Movement catches my eye at the end of the room, a cloud of darkness hurtling toward the window. It explodes in a shower of glass, the shadow dissipating to reveal Syrus, wings outstretched as he lands. His feet settle gracefully on the floor beside a small pool of green from the blood dripping off the sword at his side. When he lifts his head to look at us, his eyes burn like glowing coals in a fire.
He is the picture of death and fury, and I feel Kaliban instinctively pull me closer, keeping my back pressed to his front like a human shield.
“This doesn’t have to end with your death, Lord Kaliban,” Syrus says slowly, eyeing the blade Kaliban has just pressed against my stomach. It’s huge and curved, and I’m positive one swipe of it will dump most of my vital organs onto the floor.
“No Kaldare, it ends with yours,” Kaliban snarls. “Jing and Damein will seeI was right. How could a mireborn ever put Infernum’s needs first? You only make our realm weaker, and they’ll be glad when you’re gone.”
“Imake it weaker?” Syrus asks. “When you’ve been sabotaging one of our most precious resources for months now?”
There’s a prickle across my neck, but I barely feel it next to the other sensation that’s been building in me since I woke up—that strange, intense buzzing, like there’s a wasps’ nest inside me, the whole colony ready to break free.
“Duck your head when I tell you to,”Syrus says quickly into my mind.“Be careful not to move anything else, or he’ll cut you.”
He can’t risk channeling through me, not when that takes concentration that could distract him from Kaliban’s movements.
“Not sabotaging. Evolving,” Kaliban says without a shred of regret in his voice. “The lake was a learning curve. It helped me realize that what it—and Malice—really needed was a new guardian. Careful now.” Kaliban’s voice hardens with warning as Syrus takes a step toward us. “You wouldn’t want your little toy to get broken.”
His huge arm tightens across my chest, and it’s suddenly harder to breathe. I’m trapped, forced to stand here enclosed by muscle and steel for the third or fourth time today, waiting to die. A rushing sound rises in my ears, almost keeping me from registering Syrus when he speaks to me in my mind.
“Get ready. On the count of three…”
I won’t let this happen again—not after Hathwell. Not after the boy on the plains. I don’t have to let people rip everything away from me like this.
“One…two…”
I will free myself, whatever it takes.
The buzzing inside me reaches a crescendo, pouring out of my body in a wave of fire and light. Lightning—pure, blinding ephilium bolts of it—sear through me and set Kaliban alight, his whole body going rigid.
He roars in agony, dropping the blade in his hand and staggering backward, shadow unfurling from his palms as he tries to counteract my magic.Syrus gets there first, his shadows hurtling across the room and wrapping around Kaliban’s neck, engulfing his head. The Lord of Rancor falls to the ground, desperately trying to fight off the smothering darkness, but Syrus is already standing over him, seizing the chance to drive his blade hard into Kaliban’s chest.
Kaliban’s frantic movements taper off as his limbs slacken and go still.
Breathing heavily, Syrus turns to stare at me. His face is a war of emotions, each one flashing so quickly across his features that I can’t quite name them all.
There’s joy, relief, awe, and maybe even a touch of fear as he pulls his sword from Kaliban’s chest. “What happened to ducking on three?”
Chapter 32
Syrus
The Rancorite militia fall back quickly from the border after I show them Kaliban’s head.
The last thing that domain needed was another leadership battle so soon after the last one, but unfortunately for Kaliban, he went and threatened the few people I’d risk everything for.
He had to die after that, even before taking into account his other crimes.
Still, with the lake theft and attempted invasion, his other crimes are pretty extensive, so at least that puts me in a good position to explain to the remaining lords of Infernum why my actions were necessary.
“We need to send the message out to Vyle and Baine now,” I say to Viz when we’re back at the castle in Malice, assessing where we stand. “I don’t want them hearing the details from anyone else first. And we’ll invite them to attend an emergency meeting here tomorrow.”
“Or perhaps on more neutral territory?” Viz proposes. “If you go to them, it may seem less threatening.”
I lean back in my office chair, contemplating this. “Yes, good idea. The further away we keep them from Leah, the better.”
“Who are we keeping away from me?” Leah asks from the doorway.
I stand, instantly gravitating toward her. I slide a hand against her cheek, and she leans into my touch, briefly closing her eyes like this contact sustains her as much as it does me. I don’t see how that could be though, not when just the thought of her trapped in Kaliban’s fortress had me turning myself inside out with anger and fear. She can’t need this as much as I do. It’s just not possible.
