Page 200

There was no reason Valen wouldn’t take away Caine’s choice either—whose death now seemed a mercy compared to whatever hell Valen had dragged him through.

“Why tell me this?” Jarek asked, searching for a connection with Neir’s soul. “What good does it do for you or them?”

Neir met his gaze. “You were curious.”

The sword left Jarek’s flesh—yanked back to Neir as if attached to a thread. Jarek fell to his knees, listening to Neir’s fading footsteps as he walked away.

“That’s it?” A new fire ignited in his gut. “All that to leave me like this? Fight me or kill me!”

“I respect the chaos you bring, Jarek. The perfect kind that makes those bits left of your brother nervous.” Neir paused his leave. “But I need a little time alone with the Wraith, and this should slow you down considerably.”

Get a hold of yourself! The Caine you knew is gone. He’s gone, but she’s still here, and she needs you.

“There’s that face again,” Neir said behind a laugh. “Thought you would’ve learned by now that attachments will get you nowhere. She hasn’t yet, but you know better.”

Jarek’s gaze landed on the fading embers of the torch resting on the ground. “I may not be able to rip that soul from you, but I’ll let this fallen god shred you to ribbons if you even think about hurting her.”

“Hurting her is unavoidable.” A sickening smile curled Neir’s lips. “One day you’ll be thankful I made the deepest cut.”

And then he was gone, vanishing midstep out the door.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

“Lilith!”

“eutenant… coming…”

“…know… Keep quiet… Lilith?” She was shaken at the shoulders. “Get up!”

Lily sucked in air as consciousness found her. Smoke filled her lungs, and she leaned forward, coughing.

Maude exhaled. “Praise the sea.”

Lily gripped her aching middle, forcing herself to take shallow breaths. The specter, the explosion—it all returned in an instant. She glanced around the dark, searching for familiarity, but came up empty. She’d been moved inside. “Where are we? What—”

A door slammed somewhere outside, and Maude lifted a timid finger to her lips.

“The rest of Whart’s men are at the site,” she whispered.

Lily’s heart lurched over the edge of panic. She bit her tongue, searching her senses for another Flare—for Luka—but she was alone.

“What now?” she groaned. “I used all of the stones I had on the specter.”

Maude helped Lily to a crouch and led her through what looked like the loft of a residence.

“I sent my sergeant and a few men for more, but they haven’t returned.” Maude pressed her back flush against the wall, peering out of a window. “We’re a block away, but I’m thinking I can sneak back and draw them from the shop so we have ammunition for the second specter.”

“I’ll come with you.”

“I want you above this time.” Maude handed her a steel pistol. “You have better aim.”

The weight of the pistol sat heavier in her hand than it should’ve. A terrible urge nagged Lily to go with her. Not to leave her side. To be there if—

“Lils?”

Lily purged the thought from her mind, meeting Maude at eye level. “I have your back.”

Maude grasped her hand; an offer Lily didn’t realize she was making.