Page 148 of Black Sea

Mornon needed to be destroyed, and only one thing could accomplish that.

My death.

In one go, we would strip him not only of the chance to reclaim Calien’s Crystal for his awful plans but also of the strength to survive. To go on without me, his mate.

Maybe he would end his life the moment he saw mine extinct. Perhaps he would run away and never return, barricading himself in his own suffering forever.

I couldn’t be certain, as he was half witch.

Right now, the only thing I was sure of was that I needed to die to defeat him once and for all.

So, with tears streaming down my cheeks, I let my eyes scan the ongoing battle until I spotted my brother. With his gray armor covered in blood and the blackish substance of the creatures, he decapitated a monster, and then, as if sensing me watching, his eyes snapped to me.

We stared at each other, and time appeared to stretch into an endlessness.

Please.

I gave him my most pleading look, praying that he would make the right decision before Mornon returned to me.

And he did.

Furious, he drove his sword into the ground to grab the bow. He pulled the white-fletched arrow from the quiver, and as tears escaped his eyes, he nocked it.

I sighed with deep gratitude and turned my upper body toward him. I closed my eyes with a small smile, prepared to face my destiny.

“Araton, don’t!” Father shouted.

Next, I heard the string snap as it was released.

82

But the arrow didn’t hit my heart.

My eyes snapped open, and I jolted. Mornon was positioned in front of me, slightly to the side. The dart my brother had shot was in his outstretched hand, its point just inches from my chest.

Terrified, I watched the bulging veins on the back of his hand, then flinched as the arrow shaft disintegrated in his fist.

Mornon took a deep breath and tilted his head slightly back, his sharp gaze piercing the night through the spruces’ branches. His demons suddenly melted, returning to hazy shadows on the ground.

Mornon canted his head toward Araton in a disturbing way. “It’s finally time for you to die, Prince.”

“No, please, no!” I screamed, tugging at the chains of darkness as I helplessly watched him move toward my father and brother, who stood prepared to fight him. “ Mornon!” I roared with all the anger and pain within me.

He stopped.

It was the first time I called him by his real name, and even though I had said it before, it now left a bitter taste in my mouth. A wrong taste.

I watched the tight set of his shoulders—it seemed like he wasn’t breathing at all. Maybe I wasn’t either. “Please,” I said, my voice small.

He lifted a hand and elegantly rotated it. With a gust of hissing wind, the darkness rose around us, transforming into a cage of endless height that kept us apart from my father and Araton.

I heard them desperately shouting my name, but I couldn’t even make out their silhouettes beyond the blanket of darkness.

The shadows that restrained me suddenly retreated. My dress sleeves were blackened around my wrists, and I felt a burning sensation around my bare ankles.

But it was nothing compared to the warmth Mornon’s gaze stirred in me when he turned.

He kept his glowering eyes locked to mine as he moved with studied slowness between me and the stone altar.