Then Emberline screamed.
She’d gotten a few blows in, a cut on his shoulder, a small nick on his forearm.
Nico kept driving her back, back, until her back hit the ring’s stone wall, prisoners hanging over the edge to get a closer look. She was trapped, her breath coming fast, her eyes bright with panic.
Gabriel was fighting to reach her in time, dragging the crush of guards forward a step, but he would never make it in time. Neither of us would.
“Nico.” Her pleading turned ragged, as if she knew it was no use. “Please. Please, listen to me. You don’t want to do this. Youdon’t.”
His response was a brutal strike that jarred her arms so hard, the broken sword nearly flew from her hands.
I thrashed, chains biting deeper into my wrists. “Stop this. I’ll give you whatever you want. Do whatever you want with me, just let her go. Let thembothgo.”
Gods.If Nico killed her, when he woke up, when he found out what he’d done…
“Like I said, the purest kind of despair.” The Overseer gloated in my ear. “Should I call this off, Prisoner 1445, or should I let him slice her apart and have the healers piece her back together? Perhaps not good as new but… good enough for my needs.”
“I’ll fucking…”
One of the guards holding me slammed a fist into my broken ribs, low and hard.
I screamed, roaring my rage to the heavens, blood and spit flying out of my mouth. Across the pit, Gabriel’s eyes kept lifting to that narrow slit of sky, tracking something beyond the dome, as if he could somehow fly away to freedom. I wanted to scream at him, too.
Dosomething.
Doanything.
But what could any of us do against this place and a sadistic, ancient vampire who ruled this place like a god?
Nico’s next strike came down, nothing but mindless fury.
Emberline dropped to one knee to absorb the blow, and that broken blade cracked the rest of the way, metal screeching in protest as it shattered into pieces, splinters buried in the sand around her.
She looked up at him, nothing but forgiveness in her resigned expression, her hair loose around her face, the broken hilt clutched in her right hand. Blood ran from her temple, streaking down her cheek like a tear.
Still beautiful. Still brave.
The sight stirred something primal inside me. Somethingferal. I would burn the world to ashes until there was nothing left. Fucking nothing.
Fire stirred in my belly as the demon lifted his head, sensing an opening.
Nico towered over my wife, raised his sword high, poised for the killing blow as time slowed down to a crawl.
Heat crawled through my body in a roaring wave, boiling my blood.
“Stop,” the scream tore up my throat. “Nico…listen to me.”
Nico’s sword started to fall, and Emberline’s eyes flicked toward the platform, our eyes meeting.
My wife, my magnificent, amazing wife, didn’t look afraid.
She looked at peace, as though she’d come here expecting to die, and the only thing she regretted was that she hadn’t been able to save the rest of us first.
My heart broke clean in half.
Then the worldsplit.
The stone beneath my feet bucked as an explosion hit the Fossa like a fist. Torches shuddered. The crowd screamed, the sound changing from bloodthirsty to terrified in an instant. Then the domed roof above us groaned, cracks spiderwebbing across the stone.
