Page 128 of Ashen Wings

“I’m not going to let you get yourself killed back there.”

“You’d leave him behind?” I know we need to go. Any chance of his survival depends on Saphine reaching the egg, but my body refuses to move.

“Nova, stop!” Isra wraps his hands over my shoulder and presses into me. “You think this is easy for me?”

“Let go of me, Isra Kaari!” My fists fly and the blows land on unyielding strength.

“Jace is the only one capable of holding them off. He bought us time to get out of here. I’m not going to let you fuck that up.”

Saphine inhales a sharp breath and her violet eyes flare in the dim light, like she reflects my grief with nowhere to aim it. We’re strangers after all. This isn’t her loss to mourn.

I go still like I’ve lost a vital organ and maybe I have. “Fuck you.”

Isra throws his hands around his neck and paces away from us, stopping short with a sharp intake of breath. “Fuck…” I hear him whisper.

The ground trembles as the dragons descend. Wind whips leaves and grime against our legs, coating the marshy forest in disturbed snow. First Tenebris drops through the canopy, his obsidian scales reflecting the sunset like collapsed stars. Sera follows with wings slicing the air like blades.

Roe leaps from Sera before she’s even fully landed. “Where’s Jace?”

The three of us stay silent. I wrap my arms around my torso, simply to keep from falling apart.

Isra’s quiet curses cut through me, like I’m walking on broken glass. I can’t breathe, can’t think. My system is shutting down. Maybe it’s shock or utter devastation, but Jace’s absence is like a missing limb. I left a part of myself out there, and now, I can’t face the others without it. Without him.

Roe’s eyes flick between us, panicked and searching for a face that isn’t here.

“He told us to run,” I say finally. There’s a brief moment of relief to see the she-demon, but it’s gone as swift as it came when she launches toward me, hand raised and ready to strike. I don’t flinch away. Whatever pain she plans on administering is far less than I deserve.

“What the hells were you thinking?” Her words lash at me like a whip. “You left him out there? Alone?”

Isra rises and steps between us. “Roe⁠—”

“No.” She jabs a finger toward me, jaw tight enough to crack teeth. “He is the King of Shadow, the heir to the Midnight Throne, and he sacrificed his life for yours? A shit-stained mercenary from nowhere.”

“You think I don’t know that?” Rage roars right through me, white hot and blazing.

“If he dies what happens to the people of Shadow? He has no heirs. You’ve damned an entire fucking faction!” Her nails dig into her palms when she throws her fists to her sides. Tears well in her glittering blue eyes. “You abandoned him out there…you left him to die? How could you, Nova?”

It’s the first time since we met that she speaks my name, and rather than a quiet victory, it’s a fucking death sentence.

“It wasn’t her decision!” Isra booms, himself between us. “Lock this shit up, Roe!”

“We’re alive because of him, Princess Mercora,” I seethe, teeth flashing.

Roe goes rigid.

“Yeah, I figured out secret Plan A. You think I simply fled without a glance over my shoulder? Don’t stand there and claim you shouldn’t have trusted me when you, too, have been withholding.” The words scrape out of me, thin and sharp.

“You don’t know shit about me.” Anguish flickers over her face, simmering the rage collecting on my tongue. “Or my past.”

“I don’t need to know every detail, Princess. Just the ones I risk my fucking life for.” Fury bubbles straight to my head.

“Call me that again and I’ll slice out your tongue!” Roe growls.

“Fucking try me.” My fists curl at my sides.

“Everyone shut the fuck up and mount up,” Isra barks. I can’t bring myself to meet Tenebris’s garnet eyes. I’ll shatter if I do. Roe falters for a moment, her eyes flashing with a grief that burrows deep into her posture. “The ward is down. The lurkers have broken through and there’s no time.”

“What do you mean the ward is down?” Roe asks, her eyes narrowing.