Page 203 of The Incendiary

Molochai side-eyed the icy blades beside his head. “Remember what I said, Aryella. That was your last chance. Do that one more time, and I’ll make this much more painful for them.”

With a frustrated grunt, I let the shards fall.

“A few months ago,” he continued, “I sent Insidions to capture your friend Gemma Tremaine. A test to see how much you’ve grown, and you have grown a great deal. I watched as you burned over one hundred of my fighters in a single blow, then saved Gemma’s life. Clearly, you’ve been working very, very hard.” He dragged his finger along my jaw. “Despite your little scuffle in the showers.”

I felt the blood drain from my face. As if I could forget his hand in it.

Molochai’s lips peeled back, revealing his unnervingly white grin. “When Finch sent me reports of a brash little Brinnean causing a disturbance in that fortress, I knew it had to be you. I told Alec Gerard to use your husband’s death to earn back the commander’s trust, and then find a way to break you.” He chuckled. “The latter wasn’t difficult, given you’d already angered them.”

He had been following me, tracking me this whole time. Simeon’s wards around the fortress and the Caves protected us from Molochai’s dark magic, but not from him.

“I was watching your husband, too, you know,” Molochai whispered against my ear. “Did you really think those imbeciles found his dead body on their own?”

I allowed myself one broken sob, but I wanted to sink to the ground and crumble.

“I will say, Aryella,” he sighed, studying my face, “you’ve proven yourself impressively difficult to kill. But I think… you aren’t so difficult to break.”

Shadows began to whip and swirl through the air, increasing in speed. Mavic thrashed in terror against his binds. Ezra pleaded with his eyes while he screamed my name, the sound muffled by his gag. It took everything in me not to run to them. That would only make this worse.

“I’m going to drain your bleeding heart dry, Aryella Smyth.” Molochai backed away slowly, sneering hatefully. “You can only save one life at a time. Choose wisely. I’ll see you again soon.”

As he disappeared into a gust of swirling darkness, his shadows snapped through the air like a whip in front of Mavic and Ezra, slitting both of their throats.

FIFTY-NINE

ARYELLA

My horrified scream pierced the air.

Mavic’s and Ezra’s binds disappeared with Molochai’s departure, causing them to drop to the ground. I lunged for them, attempting to catch one in each arm, but they were too heavy and too far apart. While Ezra knelt with his hands at his throat trying to stem the flow of blood, Mavic lay helplessly on his back, head turned toward me, his body violently convulsing. Both stared at me, wide-eyed and terrified, silently begging for help.

Molochai couldn’t have known Gemma was pregnant. He didn’t know that I had saved two lives that day. I’d done it once, and I could do it again. I had to.

Both cuts were fatal, but Mavic’s was deeper.

Wasting no time, I lunged for Mavic, who’d already fallen unconscious. The moment I felt Viridian’s green power flowing out of me, I turned to Ezra, who was growing pale but still sat upright. “I’ll save you! I can save you both!” I insisted.

He managed a weak nod before letting out a low, gurgling groan and crumpling into a limp heap.

“Hold on, Ez!” I begged, willing the power to flow faster. “Please hold on!” When Mavic’s wound finally closed, I removed one hand and shifted close enough to reach Ezra, too. I wanted to give Mavic even more, but my vision started to blur, and my knees trembled. I was already fading.

When Mavic sucked in a long, steady breath as the color returned to his face, I gasped in relief and turned completely to Ezra. He was barely awake now.

“You’re going to be all right,” I promised, placing both hands over the gash. His groan made me think the cut wasn’t that deep, but he was still losing too much blood. I began to sway in place as my body drained of its power.

Ezra blinked up at the sky while his heartbeat and breathing steadied. It was working, but slowly.

“Come on, come on, come on.” My voice collapsed into a weak rasp. It didn’t matter if I fell unconscious. Elias would find me, or when Mavic and Ezra came to, they could return me to the Caves.

When the gash on Ezra’s neck finally closed, I sank back onto my knees beneath the weight of exhaustion. It hurt just to hold up my head, so I let it fall forward between my shoulders, chin to chest.

“You’re okay,” I muttered, nearly incoherent. “You’re okay.”

“Ary?” Ezra’s bloody hand reached for mine.

“You’re okay,” I repeated. I needed to lie down. “I’m⁠—”

“Ary.”