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In the fraction of a second that hesitation costs me, Devyn brings the knife down.
The steel blade cuts through the rope binding Kallum’s wrists.
“But not today,” she says. Her eyes flash wild as she shifts her gaze to Kallum and presses the dagger into his hand. “Don your wings, moth. The doomsday is upon us.”
15
PURSUIT RITUAL
HALEN
Three things happen at once.
The drumming stops. Several people around the fire collapse. They convulse, seizing with juddering spasms as a foamy substance leaks from their parted mouths. The few who didn’t drink from the jars tear off their masks as Devyn shouts, compelling them to escape.
Emmons stands stock-still, his arms stationary at his sides, betrayal carved deep into the lines of his hardened features as he watches Devyn deceive him.
Riddick is already in furious motion before the last person hits the ground, his target decided as his steely gaze zeroes in on me. Kallum pushes in front of me to block his path, and they clash in a violent impact. I’m knocked to the ground, my fingers digging into the crushed reeds.
The aggressive sounds of their fight assault the air. The dagger is held aloft in Kallum’s grip as Riddick uses his forearm to evade the strike.
A hand surrounds my bicep, and I’m yanked farther out of the fray. “Halen, we have to run,” Devyn urges me. She sheds the bones encasing her chest to reveal a nude bralette beneath.
“I’m not leaving Kallum.” I twist my arm free, spinning to find him.
Bare chest heaving, he drives his fist into Riddick’s face. The mist of blood is caught by the firelight like tiny red flares amid the darkness. With a deep groan, Kallum pitches his opponent sideways. Then his gaze captures me.
It’s only a second, one spared glance, but that’s all it takes. I see him across the grassy quad, a striking professor in an all-black suit, and my heart constricts when his beautiful eyes connect with mine and I feel the weight of my ring on my finger.
Something inside me fractures and slips into place all at once.
Hurled back into the present, I watch as Kallum faces the threats moving in. Spurred into motion, Emmons bows his head and charges forward like a bull. Riddick careens toward Kallum from the side, the collision inevitable.
And the knife rests near Kallum’s feet.
Adrenaline singeing my veins, I break away from Devyn and lunge for the weapon. My hand shaking, I repeatedly grasp at the handle, securing it too late.
With Kallum’s back to me, I rise up to witness the horror unfold as if in slow motion.
Kallum cages his forearm around Riddick’s neck and wrenches him forward, using Riddick’s body as a shield right before the sharpened spears of Emmons’ antlers impale his sternum.
A broken sound escapes my mouth.
Kallum anchors his hands to Riddick’s shoulders and, with a ruthless grunt, thrusts Riddick’s torso farther onto the horns. He then tears Riddick free and lets his body fall to the earth, ensuring he bleeds out. No mercy is offered with a quick death.
And I see it there in the manic gleam of Kallum’s eyes, his satisfaction with the kill.
Riddick chokes on the blood pooling in his mouth, desperately and uselessly pressing his hands over the wounds. Emmons stares down at the carnage, his large arms corded with tension, the spiked bones fastened to his head covered in blood, the dark red gore dripping down his face.
Devyn grasps my face, her eyes clear and imploring. Her voice is muted beneath the pounding of my pulse before she breaks through. “Wehaveto leave,” she’s saying. “They will die. All of them. The whole town.”
Past the shock and adrenaline fighting for dominance, I take in the death all around, the poisoned bodies lying motionless—and I envision the bare canes at the hemlock grove after it was raided.
“Oh, my god,” I mutter, my fingers tearing through my tangle of hair.
On instinct, I lift my eyes to Kallum. His gaze fuses to mine, holding me within the fierce blue cinders, the slate-green of the eerie moonlit marsh. My gaze pans over the sigils carved in his flesh, all the desires longed for by a chaos magician.
And I am terrified to lose him.
