Page 280 of Vasmora

He closed his eyes to a vision of Maevyth’s face.

Tightening at his throat had him gasping, and Zevander opened his eyes to a thin, gossamer band stretched from Pestilios’s palm to his neck. He didn’t bother to tear away the constriction, but forced his mind to focus on his power. Stars burst behind his eyes as the garrote cinched his airway, and Zevander heaved, his vision narrowing.

Another ear-splitting shriek reverberated through the nest.

The crushing force lessened, and Pestilios snapped his head back, body convulsing.

A ragged and desperate bellow burst through Zevander’s teeth, and he channeled his remaining strength into one last surge of power.

Flames rippled over the god’s skeletal body, and he flew backward, slamming into the opposite wall of the nest.

Zevander drew back his magic and rolled to the side, breaths sawing in and out of him, muscles battered by exhaustion. He kept his palm flexed, aimed at where Pestilios remained frozen.

The god’s black eyes rolled over white, like those of a shark. Thin flesh and bone vanished to black curls of smoke that drifted toward the ceiling before fading, just like the spiders.

Lothare must’ve reached the vein.

The cloud of black vanished, and Gavroche collapsed back onto the web, his body limp and pale, chest cavity cracked open.

Ruined.

Zevander crawled over the web toward him, his lungs burning with every inhale, muscles threatening to buckle.

Rage and sorrow shook Zevander as he took in the state of the boy. A spindling child, powerless, but strong enough to hold on until Pestilios was trapped by the amulet.

Zevander closed his eyes and summoned the strength to push to his feet. After unclasping his cloak, he carefully lifted Gavroche just enough to wrap him inside of it, concealing the boy’s destroyed body, and carried him out of the web.

CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN

MAEVYTH

Minutes ago …

Quiet groans drifted from behind, and I turned toward where Rykaia lay slumped against the wall, her head rolling back and forth, a groggy murmur climbing her throat.

“Rykaia,” I said, kneeling beside her.

With Rho still clutched in his arms, Gavroche scampered out of the way, giving me room to inch closer.

I took her hand in mine, watching her rouse from sleep.

Her eyes fluttered, and she exhaled a moan that sharpened to a gasp as she jolted to her knees. “Branimir! Branimir!” She jerked her head around, scanning for her brother.

I swallowed back the tears rising to my throat. “Rykaia, look at me. You’re safe.”

She turned toward me, her chest rising and falling in panicked breaths. “Maevyth, where’s my brother?”

The pain in my eyes must’ve portrayed the words I couldn’t bring myself to say aloud.

At first, she shook her head, her lip trembling. A lingering look over her shoulder, where the cocoon sat torn open, seemed to piece whatever confusion clung to her mind. Tears trickled over her cheeks and weakness claimed her muscles, her body collapsing against mine. “Oh, no. No, no.”

I wrapped my arms around her, every shudder of her pain wringing tears from my own eyes.

Her heartrending cries carried a pitch of agony and regret, and the way she curled her fingers so tightly into the fabric at my arms told of her pain. That the gaping loss in her heart was bigger than she’d imagined.

The weight of her grief saturated my shoulder.

Until she finally stilled, her breaths trembling with the threat of more tears. Slowly, she lifted her head, eyes vacant. “He came after me. After that spider dragged me through the tunnels.” Anguish carried into her voice, as though she relived that moment over again, and her eyes shined with more tears. “I was certain I was dead. Surrounded by darkness and monsters. Alone. Then I heard Branimir’s voice,” she said, her own voice cracking. “The sound of it took me back to that night, when the Solassion soldiers attacked. When I … lay pinned on the floor in a pool of my mother’s blood.” She lowered her gaze, lip quivering. “And Branimir … he came out of nowhere. He told me to hide. And he slaughtered every soldier. But this time …” Her jaw clenched around the emotions visibly crumpling her expression. “This time he told me to sleep.” A sob broke free, and more tears cut a salty path through the dirt on her cheeks.