Page 166 of House of Embers
Roake’s eyes whipped to her. “Audria!”
“Don’t expect mercy from me,” she yelled.
“I’m not going to fight you,” he said, evading her next strike. The water splashed at the edge of his shield, which he’d whipped up in the last second.
“Don’t run away, coward!”
Her water magic was tight in her hand again as Dyta sailed closer to Luxor, who hissed in warning. Roake and Luxor might not have been bonded any longer, but the dragon clearly believed that Audria wasn’t the enemy.
“I’m not a coward, but I won’t fight you.”
“You had your chance to turn,” Audria said, throwing a blast of air at him and following it up with another water strike.
“I love you. I won’t see you hurt.”
“As if you could hurt me,” she snarled.
Roake’s eyes narrowed at that. “You can’t goad me into a fight with you.”
“It’s you or me, Roake.”
“It doesn’t have to be.”
“Then tell your soldiers to stand down.”
Roake opened his mouth and closed it abruptly. Then his shield dropped, and he tossed a rock straight for her. Audria gasped, jerking out of the way. She hadn’t thought that he’d actually fight her.
But then she heard a cry behind her and whipped around in time to see Roake take out one of his own fighters, who had been angling for her.
The guy shot a blast of fire right as Roake and Luxor dropped to evade it but only barely managed it. Roake put out the flames on his riding jacket. The dragon, of course, was fireproof.
Audria shot back a blast of water at the intruder, but in the fight with Roake, she had intermingled with the enemy. Had that been his plan all along?
Roake dropped from above toward the fighter. “Not her!” he snarled.
But the fighter didn’t stop, and a gasp escaped Audria as the shot of fire hit her in her chest.
“No!” Roake raged. He jumped off Luxor and onto Evien’s back. The dragon raged at the intrusion, but he grasped onto Audria as her head lolled back. “No, my love. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
Audria’s eyes fluttered open as she stared up at him. “Please…”
“Stay with me. We’ll get you to a healer.”
But no healer could fix what was broken. The fire had penetrated her chest. She was healer enough to know that there was no coming back from this.
Her hand went to Roake’s face but dropped before she could reach him. She tried to speak, but nothing came out. Then she felt nothing at all.
Chapter Sixty
The Shadow-Jump
Wynter
“Left,” Dozan roared.
Wynter shot shadows like daggers at the chest of the rider. His assault bounced uselessly off Dozan’s amulet-powered shield. The rider clutched his chest and then toppled off the dragon, falling toward the city below.
“Two ahead. One behind,” Dozan said, twisted in his seat. “I’ll take the one behind.”
