AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Idon’t know how many I heal as I move through the battlefield. I hurry from body to body, uncaring if they are hunter or monster. My lightning crackles along my skin, at ease now that I’m using it for what it’s meant for rather than perverting it.
The war rages on around me despite my efforts. Those I heal hesitate between leaving the battlefield and joining our cause, their conscience telling them not to fight any longer after a monster healed them. A few of them join us out of obligation, but most leave the fight altogether. My men move around me, protecting me as I kneel beside the injured. Those I must heal add up, but I can’t heal what’s dead.
I lose track of time as I work. I’m covered in blood, but a healer’s hands are always the most stained. I don’t keep count of how many I help or how many leave the battle, but I do take note of those who revert right back to their original state.
“Don’t touch me, monster whore!” a man coughing up blood shouts at me.
I don’t respond as I kneel beside him, my lightning crackling along my fingers. This man has a slice across the chest, hisrib bones showing through the wound. Something with claws downed him, but despite his rapidly approaching death, he doesn’t want me to touch him. Too bad for him because he can’t move to stop me.
“No!” he rasps, his voice thick with the blood dribbling from his lips. “Don’t touch me.”
My lightning jumps out and kisses him, stitching his skin back together. I don’t recognize this man, but he appears to be from the Gilded Lands rather than the Shadow Lands. I looked through unseeing eyes during my time within the king’s castle, so I can’t say I know him. As I heal him, his words get stronger, more direct and cutting.
“The king should have broken you when he had the chance,” he sneers, reaching up to grab my wrist. “He should have let the guards take turns.”
Ah, so this one was a guard. I yank at my wrist, but he doesn’t let go, and when he’s completely healed, he leaps up with a yell, holding his sword high.
“You fucking monster whore! I’m going to finish the job for—”
He never finishes his sentence. Mid swing, in which he intended to kill me after his cruel words, he stops and looks down in shock. Sticking from his heart is a horn. When he drops, Dade is standing behind him, his black coat shimmering with blood and gore.
You can’t change all their hearts, Kai. Remember that, he whispers in my mind.Not even you can save the damned.
I nod and move on, but I don’t pick and choose. I trust my men to protect me should they attack once healed, but it’s a rare occurrence. Most are thankful and don’t want to harm the side that healed them. They think we are monsters, but they are the ones acting like monsters.
In the distance, I catch sight of Cora, her bloodstained golden armor flashing in the light. She barks orders and leads the attacks, her own mates surrounding her. She’s beautiful, regal, and fierce, and I can’t help but watch her for a moment, pausing to simply take her in.
My brilliant sister.
Because I’m watching and admiring her strength, I witness something I hoped to never see.
“Cora, watch out!” I cry as I spy the old man who’d been with Merryl suddenly swinging at Cora from behind. I’m sprinting before I even finish the sentence, uncaring of those still fighting around me. My men, seeing my trajectory, help clear a path.
But I’m too late.
I watch in horror as he stabs a sword through Cora’s spine, the blade bursting from her stomach. She looks down in surprise, and the roars around her echo through the air. My blood chills as Grimus turns, sees what transpired, and then turns toward the man still holding the blade. Nero catches Cora before she can fall, his eyes wide and afraid as she goes limp, trying to say words that don’t make sense. I slide to a stop just as the first trickle of blood slips from the corner of her lips.
My horrified scream echoes across the battlefield, filled with grief and agony.
My lightning travels down my arms and immediately jumps to her skin.
I will not lose her.
Not today, not any day.
I can save anyone, and my ability has never been more necessary than it is now.
My sister saved me, and it’s time I repay the favor.
“Stay with me, Cora,” I beg, fresh tears tumbling over my lashes, my lips trembling despite my determination. “Don’t you dare die on me! Stay with me!”
Grimus growls at the hunter in his hands and squeezes his neck. “If she dies, your death will be a brutal reminder of what the monsters are capable of,” he warns the man whose face is starting to turn blue.
“Come on,” I rasp, my lightning dancing along her skin. “Someone needs to pull the sword out.”
Bracken kneels, his face far more serious than I’ve ever seen it. He grabs the hilt of the sword and presses a kiss to Cora’s forehead. “I’m sorry, Goldie. You can make me pay for this later.” He yanks the sword out with one movement, but Cora doesn’t react.
She can’t feel it.
