Page 91 of Shadow's Heart

He’d said much the same. No wonder Kosmina had lost patience with him. “Listen to me, Enti. The quakes won’t end, but Nightside is about to. Your only hope is to come with me. Sound the alarm and evacuate this place. We’ll storm the hive together.”

“It can’t be won!” She ripped off her mask. “You said I lied about everything, but I didn’t. I read the Gaolers, and everything I said about that primordial is true. We must make the best of our situation here. Besides, this is my home. I have nowhere else to go.”

“Then you’ll die here.” Finally he could turn from her, taking his first step toward his future. “You have no control over me.”

“I might not be able to control you any longer,” she said from behind him, sounding less desperate. “Butshecan.”

A sinking suspicion gripped him as he glanced over his shoulder.

Pearl now stood beside Enti. Her kohled eyes were black as the sea on a moonless night.

And she’d removed her voice-box modulator.

“No!”He sprinted to escape her all-powerful song. But the bridge began to furl once more, trapping him . . . until the ringing notes of Pearl’s voice washed over him.

Forty-Two

Come after me, Adham. Come after me.

Had Mina hoped he would be jarred into seeing reason, declare his undying devotion, and come running?

Maybe.

Having seen her uncles Trehan and Lothaire evolve in miraculous ways once each had discovered love, she’d believed Adham could as well. She must have counted on too much too soon.Or too much period.She’d forced his hand—as hers had been forced—and he’d balked.

Damn him, he’d made all of this bearable. The team of them had made even hell bearable.

As the miles grew between her and Adham, she tried to draw on her logic, but conflicting emotions tolled inside her. Her throat felt tight, and more blood tears threatened. She couldn’t afford to lose any blood now that she was in a fight for her survival.

Alone.

No heartfelt yells sounded from behind her. No hectic footfalls as he raced to catch up with her before she faced those revenants on her own. If any of those creatures landed a single hit, a young immortal like her would be done.

Yet Adham had decided to stay within that castle, immersed in what must be his true dreams. She glanced back, could barely discern from afar a last flicker of light. Was he smoking even now? In such a state, would he succumb to all of the castle’s other temptations? If so, then Mina would simply have been one female in his endless lifetime of them.

How could she have been so wrong about him? Her chest squeezed, and she stumbled.Focus, Mina.

As she neared the edge of the revenants’ stony rise, rain began to fall, then pour. Hoping to meet her foes on flat ground, she drew her sword and called, “Hello, there! Does anyone want to come out of their grave and play?”

Rocks shifted, slowly at first, then faster, just like her shifting emotions. Self-pity morphed into outrage. She’d been good to Adham! She’d forgiven his faults and granted him every chance to do better by her. If he didn’t have the sense to follow her, then good riddance.

Monsters boiled up from their lair. When the first roar reached her, she squared her shoulders and spat rain. In her current mood . . .I’m going to lay waste to every last one of them.

Dozens of them shucked off stones and lumbered down to attack. As they reached her preferred terrain, she sped into the throng. Her sword flashed out like some possessed talisman to sever heads from thick necks.

When a large one launched an anvil fist at her, she ducked under the displaced air and yelled, “I expected Adham to leave”—slash—“with me.” Its head tumbled as she pivoted to another foe. “We were supposed to do this”—slice—“together.” Another down. “He promised me”—strike—“a future together!”

She surrendered to the riot of her emotions, leaning hard into fury.Slash. Slice. Strike.

Too soon, only one monster remained to hear her venting. She waved it closer. “Come then, and I’ll tell you a secret you can’t take back to your grave.” It careened forward, tongue lolling. “That sorcerer is a . . . afucker!” Her sword arced and took yet another neck. The force of the blow sent the creature’s head sailing through the rain. “I said what I said!”

There she stood in a field of twitching bodies, disbelief billowing through her. She sheathed her sword and told the nearest head, “That fucker really isn’t coming.”

With leaden feet, she trudged past the carnage. She almost stopped herself from glancing back at the castle before it passed from sight. Almost.

Forcing herself onward, she reached the foothills leading toward the hive. Setting upon a stony path, she ascended between rock faces as she searched for an entrance into the mountain, toward what would likely be her final battle.

Would Mirceo ever know that his little sister had bravely met her fate? Maybe Balery could see it all in a roll of her bones. Would Adham regret his choice if he sensed Mina had died?

---