Page 195 of Anathema

“Go. And, by the gods, if any harm should come to my sister, I will burn you to the ground.”

“She will be safe with me.” Without another word, Dolion stepped through the same seam that Rykaia had moments before.

The ward at the end of the hall dissolved, and The Imperial Guards rushed toward him. “You! Halt there!” Captain Zivant shouted.

He ignored them, the echo of Dolion’s words sinking beneath his muscles and bones, stirring the beast that longed to claw out of him. A possessive, vengeful creature that urged him to stake his claim. Dozens of arrowheads clanked around him, one of them lodging into his calf, and Zevander turned to see one of the guards advancing toward him, the glyph on his palm glowing bright. Snarling, Zevander yanked the arrowhead free and, on a blast of flames, sailed it back at the guard, who exploded into ash on impact. Startled, the other guards hesitated, then charged toward him. With a sweep of his hand, Zevander drew two more of the fallen arrowheads to his palm and hurled them at his attackers on a lash of black flame.

His aim proved true as two more guards collapsed into ash.

The others slowed their approach as he stepped through the portal.

After his mate.

CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE

MAEVYTH

The silvery-blue glow beckoned me, as I stood before the archway.

Not even the distant sounds of trampling twigs and branches failed to break my attention from my sister, who paced on the other side of it as if she’d been waiting for me this whole time.

Fireflies danced around her, and I took in the state of her appearance–the length of her hair that’d begun to grow back. Bruises that’d long since faded. Her face bright and illuminated by the glowing reflection of the archway, and the spark of life that relit her eyes. The freshly tailored dress she wore proved she’d found refuge somewhere.

It seemed unreal.

Too unreal.

Heavy footfalls through the bracken grew louder.

“Solassion soldiers,” Melantha warned from where she stood beside me. “They’ve followed us.”

A threat that should’ve goaded me to step through to where my sister waited for me, but I couldn’t shake the feeling of suspicion writhing at the pit of my stomach. The oily sense of betrayal and skepticism that’d begun to simmer, the moment I saw her through that portal. Was she even real? At the same time, I couldn’t turn back. Not when there was the slightest chance that I might embrace her again. Not when the possibility of reuniting with her was literally within arm’s reach.

“Aleysia!” I called out to her, and she glanced around, as if she couldn’t discern where the sound had come from. “Aleysia! I’m here!”

She ran in the opposite direction, toward the woods on her side.

“No!” I slammed my hands against the surface, the watery barrier of the archway as impenetrable as the day I’d arrived and tried to step back through. “Aleysia!”

“This way!” the soldiers shouted in the distance, as if alerted by my racket.

“Place your hand on the ward, Maevyth. And repeat my words.” From my periphery, Melantha canted her head, clearly trying to grab my attention, but I couldn’t break from my thoughts.

Anxiety thrummed through me while I stared at the empty woods on the other side. Did I trust this woman? I didn’t know who I could trust anymore. What if she’d led me there, only to throw me into the chasm under the guise of helping me? Through a murk of thoughts, I tried to tease a motive.

“Maevyth, please. We don’t have time,” she urged, and mindlessly, I did as she instructed, placing my palm against the strange watery shield. “Zi da’dignio, septimiusz me liberih iteriusz.”

“Zi da’dignio, septimiusz me liberih iteriusz,” I muttered quietly, the uncertainty clawing at my conscience. Not a moment later, my hand slipped through the barrier.

“Go. Find your sister.”

Frowning, I stared at my half-breached arm. No. Something didn’t feel right.

Run.

An arrow speared the ground only inches from where I stood, and I jumped back, retracting my hand. In the short distance, soldiers marched through the trees toward us, one of them nocking another arrow, while the others drew their weapons.

“Go now!”

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