“It has been my honor to serve with you, brothers,” he said, then turned his head to look at Felix. “I leave you in the best of hands.”
The Thirty-Seventh slammed their fists to their chest in salute, but as the noise faded, it was replaced with the sound of boots hitting paving stones. Someone running. Then a female voice screaming, “Marcus!”
No no no!
Teriana shouldered her way through the crowd, then sprinted down the lane to slide to a stop before the gallows. Her beautiful face was slick with tears as she looked up at him. “I love you,” she said. “I needed to be sure you knew it.”
He squeezed the ship tighter.You can—
stop this.
You can take control.
You can be with her.
You can—
Marcus looked at the executioner and nodded once.
Then he was falling.
Except instead of a long fall, he only dropped a few feet, the noose jerking tight around his throat, cutting off his breath.
No. Not like this.
The pain around his neck was incredible but nothing compared to the need to breathe. He gripped the tiny ship tighter.
The world was spinning, Teriana sliding in and out of his line of sight. She was on her knees. Servius was restraining her.
And he needed to breathe.
Needed air.
I curse you to die gasping for breath that will not come.
Panic rose with the memory of Kaira’s dying words, then terror, because he needed air. Needed one last breath.
Darkness was rising.
His grip was slackening.
You can do this.
He couldn’t feel his hands.
You can do this.
You can
125TERIANA
She was on her knees.
Her ears were filled with a low drone, the world too bright and yet somehow the darkest it had ever been as she stared at Marcus’s still form.
Dead.
Marcus was dead.
