Page 155 of Queen of Shadows and Ruin

“Zarya,” he called, searching through the muddled layers of their connection, seeking out that bright spot that signaled her presence. He filtered out his magic, allowing it to flow through her in glowing threads of copper surrounding them both.

It was borne on instinct. Something deep inside his subconscious called to him, and he sought her out. He wandered through the paths of their connection, turning through dark, shadowed corners and halls as he hunted for the glimmer of her life spark.

In his mind, he saw himself running, tripping over endless corridors and careening around corners only to be met with long stretches of nothing. But he wouldn’t give up. He would fight for her until his very last breath.

He reached blindly into dim shadows pressing against his copper light. The darkness seemed to have no end, and he fell through it like he was sinking to the bottom of the sea.

It didn’t take long before he felt his heart slowing, his pulse turning sluggish. His chest grew tight with gasping breaths as sweat beaded on his forehead. It had been too long. He was dying, too.

“Zarya,” he gasped as he tripped, reaching out to save himself. His hands met with nothing, and he tumbled in an endless black void, end over end, as his head throbbed and his vision spun.

Still, he fought. He kicked, wrestling against an invisible current. He righted himself and landed once again on solid ground with a thump, his knees melting out from under him.

His pace was slowing, and his heart along with it. He collapsed onto all fours and began crawling, dragging himself deeper, seeking out the shimmer of Zarya shining in the dark.

He plodded slowly over cold stone as he felt death closing around him. His ribs tightened, and he choked on his dwindling breaths as his heart skipped several beats.

How much longer could he last?

Finally, the tiniest speck flared in the distance. It felt a million miles away, but he pushed forward. One hand. One knee. Again and again, he fought against the waves of death threatening to take him over.

The spot grew brighter as he gathered the last of his strength, heaving himself closer. Then he saw her. She lay on the ground with her eyes closed and her arms limp at her sides.

She was pure starlight, glowing in silver, the reflection so bright he had to shield his eyes. A wash of nausea crested over him, and he curled inwards as a wave of pain shot through his chest.

He clutched his heart as he dragged himself closer, using his arm to push himself, his feet scrambling against the ground.

He propelled himself forward with a groan born of every ounce of strength he’d cultivated through thousands of hours of training during his life—every battle he’d faced, every war he’d lost, every moment of triumph.

Each of these events had come together to mold him into the man he’d become.

When he’d fought against the kings and queens of Rahajhan, claiming land in the name of his home, when he’d stood up to his father, when Gopal had those words carved into his skin, and when he almost died trying to escape, Rabin had been preparing for this moment.

For her. He hadn’t known it until recently, but everything had been leading him to Zarya and the destiny she had to fulfill. But Rabin had a destiny, too. He’d been chosen as her protector. As the one who would save her at the end.

And fuck, it would be a cold day in hell before he failed at the one and only thing he’d been put on this plane to do.

With a final heave, he swung his arm up, wrapping his hand around her wrist, and then… they both exploded in a burst of silver starlight.

FIFTY-FIVE

A rush of power surged through Zarya’s blood. Magic. But it wasn’t magic she’d ever experienced before. Rabin had saved her from near death twice, but he’d never saved her from this blackness swallowing her whole.

Her thoughts were clear, but her body felt like it was floating inside nothing a hundred miles away. She could feel her life draining away. A humming, a strange resonance echoed in her ears. She felt no pain. She was adrift in a sea of emptiness, hovering through blackness, her mind tumbling through her skull.

She was supposed to be doing something.

Waiting for something, but it felt so distant. So far away.

Something touched her. A warm hand wrapped around her wrist, and she recognized that touch like she knew her own heartbeat.

She had only a moment to register that either she had reached the end… or this was another chance.

Light exploded around her, silver and searing her eyelids. That muted numbness of a moment ago suddenly morphed into the greatest pain she’d ever known. She screamed, her back arching as a cresting wave of agony slammed into her flesh, squeezing her bones so hard they creaked.

She screamed and screamed as the light grew brighter and brighter, but she felt it.

Her life returned, flowing through her veins, her blood swirling, her dead heart stuttering to a steady pulse.