Page 89 of Reign of the Beast

My green fire burst forth, slamming into the barrier.

The sparking lightning diminished, replaced instead with a muted green glow.

Kalen’s magic sparked in the next moment, a mammoth twenty-foot-wide swirling golden vortex erupting before him. He eased his daughter on through, then began ushering the Guardians too.

Before I could take in Draco’s reaction, the asshole showed me.

In a burst of speed, he stood before me.

He grabbed hold of the hilt of his sword and wrenched it out of my flesh, twisting it for good measure on the way out.

“Fuck!” I bellowed.

He thrust his boot into my side, knocking me onto my back with a jarring thud.

“Ryker!” Kalen cried.

I looked out to see him and still a good half of the Guardians hesitating on my behalf.

“Go,” I croaked.

Surprisingly, Marek snapped into action, forcefully ushering them all through quickly.

He gave Kalen a push, then turned back just before he stepped into the portal. “I’m sorry, Ryker,” he told me, pain and no small amount of humility coming off him. “Thank you.”

I smiled weakly and watched in relief as he followed the others through the portal, and it sealed behind them, then blinked out of sight.

The Guardian Movement had survived.

I’d done it.

A hand fisting in my shirt had my focus shifting back to my dangerous predicament.

Draco jerked me to him as he stood looming over me, snarling down at me.

I could barely see his expression now, my vision was blurring more with every passing second.

The pain in my shoulder was searing, making my entire body shudder uncontrollably.

It just wouldn’t stop.

I tasted blood in my mouth, felt it leaking from my nose.

I could feel my heartbeat in my ears.

And I was straining to draw in my next breath.

I was dying.

Being who I was, I couldn’t go out without the last word.

Sputtering and struggling, I managed to push out a croak at Draco. “You… failed.”

With a roar, he tossed me across the room.

I grunted as I skidded helplessly into a stone wall with a bone-jarring thud.

I tried to roll onto my side, but my body was so beyond done. I couldn’t move a muscle.

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