They ricocheted against Starling sparks, and both of their attacks quickened. Grim was portaling so fast, she could barely track him in the sky, and Oro was creating so many weapons, she missed half of them by blinking.
Finally, Oro paused for a moment, as if gathering his energy. This was it. It was about to be over. The air seemed to go taut in anticipation before he shot out his hand—and released a strike of lightning. It raged across the sky, charged with energy, a combination of his abilities.
It all happened so quickly.
Before the lightning could hit Grim, he was gone, then replaced—
With Oro.
Grim had portaled him there, using his power, in that fraction of a second. Isla watched helplessly as Oro’s own lightning struck him.
And then, he was falling.
He landed on the bridge with a force that threatened to make it crumble away beneath them. She raced forward, but Grim landed between them.
“No!” she screamed.
Shadows burst forth from his palm, but before they turned Oro to ash, he came to and lifted his own hand. Fire, energy, and wind wrapped around and around. Their powers met in the middle.
Oro was injured. He looked like he could pass out at any moment. She knew what she had to do.
It was time.
Don’t do it.The voice was firm, speaking from the past. Her own voice.
She didn’t want to. But the oracle had made it clear—it was either Grim or Oro. Her choice would define the world.
She had to decide. As Grim and Oro dueled, so did past and present Isla.
Don’t do it—
She had to do it.
DON’T DO IT—
Her fingers shook. Tears blinded her. She closed her eyes and followed Remlar’s instructions.
She reached for the link. The one between her and Grim. It held every memory of them together, like beads on a bracelet. She saw them in her mind. The first time they met. The first time they kissed. The first time they were one. The first time she made him smile. A sob scraped the back of her throat, and Grim’s eyes went to her. A stream of power was hurtling toward him, and he didn’t seem to care. He looked at her.
It nearly broke her to reach for their thread. To reach for his power.
And take it.
BEFORE
No.
Isla’s chest was ripping in two. She was helpless. Stuck here, on the Wildling newland. It would take months to sail to Nightshade, and even then, even if they let her in—
It would be far too late.
No. This wasn’t happening. She hadn’t finally found someone who understood her only to lose him.
Tears and salt and gasps turned into a predatorial silence. All her senses sharpened like a dagger.
Grim was a demon. He was the feared ruler of Nightshade.
But he had become her friend. They had faced countless challenges together. He had touched her in ways that made her feel alive, and like the space between stars, and she had felt, for once, that her body belonged to her. Not the realm.Her.
