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Tim put his hand on her shoulder. It was hard for her to tear her eyes away from the disaster before her. But finally, she looked up at him. The half-finished soldier pointed into the field.
There was no mistaking him, even in the sea of clashing metal and blasts of magic.
He was almost seven feet tall, after all.
Mordred. The polished sections of his armor glinting in the sun, the rusty portions dull and lifeless, his helm resembled the skull of a dragon.
He was standing.
And he was very much alive.
But—
Something smashed into Tim so hard that the soldier went flying, hurtling some fifty feet away before hitting the ground with a heavyka-thudand rolling to a stop.
“What the—”
A monstrous demon loomed behind her, his scarred and broken face pulled into a gleeful sneer. “You really are an idiot.”
She didn’t have time to shout at him. She didn’t have time to scream or kick or run away. Grinn snatched her by the chain that connected her wrists and hefted her up off the ground, dangling her some four feet in the air.
He straightened up to his full height, increasing the distance between her and the dirt as he stood on his hind legs and bellowed.
“Prince in Iron—surrender, or the girl dies!”
TWENTY-FIVE
Mordred’s heart skipped a beat. He stared at the demon who had somehow appeared behind his ranks, and at the young woman who dangled from the chains in his fist. He stormed away from Lancelot, not caring for what the knight chose to do. Summoning his steed, he barely broke his momentum as he mounted his horse and kicked it into a gallop.
All the while, he did not know if he breathed once. The pounding of heavy hooves into the dirt drowned out the pounding of his heart in his ears. Gwendolyn was in danger. Gwendolyn might die.
If she did not…he would.
Did he want to live in a world without her at his side? Did he want to live in a world where he knew he had sacrificed her for his own pathetic life? Could he die, knowing he doomed the world to burn—with her in it—simply to spare her in this moment?
“That is far enough,prince.”Grinn sneered, falling down from his raised position. He dropped Gwendolyn into a heap and pinned her to the ground, flat on her face, underneath a massive hand. “Unless you want to hear what it sounds like when I shatter every bone in her ribcage.”
Mordred yanked on the reins, commanding his steed to stop. It reared, angry at the sudden change, pawing furiously at the air before slamming back down and tossing its head. “Leave her alone, demon. Your fight is with me.”
Gwendolyn was shouting, but the sound was muffled and Mordred could not make out the words from this distance.
“It is. But here I have a wonderful toy at my disposal.Yourtoy, I believe.” Grinn laughed, baring his long remaining fang. “What stands before you is a simple choice. Her life for yours.”
Mordred paused, choosing his words carefully. “And who will protect this world from you in my absence?”
“It certainly would be of no concern to you.” The demon snorted. “You would finally be dead.”
Glad the demon could not see his face, Mordred fought the urge to scream. Sensing his need for violence, his horse pawed at the ground, shifting from side to side. There had to be another way. Therehadto be.
“Your life or hers. Make your choice.” Grinn shifted his weight, and Gwendolyn cried out in pain.
“Enough. Stop.”
Grinn’s laughter was mocking and cruel. “Iknewit.” He leaned back, easing the pressure. “You truly do care for her. How disgusting. How disappointing.”
But Mordred ignored the demon’s gloating. His heart was still shattering in his chest. He could not sacrifice himself—Avalon would follow shortly behind him. And she would join the dead shortly after he did, he was certain of it. “I shall not surrender to you. I shall not doom this world to the cinders you would reduce it to in my absence. No matter the cost.”
The demon did not move. Gwen was crying into the grass. The din of the battle behind him seemed to die away. All that existed was this stretch of time where he wished above all else that he could tell her how he loved her. That she would take his heart to the grave.
