The sky turned ink-black in a heartbeat. Crimson bolts pierced the darkness, and in the distance, I heard Nithe’s staggering call end abruptly.
Then I heard something else.
A humming sound that rose and fell. “Do you hear that?”
“The…the humming?” my father said.
“Yeah. But it’s not just a hum.” I lowered my gaze. The sound seemed to come from aboveandbelow. “It’s singing. It’s a song…”
And it was haunting. Melancholic.
Hisa gasped at the same moment something caught my attention out of the corner of my eye.
“What was that?” my father demanded.
Hisa strode toward one of the many windows. “Something just fell. I think it was…”
Another thing came down, just a blur of black plummeting through the open air to the ground beyond the window. I heard the impact then. It was…fleshy.
“Oh, my gods,” Hisa breathed as another fell and another as she raced to the second floor of the alcove and turned to lookback at the domed ceiling. From her view, she could probably see some of the higher floors. “They’re falling from the balconies.” Her face paled to a shade of white as she looked down at us with her palm pressed to her chest. “They’rejumping.”
They’re jumping…
Thesinging.
“Watch out,” Hisa shouted.
My father’s head cranked back as Hisa launched over the railing. A body fell, their arms spread wide. They hit the glass, punching a hole straight through it. I couldn’t look away as they fell into the hall, smacking into the stone. Blood immediately stained the light-brown uniform. It was a mortal, responding to the…call of Death. To Kolis’s will. What had Poppy said? My father jumped as another crashed through the dome. It affected mortals and those of—
Another fell toward the dome.
Hisa’s scream darkened my soul as the body hit the floor with a sickening thud. It shifted, still limbs replaced by brown and white fur. That kind of fall…not even a wolven would survive that, no matter what form they were in. The scream echoed what I already knew. What I had seen in the brief moments as she fell silently. Short blond hair. Skin reflecting the scars of battles fought and won. My father staggered to where the wolven lay, and Hisa darted across the hall, falling beside my father. Her hands trembled as she reached for her.
“No, no,” she whispered. “No. Oh, my gods, no.”
My father looked up, and I would never forget the horror on his face. The disbelief.
Seeing it snapped me into motion.
“It’s Kolis! He’s calling them to their deaths!” I shouted as I spun, locking my gaze on Kieran first and then Delano.
They were still, their faces blank as the haunting song grew closer. Another body came through the dome, landing on the dais.
I saw both wolven reach for a weapon. Kieran went for the one strapped to his chest, and Delano’s eerily steady hand lowered to his hip and the bloodstone dagger.
I heard Poppy’s voice.If he’s the cause by hand or will, the Joining won’t protect either of you.
I didn’t hesitate. I didn’t think. I shot forward as I shouted for my father, knowing I could only make it to one of them. Knowing I was making achoice.
I slammed into Kieran and took him to the floor again. I shouted at him as the bodies kept falling like leaves in the northern parts of Atlantia, one after another after another—some mortal, others wolven. I grabbed his wrist and wrenched his arm back as my father raced past me. Kieran fought. The fucker was strong. He pulled against my hold, trying to lift the dagger to his chest. Driving my knee into his stomach, I twisted his arm as I saw Delano turn the bloodstone blade inward, his hands gripping the bone hilt.
“No!” I shouted, putting pressure on Kieran’s wrist as my father collided with Delano, ripping the wolven’s dagger from his grip.
There was no time to feel relief. “Sorry,” I grunted, snapping Kieran’s wrist. “It’ll heal.”
He didn’t make a sound as the dagger fell from his fingers, didn’t even flinch as he reached for the second dagger, unsheathing it with startling quickness.
“Motherfucker.” I shifted over him, grabbing that arm—
