“I had to,” he whispered. “He was taking you from me. Don’t you see? Ihadto, Elle!”
Before I could move, he grabbed me, yanking me up off the ground. My body was still sluggish from Phoenix’s healing—too weak to fight him off.
He dragged me backward, into the smoke, into the dark.
Across the battlefield, I saw them—Leo and Slade, breaking through the chaos. But they didn’t see me.
They saw Thorne.
Leo dropped to his knees beside Maddie, checking for breath, for life. Slade was already fighting—metal blades launching from his hands, slamming into Vael with precision and fury.
I tried to scream. “No! Phoenix! Slade! Leo—!”
But Finn clamped a hand over my mouth.
Too tight. Too much. I couldn’t breathe.
He was suffocating me.
His grip was iron—cruel and possessive—as he dragged me into the darkness.
And no one saw.
Chapter 44
Leo
Slade never stayed down. Not for long. He couldn’t—not when she still needed us.
Elira’s shadows still hung over the warzone like smoke—thick, curling, restless. It swallowed shapes and sound. The clash of steel and the screams of dying soldiers echoed all around, but none of it told me where she was.
I staggered upright, shaking off the blast from the Shade—Clem, maybe? Didn’t matter. He was dead now. Slade had cut him in half with one of those blades of his.
“Elira!” I shouted, voice raw. “Elle, where are you?!”
No answer.
I turned—saw Slade crumpled nearby, still breathing.
I rushed to him and slammed a fist into his ribs. “Get up, you stupid bastard. We need to get to Elle!”
He groaned, eyes fluttering as he stirred. Sparks still danced under his skin from Vael’s earlier hit. It had rattled him hard.
“Come on, man. Please,” I said, arm under his shoulders, dragging him upright. “Elle’s in trouble,” I muttered. “I can feel it.”
And I could. In my bones. Like something had gone terribly wrong.
Another flash of lightning split the sky ahead—not from the clouds, but from Vael. The skyline lit up again and again. Warnings. Threats.
“There’s something going on out there,” I snapped, helping Slade stumble forward.
We pushed through the fray—cutting down anyone stupid enough to get in our way. Sentinels, corrupted Shades, whatever poor soul thought we’d stop. The world burned around us.
We burst through a cracked archway—and I nearly tripped.
A body lay slumped on the ground. Blood-soaked curls. Violet hair.
“Oh fuck. Mads!” I dropped to my knees beside her, heart slamming against my ribs. “What the hell are you doing out here?” She was barely conscious. Her body trembled under my hands. Blood matted her curls, her skin too pale. I pressed my fingers to her neck. A pulse. Weak. But there. Relief flooded through me—and then fury.
