I would sacrifice myself if necessary, but I couldn’t leave the duke alive when I did. That monster had to be stopped.
“Ellery!” Ryker shouted.
The scent of Ryker’s blood filled my nose. I didn’t know how I could tell his apart from the different pools, streaks, and rivers of blood surrounding me, but I could.
And his blood was rapidly spilling onto the floor as another combatant sliced his sword across his chest. I winced in sympathy as I finally found words again.
“Get behind me!” I screamed.
He had to feel me drawing from him and my power growing, but I didn’t stop it. It was time to end this.
CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE
Ellery
“Fuck—”
Whatever Ryker was about to say was cut off as Samael seized his arm and dragged him behind me. I didn’t like the brief appreciation I felt for the man I’d come to loathe.
That was something to deal with later… if we survived. But for now, he’d gotten Ryker to safety. They also kept the door behind us blocked and my friends safe—I hoped.
Power surged as Samael and Ryker scuffled behind me and the soldiers backed away. They gawked at me, their mouths agape and their eyes bulging.
I was sure my eyes glowed as the guards scrambled to get away. Most were careful to avoid the chasm I’d created, but a few of the more frightened ones plunged over the edge.
My hair rose around me, my arms lifted, and my feet left the ground as a glowing white light engulfed me. Some of the guards screamed and tried to run, but they wouldn’t get far. Others had accepted their fate, dropping their weapons and falling to their knees.
Lightning fired all around me, illuminating the hall and reflecting off the blood to create streaks of sizzling, white light. The air crackled, the colors intensified, and something within me built to a breaking point.
Tipping my head back, I screamed as a powerful force tore outward in a blast that unleashed my lightning. It flashed out and to the sides but didn’t erupt behind me.
I managed to keep that part of it restrained and my family safe as it ripped out from my fingertips and erupted from my chest, tearing down both sides of the hall. It poured from my mouth and eyes as it tore through the floor above us. Which meant I had more control over it than I’d expected.
The eruption broke through the walls, threw our enemies aside, and blew out the floor. It ripped apart the combatants it hit; their blood sprayed over me while arms, legs, feet, fingers, and other parts pummeled my body.
Ryker’s presence against my back funneled more power into mine. While I couldn’t see them, I suspected he was trying to shelter Samael. As the last of the guards fell, I drew the power back into me and drifted down to what remained of the floor.
We stood on a small ledge at the edge of a newly opened cavern, but the cavern wasn’t new at all. The castle and homes of the city of the dead lay below.
Debris from the palace and body parts had fallen onto the roofs and streets below. Stone and rock clattered and banged as pieces of the palace continued to break away, bounce off what remained of the walls, and topple into the oblivion below.
The hallway had vanished, replaced by the outside at both ends. To my right, that fresh air was a few hundred feet away, but to my left, it was more like a thousand.
Across the way, a hole had been carved through the wall, revealing another tunnel leading to the outside. And above, the stars twinkled, and one of the moons hung low.
I drew the fresh, crisp air into my lungs as I tried to register what happened. Anyone in the path of my explosion was dead, friend or foe, but I didn’t know if that included the duke.
“Holy shit,” Samael breathed. “Holy fucking shit. What was that? The dungeon’s gone! Where did the dungeon go? Is that a fucking town down there? What the fuck just happened?”
“Ellery.”
Ryker’s hand curled around my arm. I looked over my shoulder at his blood-streaked, pain-etched face. His eyes had returned to their beautiful, mercury color.
“Where did the fucking town come from?” Samael demanded.
“It’s a long story,” Ryker said. “Ellery?—”
“I’m okay,” I assured him as I wrapped my fingers around his hand. “I’m okay. We have to get you out of here, and we have to find the duke.”
