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Blue flame, almost the white of the dead, spread from her hands into my chest.
Pain as I had never known tore through me, eating my screams.
There were no thoughts.
Impossible stars danced before my eyes.
The entity that had created the Gate was gone, done with us.
Ealhswip bent close, her broken face filling my spotted vision. “I’ll never let your Spirit pass to the other side. What was broken once, can break again, and I have nothing but time. My rule should never have ended. Killing the last of Herebov’s children will be a pleasure.”
I sank into a darkness filled with pain as Dimitri’s mismatched, bloody eyes opened.
Chapter thirty-two
Dimitri
My consciousness returned with her desperate cry.
I had used every scrap of magic inside me to keep what used to be my councilwoman away while Vanya and her sister repaired the Gate. Too much magic for my mind to handle. Still, Vanya’s broken shape brought sharpness back. A singular purpose.She could not be dead.
I let her go once.
Let her die once.
Never again.
The Gate shone softly behind me, its glass arch twisting like living vines, the man who had brought the crowns leaning against its base, seemingly unharmed. Helia lay on my other side, unconscious or dead, and Ealhswip stood over Tempest’s body, as if considering her next move.
In the ultimate game of King’s Conquest, my ancestor started this when he took Tal. Once, her cause was just, but her means were not.
I had been ready to throw my life away for revenge, selfishly ignoring all consequences, hurting the ones around me without care.
I should have pushed Eki for the truth.
Listened to Alexei.
Learned from Solovyova.
Kept Vanya close no matter the cost.
The nightmarish creature that had once been the last divine ruler of Tal came closer, no longer pretending to be human.
The women fallen around me held magic beyond anything I possessed even when rested. We had torn apart Ealhswip’s flesh and only slowed her.
Without moving, I whispered to the sigil crafter, “Does it only go one way?”
He shook his head imperceptibly. “It’s still healing.”
Ealhswip had almost reached me.
I flexed my muscles, the world swimming before my eyes.
Physically, I was not seriously injured. My mind… Well, I would never know.
Another step.
I tensed, my eyes seeking Tempest.
