Page 109 of Heart of Night and Fire

The kala-hamsa turned south, taking them over the city. And then she understood something else. This beast hadn’t chosen her randomly tonight. It had taken her for a purpose, and she was sure that if it reached its intended destination, something might break forever.

She closed her eyes and the five points of her anchor flared to life, spinning and waiting, quivering with anticipation. She had no real idea of what she was doing. She didn’t understand this magic or how it worked. But she had to try something. And she had to do it fast.

Working on some ancient instinct etched under her skin, she imagined the kala-hamsa burning. She imagined the strength of the stars. She asked them to come to her aid.

Her anchors glowed, their essence calling from somewhere deep, deep inside.

Now she knew their presence had always been with her—she just hadn’t recognized it for what it was. This gift she’d been given had always been an invisible force that guided her, bringing her to this moment. Shaping her into the person she was now and the one she would eventually become.

Like the toss of dice in a game she didn’t know the rules to, Zarya drew on each of her anchors, slow and steady, each with the same intensity, gathering them together into a fist. A little bit of everything, because right now, she needed it all.

The ribbons gathered, forming a whole, wrapping themselves into a glittering sphere.

And then it shattered.

Light, or rather an absence of light, black but sparkling with a million glowing points, burst from her hands in silky, endless ribbons of brilliant darkness.

It seared through the demon, crackling as it filtered through sinew and tissue and bone. It flowed out of the bird’s eyes and mouth. The kala-hamsa shrieked, a mournful cry that signaled its last breaths before it exploded into a spectacular supernova, dissolving into a mess of feathers and flesh.

And then Zarya was falling.

THIRTY-EIGHT

The wind whistled in her ears, and her hair whipped around her face. Her stomach slid into her throat as she fell, her limbs circling into nothing. She squeezed her eyes shut, knowing she was about to die.

It seemed to take forever. She was weightless, her lungs finally open, her body numb and dead to every sensation. Distantly she wondered if she’d feel it when she hit the street or whatever building she was about to collide with. Or would she die immediately?

Suddenly, she lurched, her limbs snapping, as a black shadow surrounded her, throwing her off course. The sharp pain of teeth closed around her waist, and she had only a moment to register she was now trapped inside the jaws of the black dragon.

It landed amid the sounds of mortar and stone crumbling and shattering.

Her neck jolted from the impact, but the massive dragon’s body cushioned the worst of her fall. Released from its teeth, she tumbled end over end before she came to a jarring stop. Dust filled her lungs and eyes, dragging out hacking coughs as tears streamed down her cheeks. The world above her spun as she lay staring at the sky with her chest heaving.

She was alive. Somehow, she was on the ground, and she was alive.

Eventually, she made out the hazy edges of the surrounding buildings. She was somewhere in the city, wreathed by rubble and debris, the air fogged with dust.

The dragon had saved her? But why? Or had it been trying to capture her for itself?

She tried to move and groaned. Her body ached, and her wounds burned, pain searing every inch of her skin. She was broken. She couldn’t move. Pain threatened to pull her under. Her eyelids fluttered shut before they snapped open, only to slam closed again.

Maybe this was how she’d die. After everything—this tiny taste of life and freedom—this was how it ended. Gods, how she wished she could have done so much more. Seen everything. Been everywhere. But she would have to content herself with knowing that at least she’d had these last few months.

She’d finally been properly kissed. She’d found Yasen and Amrita, her first true friends. She’d started to bridge the divide with Aarav, even if they still stood miles apart.

Rabin. She would never understand what to make of any of that. She knew she had felt something, and he was real, not a ghost, but clearly, whatever had happened in the forest had only been an illusion. She thought of the way he’d stared at her with nothing but the blackest of hate. The way he’d spoken to her like he thought she had been the one deceiving him.

What an asshole. It was better this way. Now she could die and not have to suffer a lifetime knowing the man who had so thoroughly enchanted her was actually a grade-A dick.

And Row. She wondered if she would remember him even when she was gone. The lies and the secrets and everything he had kept from her. The worst part was never knowing what he’d been hiding.

She flexed her hand against the ground where it rested, her fingers catching on tiny pieces of stone littering the floor. She flipped up her palm and stared at it, thinking of the strange black light that had come from her fingers. What had that been? Was this what Row had been hiding? Was this why he’d wanted her to keep her magic a secret? What did any of it mean?

She groaned as she shifted, her body aching in protest, needing another minute before she tried to move. Her eyes fluttered closed again, and she let out a deep sigh, holding herself as still as possible, hoping it might hurt less. It didn’t really work.

The city was unnaturally quiet. It reminded her of the eerie stillness of the swamp where she’d spent so much of her life. It almost felt familiar. Like a warm blanket.

Would anyone find her here? Would they come looking for her? How long would it take?