A. As I thrust and parried, I confessed, “I love you, Cyrus.”
He lost the grin. “Not as before. I can tell.”
“I need your help one last time.”
“I don’t care. My desire for you has already faded.” He snapped the words at me. “You are alive only as a backup host for Briar Rose. Soon, someone else will be found.”
Astan was a liar, incapable of speaking the truth. I could no longer trust anything Cyrus said, even this. Not desire me? Ha!
I took my next strike a little slower, hoping he’d take the bait.
