Page 85 of Broken Fate
“Die,” he gurgled, blood spilling from his mouth.
“You first,” I snarled, grabbing the handle, twisting the blade, and yanking it free.
Blood fountained from his throat. Andracis’ eyes widened in fear—
Which was when I stabbed the blade as hard as I could right through his left eye and into his brain.
The Beta slumped back, dead.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
“Good riddance,” I mumbled, then glanced at my mom. “Thanks, Mom.”
She smiled weakly, but her face tightened with confusion. She didn’t understand what was going on. Who were the people I was with? What had changed?
“There’ll be time for explanations later,” I assured her, getting to my feet a little unsteadily. “But first, I have to do what we came here for.”
Nearby, Andi and one of our other fighters were on their feet, squaring off against the three remaining guards. Arcadus and Kiel were beating each other into a pulp. Neither seemed to be tiring.
But they were all occupied. Leaving me free.
My foot slipped in blood as I went for the fallen cradle and the Fate Stone. I hit the ground, and my left arm screamed, blacking out momentarily. It couldn’t have been for more than a second or two because the fighting was still raging around me when I lifted my head.
“Fuck, that hurts,” I moaned, dragging myself forward, eyes set on the bright green prize.
It was so close.
“Stop her!” Arcadus bellowed over the din. “She’s going for the stone.”
One of the guards came after me, but Andi leaped on him with a shriek, taking a brutal swipe of a blade to her side in the process but stopping the guard.
“Go!” she cried. “Do it, Jada. Do it now!”
Then she was too busy staying alive to say more.
But her actions had bought me time. I closed on the stone. Magic swirled in its depths. Was there more than before? Did Fate sense the struggle for control? Did it know I was going to destroy the stone and its control over the Arcadian people?
I grasped the stone, the cool surface palpable even through my gloves. My left arm barely worked, so I had to scoop the stone in my right, using that to lift it while my left hand did its best to ensure I didn’t drop it.
“I’ve got it!” I shouted once I stood, the stone at chest height, resting like a tray on my outstretched palm as my muscles flexed to lift its weight.
Arcadus turned, his eyes widening. “Nooooo!”
I raised the stone over my head, intending to destroy it. Blood was still dripping steadily from my forearm onto the ground, a stream I watched as I lifted both arms. The stone wobbled unsteadily on my palm as I glanced down to see the size of the pool of blood on the ground. My left arm came in to steady it automatically.
“Shit,” I muttered just as my brutally tortured arm touched the surface.
Mybarearm. My exposed skin touched the Fate Stone.
I braced myself.
Green light flashed, stunning everyone in the room. But nothing more happened. I wasn’t sucked down into the stone like on my Fate Night.
“Okay, then,” I growled and, pushing aside all the pain, gripped the stone in both hands and hurled it at the ground.
My right foot slipped on the blood-streaked floor as I bent at the waist with the effort of throwing, and I followed the stone down.
It hit the floor and shattered. Jade light and streaks of magic erupted from the broken stone. My left arm hit the ground in the middle of it, and I cried out as pain surged into the wound and up my body, even as the light disappeared. My head hit the ground, a cut nicking itself on a shard of the former Fate Stone.
