Auden’s vibrant green eyes went wide, contrasting with the vivid crimson streaks of blood marring his face. His hands were still raised from his last strike, the glow of Day reflecting off his pale palms. Sweat matted his copper hair to his forehead, and he gasped as the Shade’s arms sliced into his gut.
Ilain’s scream burned like fire.
Thom watched in helpless horror while Vayden released Deckard to scramble toward his brother. But it was too late.
Trapped in the gravity of the black hole, Auden began to tremble, the edges of his body and the Shade that tackled him shivering violently. Then both were torn apart, instantly consumed by the blackness of the void.
A guttural cry of agony echoed through the Keep.
Ilain.
Thom’s heart broke for his friend. He sobbed quietly, his own life bleeding out on the floor. They were so close. He’d gotten them so close. Yet, they’d still lost.
With a gut-wrenching scream of agony, a fierce gale slammed through the Keep, ripping through it with desperate fury. The gust of wind sent their whole troop and the remaining hundreds of Shades crashing to the floor. Narrowly, Brea avoided landing on top of Thom even as the torrent sent him skidding backward, leaving a streak of blood on the shiny black floor.
The only one left standing was Ilain.
Her arms were raised over her head, and a raging pillar of black fire burned around her, the inferno the color of the onyx infinity around them. In her hands, the Wind and Space Relics glowed with a blazing brightness. Thom imagined she must have torn them from Ethenn and Evylin in her grief-empowered fury.
The flaming pillar burned blisteringly hot as Ilain threw her arms to the side. Fire and Wind became a torrent in her hands, burning and slicing through every Shade that remained. They collapsed to ashes all around them.
Then, shaking violently, Ilain collapsed to her knees and screamed in bitter misery.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
The iron door of the Space Keep slid shut behind them with a rumblingboomthat reverberated in Evylin’s chest. Under the shared weight of Thom’s mutilated body, Evylin and Brea rushed toward the arched windows of the antechamber. He was heavy, slowly turning to dead weight as the blood drained out of him.
Isla helped ease him to the ground, her face wet with tears. “We’ve got to stop the bleeding,” she said, voice surprisingly even amidst the chaos.
Carefully, Rafferty and Vayden deposited Deckard’s unconscious form beside them. Thom’s wheezing rasped loudly in Evylin’s ear. Her whole body trembled. Tears blurred her vision, but she focused on making her brother-in-law as comfortable as possible.
“It doesn’t matter,” Thom said weakly. His gray-blue eyes shifted around, ensuring everyone had made it out of the Keep. Rafferty hovered over Evylin’s shoulder, wringing his hands. Off to the side, Vayden and Isla clung to one another, watching helplessly and openly weeping. And in the far corner, Ilain sobbed in Ethenn’s arms.
Seeing that their remaining friends were safe, Thom met Evylin’s gaze and offered a resigned smile. “Don’t bother. I’m already dead.”
Her breath caught. Losing Auden was horrible enough. Losing Thom too... Deckard would feel the weight of it when he woke. He would be crushed by it, sure that the losses were his fault.
Steadily, Brea checked Thom’s pulse, squatting next to where he was propped upright against the stone wall. Her dark eyes blazed with fury even as she worked with a steady calm, surveying his stomach wound and broken knee. “As you just spoke,mi’caro,” she said casually, “I’d say it’s safe to assume you aren’t dead yet.”
Thom huffed with a straggly, viscous-sounding chuckle. “How much . . . blood . . . have I lost?” he gasped.
Brea gritted her teeth, removing her coat deftly. “Too much.”
“So . . . I’m dead.”
“No, you’re not.” Brea balled the coat and pressed it to the wound.
Thom grimaced at the pressure and the pain. “That’s not...gonna work.”
His words grew weaker by the second, and Evylin’s heart stuttered with fright, pain, and dread. This whole time, she’d feared losing Deckard, and she’d never stopped to consider how heartbroken she’d be to lose Thom. Especially now that he’d grown so much as a person, righting his wrongs and proving his devotion as a brother. He was trying so hard. It wasn’t fair to lose him this soon.
“What do we do?” Rafferty demanded. For the first time ever, he looked truly afraid. “How do we save him?”
Brea remained calm as she leaned heavily against the wound. But she also remained silent, which was its own damning reply.
“Evie.” Thom’s hand gripped her arm weakly. “Tell . . . Jonn . . .”
Evylin shook her head and clasped his bloody fingers. “No,” she refused. “No, you are telling him yourself. You are not allowed to die.”
