“How did you manage it?” I asked, hope soaring in my chest, but it faltered at the look of guilt in her eyes.
“We have to check on the city,” Lucia said, ignoring my question, grunting as she pushed herself to her feet. She was weak, barely able to support herself as Damien helped her, and her hand fell to her swollen stomach. “Evacuate the survivors.”
“Easy. We’ll handle it,” Damien said.
I turned to Thalia. “Where’s Micah?”
Her gaze shifted to me, and her hand rose to her chest. Something akin to concern flitted across her face, and for a moment, I wondered why she was here and not looking for him. “He’s still out there somewhere, but I—our bond remains.”
I tried to get up. “I’ll help you?—”
“No, you stay here,” Thalia said, rising to her feet. Black mist enveloped her before silver wings emerged from the shadowy depths, sending the shadows cascading around us as she ascended to the skies as a gyrfalcon.
Something fractured inside me to see her leave my side so quickly, but I shoved it down, forced it deep within me, where I hoped it would finally wither and die. Lucia and Damien stepped beside me, and I followed their gazes to the city, fire and smoke rising from the small buildings in the dark distance.
“Holy shit,” I breathed, the blood draining from my face as I managed to get to my knees.
Neither of them spoke, but as I looked back at Lucia, something twisted in my chest at the sorrow on her face.
What had she done?
32
THALIA
The wind couldn’t carry me fast enough, and with each beat of my wings, my heart plummeted further. Guilt twisted my gut, churning into a pool of disgust. I’d been desperate to feel my paws against the ground in my wolf form, to seek out any hint of Micah’s scent, but my gyrfalcon form was quicker.
Why had I gone in search of Barrett? I should have looked for Micah before anything.
“Stupid,” I muttered under my breath. “So fucking stupid.”
The beast nuzzled against the edges of my consciousness, as if to ease my guilt.He is all right. The steel-eyed warrior was in danger.
But how could it have known that?
My heart shuttered as my mind revisited the sight of him, relived the terror I felt when I found him buried under the bodies of those who hadn’t survived the blast of energy the darkling queen had summoned—the dagger lodged in his gut, his blood pooled on the ground beneath him. The light hadnearly faded from his steel eyes when I pulled him free, and something deep within me knew he had given up.
He had been prepared to fade...to die. To leave us.
To leave me.
Rhyas’ bloodied face flashed in my mind, the feel of his blood on my hands and his struggles as he tried to breathe in his final moments still too fresh, even after so many decades. Kish’s smile followed, her sacrifice to buy our freedom a cost I never wanted to pay again. I couldn’t bear to lose anyone else.
Tears pricked my eyes, and I tightened my grip until my talons bit into my skin, pulling me back to what was important—my bonded.
I searched the city, looking across the expanse of countless buildings as they fell prey to devouring flames. Screams cut through the air as humans and civilians fought for their lives, and it was all I could do to listen for any sign of Micah and his warriors. Faintly, amidst the firelight below, a mass of beings moved through the city like a wave of darkness—emaciated, broken bodies crawling over each other in a desperate attempt to flee.
Were they retreating because the darkling queen had fallen? They had us outmatched, were close to bringing us down entirely. It made no sense for them to retreat when they could have continued the fight and destroyed us once and for all.
It was difficult to pick out anything over the screams and shrieks of victims and darklings below. I dove, tucking my wings in tightly until I was close enough to see every bit of destruction left in the darklings’ wake. Bodies littered the streets, many broken and shredded beyond recognition in the aftermath of the darklings’ feedings. The flames painted the sky a crimson red for miles before me, smoke reaching for the sky, embers fluttering around my feathers.
Gods, how would we recover from this? How would we rebuild?
It was Moonhaven all over, the destruction beyond belief. I barely remembered it, but pieces of it were still engraved in my mind, tiny flickers of horror—the smoke and embers burning my lungs, the crumbling buildings, the darklings tearing their victims to shreds. The death. I couldn’t even remember the faces of my parents or how I’d lost them, yet I still remembered the feeling of terror.
I shook the fear away and searched, feeling the bond tattoo on my breast pulse in response to his stress. He was hurt...Micah.
The beast tried to soothe me.It isn’t serious.
