Page 237 of Red Ruin

Inside, he screams. His meridians are charred worse than before I found him. Corruption flows so thick in his veins that I dry heave, burning my throat and mouth.

Come back, come back, come back.

I give him everything I have.

Lich-Luca’s grip tightens. The king’s soul scratches at my mental defenses, trying to open a crack and pave the way to overtake my body.

I stop trying to breathe as his fingers pinch my throat.

Vhex shudders.

I’m too overloaded to feel what he feels, but for a flash of a second, his flame-choked features soften.

He lifts a sharp-clawed hand, but instead of slashing at Luca, he touches my back.

Ticklish flames spark beneath my skin.

Strange.

Familiar?

Hellfire sears, burning back the lich king’s power.

The crawling, prickling flames eat down my shoulder blades, drawing lines of fire.

Vhex’s smile turns my heart to glass. “Fly, Firefly.”

Darkness blocks my senses.

The hand on my throat disappears.

Surrounded in a pool of pure ink, I brush Remy’s reaching silks.

“Remy.” I reach for his soul.

His lips find me in the dark. Shadows fleetingly caress my cheek. My lips tingle from his kiss, but when I lean in, he pulls back.

“Survive,” Remy rasps.

His soul is cold.

Finality hits me in a hammer-stroke.

The shadows curl around me, blocking everything else.

I catch a last flash of something morbid.

Vhex and Remy’s silks are ripped from my grasp.

Flash.

I wink out.

Breathless, I reappear in open air. There’s no light.

And no floor.

My stomach drops.

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