Page 40 of Shadow Fall: Part Two

I shook my head hard to dislodge that word—useless. It had been used like a knife against me; it had cut over and over until I was weak and defenceless, and part of me wished it was the titan who'd wielded it. That, I could have recovered from. But it was people I should have been able to trust. People who destroyed me long before I ever met the titan.

"No," Haley protested when I passed her to Harvey. "Hurts."

"What hurts?" Kai demanded at the same time I lunged after her, panic ripping me apart. I scanned her for blood and—froze.

"Wane," she slurred, her eyes fluttering shut.

I glanced away, a lump in my throat, but my eyes returned to her, to the places of her body visible beneath her armour, my stare lingering on her neck where black sigils filled every available space of her skin like Kai's tattoos or my scars.

"Shit," Wynvail hissed, and light flashed, swallowing all of us.

I slammed my eyes shut, blinded, but I felt his magic like heat on my shadows, like true warmth. And when that warmth receded—the warmth that made no sense, because Wynvail was cold and moonlight—I blinked my eyes open and found us on the road opposite the Capitol, a safe distance from the titan.

I wanted to ask why Wynvail's magic felt warm when it had always been icy, but he was created from Harvey as much as he was from me, and my twin was sunlight and heat and rage. Maybe Wynvail was enraged.

"It's the same language as her prophecy," Emlyn said, breaking the ringing silence—unless you counted the bellows of rage and war around us and the buzzing screams of magic as our army fought the titan. He had brought no backup, no soldiers. He didn't need them.

I stared at the new tattoos on Haley's throat, followed them down her arm beneath leather, and when Kai pulled up the edge of her armour they scrolled down her stomach, too.

"Her magic's changed," I said tentatively, braced for their hatred. "Can't you feel it? Something shifted when she cut the titan open."

"We need to get her out of here," Wynvail said firmly, no room for argument in his tone.

"No," Haley mumbled again, her eyes fluttering open, irises a storm of colours—grey and turquoise and green, glowing brighter than they ever had before. "No. He's—weak. Losing."

As if the titan heard her words and realised the truth, a roar came from across the battlefield that used to be the US Capitol. I shivered, wrapping my arms and shadows around myself, deepening them until I was entirely covered. Haley whimpered, her hand fluttering weakly, reaching for something. Oh. Of course.

I crooked my finger and the shadow that had caught her dagger placed it into my hand. I unwrapped the shadows around my face, around my arm, and held it out to her. "You'll want this."

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Harvey erupted, the ground shaking viciously under us as his glare cut my soul. "She's half dead, and she's pregnant, and you're handing her a fucking knife?"

He threw his hands up, and I flinched back, fear icing my blood. I only realised after that he hadn't moved to strike me. He was just throwing his hands up.

"Enough," Emlyn boomed, his eyes on the titan behind us. I didn't want to look. I didn't want to know how close he was, or how badly we'd failed. Haley was weak, and she'd cut him apart, but for what? He was still alive, still furious, still—

Emlyn hugged me, wrapping his arms around both flesh and shadow and gripping tight. "Enough," he said, softer, the words just for me. "You are part of this family, and you are wanted. We'll talk about this at home."

If we ever got home. But I sucked in a ragged breath and nodded.

"Phase two of the plan," Wynvail said, the anger mellowed in his voice, replaced by unease. "It's not going to work, is it?"

Phase two. While the titan was weak, Queen Lili's army and all the freed gods would hit him with so much magic that he couldn’t fight back. And Haley would kill him.

Haley couldn't kill him. Not now. My gut twisted. I did this, let her come here.

No. Fuck that. I wasn't her captor; I didn't let her do anything.

"I should have told you," I said hoarsely, not daring to look at my family. "If she hadn't begged me, I would have."

"Whatever you're going to say, Kai," Emlyn rumbled, "just remember that you are incapable of saying no to our mate, just like Wane is."

I glanced up to watch Kai snap his mouth shut.

A ripple went through me—not from Haley but somewhere else. Someone else. I sucked in a breath, tasting smoke and magic and blood. "Something is wrong."

I couldn't explain it, couldn't explain the tremor of warning I felt to the marrow of my bones. My chest seized, my gut cramped, and a familiar, creeping fear made me freeze.

"Something is wrong," I repeated, and my shadows writhed faster around me, desperate to protect me.

---