Page 73

Whether or not I believe, like Eve does, that it is his rightful place is of no consequence. What matters is that I picked the right side. Everything we planned is coming together. Elena is the final piece. She has always been the final piece.

“Who is the girl Eve talked about?” Elena stands up, worrying the hem of her cardigan with her lithe fingers. “She said Nova had returned. You looked upset. Is Nova your girlfriend? Have you been cheating on me, Ragnor? Do you love someone else?”

At the mention of The Phoenix’s name, I punch the wall beside the fire. My knuckles are bleeding when I turn to her and stride forward. Grabbing her wrist, I yank her toward me and lower my face to hers. “Don’t ever accuse me of loving someone else.” I wave my hand at the disgusting dark hovel of a room we’ve been living in. The whole place is infected with The King’s evil. It quivers in the walls and seeps from the ceilings. “All this was for you. All of it!”

“Then who is she?” Elena tugs away from me, her eyes flashing. “Why do you care so much about her?”

An ironic laugh shakes my chest. I tug my hair and turn away from her. “She’s the fucking phoenix,” I mutter. “And she was supposed to be dead. I watched her die.”

“Ragnor?” Elena’s voice is smaller now. “You killed someone? A girl?”

I breathe in slowly, feeling my shoulders shake. I don’t have time for this. Trying to smile, I turn back to my wife and cup her face in my hands. “The Phoenix is an evil, powerful witch, my love. She is here to hurt us. But don’t worry, Eve and The Shadow King will make sure she doesn’t get anywhere near you. They’ll send her back to hell where she belongs.”

“King?” Elena blinks up at me.

I grit my teeth and bite the inside of my cheek. I’m about to kiss her, just to stop this incessant line of questioning, when a flash of light fills the window.

Leaving Elena, I stride over to it and peer out at the lawn. The Split is glowing. Just like they do every night, The King’s loathsome creatures are slithering free from it. But beyond them, something else is happening.

“The Phoenix…” I press my palms to the glass. She is here, in the grounds of The Hollow, with her mages. How did she break through? How did she take down Eve’s barrier?

Three mages are using their magick to manipulate the elements and fight the demons rising from beyond. The bear—huge and white—rips at heads and limbs with its powerful jaws. Another mage sits on the floor. The empath. The one I let slip through my fingers when the seer stole him from The League’s grasp.

The empath’s head snaps back and a bright blue light billows from his mouth up into the sky. The ground begins to shake. From the inner core of the mansion, The King’s voice fills my ears. A scream so high-pitched it almost breaks my skull in half rattles the walls.

He is calling for me, and for Eve, and for the wolves, but I do not need his cry. I am done. I am not risking my life for this, not anymore. “Come with me.” I grab Elena’s hand and run for the entrance hall. Throwing open the front door, ignoring Kayla’s rotting body that hangs above us, I drag her down the steps.

“Where are we going? Ragnor? What’s happening?” Her feet slow. She’s staring at the lawn. A small cry escapes her mouth. “What is happening?”

I keep hold of her hand and tug. When she doesn’t move, I pick her up and throw her over my shoulder and run to the river. “We’ll swim across. I’ll scale the wall and pull you up with me.”

“No, I don’t want to.” She shakes her head, pummeling my back with her fists.

“Elena, for fuck’s sake, be quiet and do as I say!” I throw her to the ground, towering over her. Her eyes widen, but she isn’t looking at me. She’s pointing at something behind me. Her finger trembles.

“Ragnor…”

I spin around, ready to shift, teeth flashing. Then I realize what she’s seen. Hanging from a branch, which is bowed across the river, is Eve’s headless body. I move toward it and my foot catches on something.

When I look down, bile springs to my throat. Eve’s head is touching the toe of my shoe. Her eyes are open, her neck torn, her lips black. I kick it away from me, and it lands with a splash in the river. Elena is screaming. I grab her shoulders and shake her. “Stop it. Elena. Stop this, now.”

I am yanking her to her feet when she says again, “Ragnor…”

I turn, still holding her wrist. Something steps out of the shadows. A wolf. A familiar wolf. Its voice fills my head as it meets my eyes. Get your hands off my mother.

46

SAM

The minutes we wait in the square are like torture. Sarah wraps her arms around me, and I hold her close. “I’m sorry we haven’t had much time to talk,” I tell her. “Everything has been…”

Sarah steps back and cups my face in her hands. “All I ever wanted for you, Sam, was to be happy. Are you happy?”

I feel my forehead crease as I absorb her question. “When all this is over, I think I will be.”

Sarah pats my cheek. It sends a shockwave of memories through my head. I see her younger, smiling, chasing me through the grounds of a large empty house. “What about your mother?” She meets my eyes. I try to pull away, but she doesn’t let me.

I suck a deep breath past my teeth and put my hands on Sarah’s shoulders. “I’m going to get her out of there.”