Page 107 of The Rose in the Shadows

And they felt…wrong.

The air stilled, and an icy chill settled over me. The shadows smelt of… death. I didn’t connect with them the way I did with others. I couldn’tfeelthem the way I felt Clay above or my friends who pushed their steeds to run faster to reach me.

The kind of magic that created these beasts was not meant for this realm.

When Rankor and his soldiers finally crossed through the trees, they met the shadow army immediately and, because my power still connected me to each of them, Ifeltthe moment their blades connected. The creatures attacked without fear or compassion. Ifeltas their touch alone sliced through armor, fabric, even skin. It was a bloodbath.

The Athenian blades and weapons had little effect on the beasts. Magic coated the air as the soldiers resorted to their powers to fight back the shadows. Fire erupted viciously in the sky above me, and I ducked, only sparing a moment to glance at Clay, in his Dragon form, fighting his own enemies. Iris once told me that only the most powerful Dragons could completely change their shape into a total beast. I’d never stopped to ask if Clay was one of those few. Deep down, I’d already known the answer to that question.

“Thea!” Rankor approached me at full speed, grabbing my arm and spinning me out of the way of an approaching shadow blade.He pulled me into the cover of the forest, and his eyes scanned over me quickly.

“I’m fine.”

It was a lie, of course. My head throbbed from where it had hit the ground, and I was sure my cheek was already black from where Camilla had lashed out at me earlier. But the feeling of my full, untapped power was still rushing through me and fighting off any sensations of pain. For now, at least.

Rankor nodded and glanced back at the fight. I knew he was trying to create a battle plan and struggling to find one. How could we fight against an enemy who was impervious to our weapons?

Simple.

Strike the heart.

“Camilla.” I grasped onto his arm, forcing him to meet my eyes. “She’s doing this, and I need to stop her.”

He shook his head. “It’s too dangerous, and you’re injured. You can’t die tonight, Thea.”

I knew that. The logical thing was to return to the castle and preserve my bloodline. I knew that if I died tonight, the line of Hyrax would die with me, and Camilla would get everything she wanted.

When had I ever been logical, though?

I was not running from this fight, not after all this time. Not after everything Camilla had done to me, donebecauseof me.

“She’s mine,” I growled through a locked jaw. “I can do this.”

Rankor met my eyes. I wasn’t sure what he saw there, but it must have been enough to convince him. He pulled me towards him and kissed the top of my head.

“Be safe, my lady,” he whispered. “And make her fucking pay.”

I took off at a sprint, ignoring the screams in the air. I tried to, at least until one inhuman bellow of pain tore my gaze to the sky.A shadow beast with bat-like wings and three heads had lodged a tail of spikes into Clay’s flank.

No!

The battle faded around me until all I could see, all I could hear, was Clay as he screeched in pain. The sound echoed through the air. I didn’t realize a noise could pierce a heart until I’d heard Clay’s yipes. He somersaulted, shaking the beast’s tail off of him, but the shadow was persistent, chasing him through the sky at impossible speed. Clay twisted, releasing a torrent of dragonfire aimed at the shadow and for a moment I thought he might have defeated the creature.

But the beast flew through the fire and sank his teeth into the scales below Clay’s neck.

“Clay!” I screamed.

Without stopping to think, I lifted my left hand into the sky, grasping onto the monster with my powers and wrenching it toward the ground. The shock of the attack must have momentarily stunned him because Clay too began to fall, and my heart fell with him, but after a moment his wings beat strongly and he regained his place in the sky. His reptilian eyes looked down on me from above, and he roared angrily at me.

“You’re welcome,” I muttered.

I knew the intention behind that glare. Clay would rather I focus on keeping myself safe than interfering in his fight, but I wouldn’t let anyone else die for me. Especially not him. Never him.

Camilla was battling a fire elemental when I found her in the chaos. He rushed at her, hands ablaze, and she quickly tossed him aside with a burst of shadows. His head landed at an impossible angle, and shadows from his body poured into her. I ignored the rush of nausea at the sight, and thefeelof his soul leaving it’s body—so much death for her stupid vendetta against me.

“I’d rather fight you anyway,” she told me, spitting blood.

“Ditto.”

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