Page 185 of Once the Skies Fade

Alek laughed darkly. “I don’t answer to you, Mr. Harrison. They aren’t particularly happy that you brought dragons to their doorstep. I’m not sure they’d accept any gift you offered.”

Graham scoffed. “I admit he’s worthless, but his mate? Have you not seen her powers? They could be of great use to the humans’ cause. With their penchant for extracting and harnessing power, imagine what they could do with her shadows…or the dragons’ shifting abilities?”

A soft hum filled the cave, and then Alek spoke again. “Don’t let this go to your head, but you do make some good points.”

Light footsteps approached, and Calla growled. “I’ll end you before you can even lay a hand on me.”

“I don’t think so,” Alek said. “You do that, and there will be no one to advocate for the release of your friends or your mate.”

He stepped closer still, and Calla crawled away from him, circling around the chair and staying as close to me as she could. Leaning over her, Alek’s hand shot out and grabbed her by the hair, yanking her to her feet. Shadows sprang from her palms and darted for the man, but he clicked his tongue.

“If you want them to live, you’ll put the darkness away.”

He started to drag her away from me, to take her to the humans, to put her through unimaginable pain.

She had come to save me, and there was no stars-damned way I was going to sit here and let her go this easily.

Roaring from both the agony and rage, I launched myself up from the chair with every drop of remaining energy in my body and—clutching one hand to my gut to keep my insides in place—barreled into him as hard as I could.

Chapter 93

Calla

In a matter of seconds, the cave devolved into pure chaos.

Matthias sprang from his chair and tackled the man—Alek—with one arm, working to hold his gut together with the other. Alek flung me back to the floor to fend off my feral mate. In an effort to avoid landing on my injured side, I fell onto my hands, which still ached from the intense pain of unlocking Matthias’s iron chains with my shadows. Climbing to my feet, I moved to help Matthias, but Graham—his wild and murderous eyes trained on me—lunged around the chair, sending Ami scurrying backwards until she landed on her backside beside Asher.

“You can’t save him this time, Calla,” Graham hissed, pointing his blade at me.

“Graham, don’t!” Ami yelled at him, but he ignored her.

A blaze of rage ripped through me.

“Maybe not, but I can kill you,” I seethed, uncurling my fingers and yanking my shadows from my palms. They hovered in the air, heeding my command to wait.

“Thought you wanted to use your hands,” he mocked around his sneer.

“I changed my mind,” I said, and without warning, I sent my power soaring toward him.

Graham screamed as tendrils of darkness latched onto his fingertips, burrowing under his fingernails even as he tried to shake them free. So focused on those shadows, he didn’t seem to notice the other dark ribbon aimed at his abdomen. It reared back slightly, still unseen by him until it struck, stabbing him in the gut. His eyes bulged and his mouth fell open as his lungs sucked down a loud gasp of air. Instinctively he tried to retreat, rounding his back to pull his bleeding abdomen away from his attacker, but my shadows held on. Lifting my hands, I grinned when he met my gaze.

“Please,” he begged. “Have mercy.”

A giggle exploded from my chest, and I shook my head. When I snapped my hands closed into tight fists, Graham doubled over, his arms fighting to wrap around his middle, where my shadows wreaked havoc on his organs—twisting, tightening, severing. My shadows released his bloody fingers and slithered up his arms, snapping his bones as they traveled up. His screams filled the cave, echoing off the walls and filling my ears with the sweet sound of overdue revenge.

“Enough,” Alek commanded, and I tore my eyes away from my prey to my mate, still bleeding and now semi-conscious on the floor, the man’s boot resting on his chest.

Meeting the man’s cold gaze, I contemplated sending my shadows after him, remembering only at the last moment that he had my friends held captive somewhere in these mountains.

“End him already,” he said.

“He hasn’t suffered enough,” I hissed through clenched teeth.

“His suffering will not bring healing.”

“Perhaps not, but satisfaction is an acceptable substitute.”

The man said nothing but lifted a brow. Pressing his foot down, he forced a groan from Matthias, and my heart jolted.

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