Page 152 of Bound By Darkness

“Improvising!”

“Make it quick then,” he said as he grunted, a warbled cry dying on the lips of a rebel as his blade ate her heart.

I blew out a breath as I reached inward, feeling for that power resting below. It was a sickness Draven had gifted me through his torture.

My torture would help these people.

Blue sparks erupted from my fingertips as it rippled up my spine like chords of lightning. My heart sped quickly, every inch of muscle feeling more alive than I’d ever experienced.

“Holy shit!Thiswas improvising?” Fin’s voice shouted from behind.

I ignored his voice as I sent blue raining through the rebels, sparks charging the air as it met flesh.

They disintegrated into ash and bone.

Rebels around them paused, their eyes widening as they turned to me, a few looking at the piles of soot. A wicked grin crossed my lips as I rose my hands again?—

I coughed, blood splattering the ground in front. Another rasping cough left my throat as I fell to my knees, clutching the space above my heart. It was racing rapidly as my nails dug into cold earth. Why was it so hard to breathe?

“Moria!”

Another splatter of red bubbled from me as I wheezed, that power I’d used dissipating. It was taking my strength,everythingwith it as the shuffling of boots filled my ears.

It wasn’t enough. I had nothing left to give as my vision blurred, the sounds of blades cracking around me hellish.

“Moria!” Fin shouted as a hand rested on my shoulder. His eyes were wide. “We have to leave, now!”

I wiped red from my lips as I pressed my knee into the ground to stand. My body faltered as I crumpled to the earth.

Blades cracked above me as he shoved two rebels to the side, their bodies falling into piles of red.

Strong hands reached under my arms as he hauled me up a second after, my body leaning against his. My legs weren’t moving. I couldn’t feel anything.

A grunt left his lips as he fought off an attacker, kicking their dead flesh to the ground with a thud. “Come on,” he spat more to himself.

His arm swept under mine as he lifted me into his arms, cradling me as he broke into a sprint, rebels high on his tail. “I know—” He huffed. “I know you hate Fae males, but we have to move.”

My head lulled against his chest, more blood spewing from my lips. I didn’t have the fight to argue as he bolted down the empty streets, evading rebels as their harrowing shouts pierced the midday faelight.

My head bounced against flesh as he darted into a nearby tent, enveloping us in darkness as he shoved the flaps closed. He set me against the ground, another rupture of blood spewing from my cracked lips.

He stood by the entrance, his shallow breaths filling the space.

Another cough left my lips. “You should… leave. Go find Thalia.”

His eyes lingered on the crack, dagger in hand. “And deal with her wrath if I left you? I’d rather fight the Mother herself,” he whispered, his lips curling upward slightly.

Shouts sounded outside. The rebels would find us any second.

“We’ll get captured,” I rasped.

Shouts echoed outside the tent flaps. They were checking each tent, footsteps growing closer.

“So be it,” he muttered. “I’m tired of running away.”

The tent flap rippled as I heaved once more.

Chapter 45

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