Page 134 of All's Hell That Ends Well

Iwasn’twithout power.

That chill of death, that cold whisper of endless darkness, it writhed in me, beckoning me to use it. The scorching heat of my fury crashed into the ice of that terrifying new power, and all doubts and inhibitions evaporated in the wake of that collision.

I would not watch as more of our people died for us. I would no longer stand by helplessly.

Groaning under the strain of trying to channel the writhing power into a targeted stream, I unleashed that force. It rushed out of me as if exploding from my very pores, and I jolted under the near violence of the release.

Everything went pitch black.

All lights snuffed out in a hush of death.

Swords clattered to the ground, fabric rustled, and objects thudded.

Then, horrible silence, except for my and Azazel’s rapid breathing.

Like mist dissolving, the darkness lifted, light creeping back in from the windows facing the courtyard below. A flash from outside illuminated the scene brightly for a split second.

The hallway was deserted but for Azazel and me.

None of the warriors stood any longer. None of them had survived.

Their empty clothes littered the floor, their weapons strewn about.

I blinked at the scene, shock stealing my breath.

None of them were alive—not even our own people.

“I killed them all,” I choked out.

I met his wide-eyed gaze, and some of his dismay trickled down over the bond. He was just as rattled as I was.

The sheer horror of this new power inside me stole all further words from my lips. All except?—

“Oh, God, what if I just killedeveryone?” Stumbling away a few steps, I looked up and down the hallway in rising panic. “Azazel, what if this wasn’t just a small strike? What if this went all the way out?” Dread knotted my throat together, and my eyes filled with tears. “Did I just annihilate all living things everywhere?”

“Zoe.” He stepped up to me and grasped my bound hands, whether to soothe me or to keep me from toppling over, I didn’t know. “Slow breaths. Don’t jump to conclusions. We don’t know anything yet. Let’s walk a bit and see how far this goes.”

Half dizzy from breathing way too fast, I nodded, and together, we made our way down the hallway.

We’d just rounded a corner when the screech of dragons echoed from far away.

Relief rushed through me, though some of the horror of what I’d just done remained.

“See?” Azazel murmured, pulling me to a stop. “It’s okay. This was a contained blow. You didn’t pull a double Thanos.”

The fact that I didn’t laugh at his attempt at a joke spoke volumes of my mental health. “But I killed Shemyaza,” I whispered.

And that one really hurt. Shemyaza had been nice. A good and loyal warrior. I’d liked her.

And now she was gone. Forever. Because of me.

“It’s not your fault,” Azazel said softly. “The situation was dire, and you tried to help. Don’t blame yourse?—”

His sentence ended in a grunt and a wet gurgle. Between us, the tip of a blade protruded from his chest, right where his heart was. His eyes widened, and then he keeled over. His body hit the floor with a thud.

Shock-frozen, I looked up at the demon standing behind him.

Samael’s silver-white hair was limned in red from the light streaming in through the windows, his hawkish features twisted into a cruel smile. “Jackpot,” he whispered.

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