Page 297 of Commanding Scythe and Sky

Will went down next.

I rushed for Fi.

I wasn’t sure what I expected to feel if this worked. Relief, maybe. Not this. Not pure terror.

I’d known there would be collateral in my attempt to take down the Balaskas. Knowing it was one thing. Seeing it was another.

Fiona’s wide eyes locked on mine, loaded with desperation as she clutched my hand to her chest, like she could force the magic down and through faster.

The moment she was in the clear, I dropped to the blonde. Only…

She was gone.

My head spun, breaths going shallow when I needed them steady. All those weeks pouring my anger, my training, my years of sneaking through Nat’s private library into that bowl—and this was the result.

I had done this.

My hands shook so badly I could barely steady them over Will’s heart next.

Warrior. This man was a warrior. Would I heal him? Set him right just so he could return to cut down Grayshell?

I had done this.

My conscience took up a horrified chant, beating time like a metronome.

I had done this, done this, done this.

Killer. Vow breaker.

I searched his auburn-bearded face, eyes burning. Father? Yes. But how many of my souls had he sent to the grave?

Tears burned as I locked on his confused hazels, his broad, calloused hand lifting to mine just like Fi’s. Like he could help me reach inside and set the broken pieces right.

A woman sobbed. Glass shattered. Trays and plates crashed to the floor, each clang of metal screaming the same words as the tremors in my hands worsened.

Killer, killer, killer.

Vow breaker.

People cried, scrambling from an unseen threat as they rushed out of the ballroom. Eyes were on me—the prickling pressure of being watched hardening my resolve to keep Will on this side of the veil. If for no other reason than cover. Than Cora. Than that gentle push from the goddess I’d betrayed.

Because unless the royals went down, I was trapped here as much as the rest of them.

Trapped…

So many were fleeing. Could I move with them? Run with the panicked crowd? If I stayed, I’d be forced to save them again—to save that monster again.

Horror-stricken, I muttered an antidote under my breath, pushed to my feet, and joined the throng. Like a current, they swept me into the hallway, dispersing at the fork.

Relief washed through me when I saw no sign of Fletcher or the girls. I turned the opposite way and slipped through the rush of bodies, eyes snapping to the front door at the end of the hall.

Would anyone notice if a healer vanished outside, racing for the wards in all this chaos? Every guard was bolting toward the danger, not away from it.

Could I leave Ally if I believed I’d be back with help before they recovered?

I had no idea where they were keeping her now. No idea how to find her in this labyrinth.

But to leave her…