Page 146 of A Kingdom of Fire and Fury
“Kill… me… I… don’t…”
One of her eyes focused on me. The other… I wasn’t sure if she’d be able to see out of it ever again. Energy thrummed under my skin, and a sudden calmness washed over me. “Go to sleep.You don’t feel any pain right now.”
Aurelia’s breath hitched. Her bottom lip quivered, and her right eye watered before it fluttered shut. At first, I thought she’d succumbed to her wounds, but then it hit me. My Gift. The sudden calmness I felt wasn’t clarity or shock, but my Gift awakening. It hummed in my ear, a song demanding to be sung.A Siren’s song.Kieran would have a field day at that.
I looked up at the battle. Four Lusadian dragons against three Andovans. Umara stayed behind to guard us, but the rest of them… it was a fucking mess. But between the flurry of limbs and flames, I realized—Praskovya wasn’t there. My heart stopped.
I glanced down at the peaceful expression on Aurelia’s ruined face. Guilt gnawed at my heart. “I’m sorry.” We couldn’t let the eggs get away. “I’ll be back.”
I climbed on Umara, and she launched into the sky. I felt like such a piece of shit. We needed to do this and yet… I was willingly leaving behind a teammate. Someone who desperately needed medical attention. But the eggs.. they came first. Above all else, we needed to ensure the eggs stayed out of Tancred’s hands, even if they had to be killed to do so. We couldn’t allow Andova to match our dragon population.
Umara gained on Praskovya as she zipped through the smoky clouds. The woman kept glancing back at me, her expression pinched. I didn’t allow my fears to cloud my judgment. This ended here and now. I took a deep breath and focused on that sliver of power that rested in my stomach. Fire crackled underneath my skin.
I opened my mouth. “Sto—”
But I was a fool. Asterius had noticed me taking off after Praskovya and appeared out of the smoke. Its green eyes glared at me. It opened its mouth, fire kindling in the base of its throat—
Umara banked left. The flames kissed the air inches from my arm. My lungs constricted.Fuck.She dodged another ball of flames. I needed to do something to end this. There had to be some sort of weakness I could exploit. My power thrummed underneath my skin, begging for me to use it.
All I needed was to get close to her to use it. I expelled a breath. I had an idea. A crazy one, but one that I was pretty sure would work.‘Kieran, can you catch me one last time?’I asked.
‘Don’t.’His concern cut through my heart like a knife.
‘I can get the eggs. I know I can. But I’m not sure about the landing. Unless you can use your powers to get them than I have to do this.’
‘Fuck. Selena, I don’t have enough energy to do that. Letalone catch you.’
‘Tell me you can do it.’
‘Selena—’
‘Come on. We need you. I need you.’
‘I can slow down your fall at most.’
‘Good enough for me.’That was all Umara needed to pull the same move Ben had done. I had plenty of practice falling, so when I unlatched myself from Umara, maybe it was crazy, but I wasn’t nervous at all. I threw my arms around the woman.
But I didn’t try to get the satchel. No, I’d seen how that had played out. Instead, I grabbed the long cord connecting the woman to her seat and wrapped it around her throat. The woman let out a horrible retching noise as she struggled for breath. Her hands flew wildly, scratching at my face, but I had her. “Stop fighting and hand me the satchel,” I ordered.
The woman choked and yanked at the rope, but I wasn’t letting go. Not until my power took ahold of her. I could feel the moment it did. It was like a tether had ignited between the two of us. The woman relaxed her grip, and so did I. I released the rope but wrapped an arm around her waist because Praskovya was still doing her best to buck me off.
The moment I had the satchel in my arms, I jumped. It was just in time, because so did my control over the woman. I tumbled through the air. The world spun, but I didn’t panic. I wouldn’t die today. Kieran would save me. He said it himself. In the field, regardless of the shit going on, we could trust each other with ourlives.
Cool shadows enveloped me, stopping my crazed tumble. But the moment I breathed a sigh of relief, the shadows slipped away. That was when I screamed.Fuck.Did I make a mistake?‘KIERAN!’Umara wouldn’t make it to me in time. Not when Praskovya was fighting her with everything she had.
‘I got you.’
The shadows flickered around me once more. My fall slowed. But again, the moment they arrived, they began to slip. Bits of the darkening sky peaked through the shadows. The shadows flickered out of existence, and I tumbled through the sky once more. On and on that continued. Kieran’s shadows would envelop me, only to fade away. His panicked cries echoed in my mind—more frantic than I’d ever heard. The ground was only getting closer.Fuck.Was this how I died? What would happen to Clara?
‘You’re NOT dying, Selena.’
Distantly, I heard Kieran scream. It sounded like it was right in my ears.Please.I only had a couple seconds left before I smacked against the ground.
Wispy shadows covered my arm.
The wind whipped my body.‘It’s okay.’
‘I won’t let you die.’Another shadow grabbed my leg. Desperation bled in Kieran’s tone. My fall slowed, but at this rate, there was still a good chance I’d die.
