Page 35 of Thorn of Sorrow

He’s not Kyson. The male is tucked away safely in the castle.

The blue glow brightened, the crackling energy becoming louder. The air ignited seconds before he hurled streaks of lightning toward me. Not one, but three.

In one fluid motion, which took less than a second, my daggers were sheathed and the void surged to life. It devoured the lightning swirling at my hands with ravenous hunger.

I spun then hurled the lightning back at him, striking his upper thigh and cheek, gutted that it felt like I was attacking Kyson.

Khaelix screeched as the noxious odor of burned demon hide filled the air. He retaliated, hurling numerous bolts in rapid succession, his face twisted in a mask of rage.

My body moved like the seasoned warrior I was, swinging my hands to absorb them.

“I could really use your badassery right now, Giovanni.”

One slipped past and slammed into my shoulder. The entire left side of my body felt like a wildfire was raging out of control. I pressed my lips together, refusing to give Khaelix the satisfaction of knowing he’d inflicted pain.

As if my defiance infuriated the demon, he doubled down, launching what felt like three times as many as before. I spread my hands, widening the void but careful not to allow it to become too large, which would threaten to suck in the entire town.

How had I heard Kyson’s voice? While I possessed the telepathic ability, just like Malachi—though I’d never revealed it to anyone—how had Kyson tapped into my subconscious?

And if he was desperate for my skills, something had to be terribly wrong.

“What’s wrong, petit oiseau? Where are you?”

I collapsed the void then used my speed to reach Khaelix while pulling my daggers free. The whistle erupted as I swung in an arc, driving one blade through the soft skin of the human, then through the tough hide of his shoulder.

The demon let out a cross between a squeal and a roar. He swung sideways, his claws nearly gouging my side.

“Where are you, Kyson?”

“In the kitchen. He has me cornered. What do I do?”

My breath stalled in my lungs. How was that possible? He had to be talking about one of the vampires living at Winterhaven, but Kyson’s scent should’ve kept them away.

“Hold on, baby. I’m coming for you. Just remain calm and don’t agitate him.”

That was the worst advice I could have given. Even if he hadn’t been the victim of a demon, facing a thirsty vampire had to terrify him. And if the vampire had Kyson trapped, he was already agitated.

A horror struck me. I never thought I would have to ask the question after cleaving the smoke of the demon, but what if it was Osiris?

My vision tunneled to one purpose. Getting to Kyson. I charged at Khaelix again. He reached for me, but I dropped and slid between his legs, slicing his inner thigh from groin to buttock. With a jerk of my body, I was back on my feet, driving my dagger into the back of his skull. Yanking it out, and retrieving the one from his shoulder, I embedded the blades into each side under his arms and then yanked them to his waist.

The body crumpled. A demon couldn’t remain in a deceased host, so I waited for the smoke to escape the body. I pulled in ragged breaths, but no smoke appeared.

Khaelix was dead. Soon the body would disintegrate until there was nothing left but a splotch the rain would wash away.

“I’m heading to you, little bird.”

I created a shimmer to get home, but before I stepped through, Kyson’s words chilled me to the bone.

“It’s too late.”

“No! Run, hide, fight, Kyson!”

My heart hammering, I shot through the shimmer, my bloody daggers twirling in my hands, singing out a death knell as I rushed inside the kitchen.

Time slowed to a crawl, the room spinning in a bizarre, dreamlike angle, as if the floor itself was moving beneath me. An ice-cold numbness seeped into every part of my being, paralyzing me as I watched the horrifying image of Kyson collapsing like a puppet whose strings had been severed. His neck gleamed with the dark, scarlet gloss of his own blood.

I had failed him for the last time.

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