Page 97 of An Empress of Air & Chaos

Maddened, she swung the sword again, this time shifting to the left. Again, Torin’s sword met hers with a clatter. The vibration rang up her arms and shuddered her bones. Instead of wincing, she felt liberated to hold a sword and swing it hard.

Maybe she could get used to carrying a weapon…

“As much as I would like to do this and then take our clothes off,” he suggested, sending a heatwave across her face, “we have a body to locate and take back to the infirmary, remember?”

She swallowed and released the lock her sword had been in with Torin’s.

“Good attempt at the swing, though.” A genuine smile pulled at his lips, causing her breath to catch. “Follow me,” he commanded.

They made their way back to the foyer with Eli’s limp body. Although he was exhausted from the hunt, Torin carried most of the weight. However, Emara had negotiated for him to allow her to take at least half—or so he let her think.

They hadn’t come across anyone or anything else in the gardens and, in a way, he was relieved. As much as he loved slaughtering demons, he didn’t want to put her in any more danger. He had to get her back inside the Tower.

He allowed himself to glance at her, quickly. Emara had the Shifter’s blood all over her; it was on her arms and face, and soaking into her clothes.

A strange sensation passed over him.

He was satisfied that it wasn’t hers. When he had found her, she was sobbing against a broken body, covered in blood, and he wasn’t sure if it was hers. A pang ached deep in his chest. He brushed it off.

Going soft? His father’s voice taunted in his mind.

He brushed that off too.

As she ran up the steps to open the door for Torin, he saw someone through the glass he would normally be happy to see, but not as he was carrying her dead brother in his arms.

Breighly’s blonde hair was caked in blood and gore; she didn’t notice them coming through the foyer door. Torin angled Eli’s body so she couldn’t see his face as she helped another casualty. She pulled a lace from her boot and tied it ‘round the arm of a Hunter.

There was an object embedded in the arm. It was gushing blood. He knew the arm straight away.

It was Gideon!

He placed the wolf’s limp body on the ground and whispered, “May all the stars in the Gods’ sky guide you back home.”

“Gideon!” Emara screamed.

She had realised who it was, too.

His body lay in a pool of blood as he roared out in pain. Torin held Emara’s waist as the sound of Gideon almost took her legs out from under her, his screams ringing through the Tower.

“He won’t let me take him to the infirmary!” Breighly roared. “Torin, talk to him!” Her eyes were bulging out of her head.

If only she could see what was behind her…

“Save someone else,” Gideon pleaded. His body writhed in agony as he tried to push Breighly’s helping hands away. “I can pull it out on my own.”

Torin eyed the demon blade that was embedded in Gideon’s arm.

Guilt surged through Torin at an overwhelming pace. If he had just walked away…

If he had just ordered a retreat, they might have gotten away in time.

Rhea was beside him in seconds with an elixir. A treatment for the pain that Torin knew Gideon would refuse. He had to step in.

“Like hell you can pull that out yourself,” Torin said. There was no way he was getting that demon blade out himself. It would end his life. It was the first time Torin had ever seen one in the flesh and it made him feel sick to his core. He had done this. He had allowed this to happen.

“Open your mouth,” Rhea demanded. “Gideon! Now!” Her tone was a little harsher than he had ever heard it, as if she had been trying for a while and getting nowhere with him. Torin went to his side to help hold him down. He placed a hand on Gideon’s shoulder and grabbed his arm, holding him against the ground.

“Rhea, I beg you, there are men up there taking their final breath. Take their pain,” he cried, thrashing against him. “Not mine.”

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