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“Wake up,” I croaked, but she didn’t stir. I sat at her side, holding her unmoving hand in mine.
I looked back at Lucius as he swung his sword too close to Thalia’s neck, and I held my breath. She slipped between shadows to escape the fatal slice, moving to the side of Lucius. Her silver cape of silk reflected the pale light of the moon as she curled her fingers around his neck.
Aziel emerged from nowhere, fixing his dislocated shoulder by popping it back as if the injury were a minor inconvenience. He rushed Lucius in an attempt to save his sister, but Lucius flipped himself, and Thalia vomited blood when his elbow met her stomach.
Raiden climbed out of his god-shaped hole in the ground and moved to help Aziel and Thalia. He glanced in my direction before sighting Lucius. “I told you to run!” he growled.
My lips parted. I shuffled back deeper into the shadows of the trees, burying myself and Naomi as much as I could, while each delivered what should have been fatal blows to Lucius, who returned them instead. He was overpowering them, and if there weren’t three of them against him, I had no doubt he’d be able to kill them one-on-one.
I wished I were a caster. I wished Naomi were awake. Gods, I wished I had the mansion packed with dark objects with me.
Raiden was flung through the air and crunched against a tree that shuddered under the blow. I winced and tightened my grip on Naomi’s hand. I’d never felt so helpless.
After a few minutes, Naomi’s eyes fluttered open, a yelp sounding as she tried to sit up.
“Don’t.” I held her arm down. “You hit the tree pretty hard. You were unconscious.”
She brought her fingers to her head and brushed them along her forehead and hairline. “That asshole.”
“Naomi, you have to help them. I?—”
The world seemed to shatter under Raiden’s scream. Naomi gasped, slapping her hand against her mouth as her eyes glossed. My heart hammered, and I ran cold.
Thalia’s head rolled from the sharp end of the sword to where we sat. Raiden ran at Lucius, who appeared nothing but stoic as he held the bloodied sword. Thalia’s body fell limp to the ground a few seconds after.
Raiden hit Lucius with a ground-breaking hit. I’d never seen him so deadly, whisking through the air as if he belonged to it.
Naomi used the last of her strength to create another illusion, forcing Lucius into an alternate reality, buying the brothers moments. My mortal eyes couldn’t follow their speed until everything went almost still. Raiden held the sword, and Aziel had Lucius in a chokehold. Aziel kicked the back of his father’s kneecaps, forcing him to kneel. He stepped back, and Raiden swung the sword into Lucius’s neck, cleanly removing it from his broad shoulders.
Lucius’s head rolled in a different direction than Thalia’s. Naomi fell back against the trunk, breathing heavily. “I helped.”
I nodded slowly but couldn’t peel my eyes away from a broken Raiden. He fell to his knees, pressing the sword into the ground, leaned his head against the hilt, and wept for his fallen sister.
The mansion looked smaller somehow when we returned. Aziel had carried us back within half an hour. It would have been a three-day journey by foot.
“Thank you for bringing us back,” I said to Aziel, who said nothing while he placed us down at the gates. Raiden had disappeared. Neither we nor Aziel had been able to find him. He’d fled shortly after Thalia died, and we left promptly after, not wanting to linger in the clearing of the dead. Aziel would go back later to bury his sister, but it was her soul that mattered, and that had gone to the underworld.
Naomi looked up at Aziel. “I’m sorry about your sister.” She touched his hand, and he flinched. “I truly am.”
My heart ached for him and for Raiden. “If there’s anything we can do…”
Aziel moved his stony gaze to meet mine. “You can stay away from Raiden. He asked Thalia to protect you. It was because she protected you she was weakened by the hounds, why she had to step out of battle.” His accusing stare never left mine. “None of us would have walked into that trap had he not wanted to find you.”
Naomi pulled us both to a stop, crossing her arms over her chest. “You’re hurt.” She looked at Aziel. “I know right now you’re angry, and you want someone to be mad at. Nothing in the world can take away your pain, but blaming Elle will not make it any better. She tried protecting you.”
He growled quietly. “You helped us. You protected us. Not her.”
I pulled away from his venomous stare.
Naomi shot me an apologetic look. “Perhaps you should go inside.”
She shook her head when I spoke. “I, uh.” I scratched the back of my neck. “I’ll see you inside.”
I walked through the open iron gates, looking over my shoulder. Naomi’s hands were on his, compassion in her stance and face. His hardened look softened. I felt like I’d missed something.
I hesitated at the front door, but Dora opened it before I had a chance to. Edmund rushed out from behind her, and Maddox wasn’t far behind.
Edmund pulled me into a tight embrace, pressing a gentle kiss on the top of my head. “I was worried sick. Is Naomi with you?”
