Page 346 of Alchemised
Kaine’s fingers slipped away from the back of her head. His expression was calm, but his eyes were furious.
“The war is over,” he said. “The Undying have taken the city, including your Headquarters. The remaining Resistance factions are cornered; if they don’t surrender, they’ll be buried in rubble by the day’s end.”
She pushed herself up, too dazed to think clearly. She’d been trying to reach Lila … and then? She couldn’t remember anymore.
Kaine began pacing around the room.
“How did this even happen? What kind of plan was stretching yourselves across the entire city and leaving your Headquarters unguarded? And where the fuck is Holdfast?”
Helena flinched. “He’s dead.”
Kaine froze and turned sharply. “What do you mean?”
Helena stared down at her hands. She was in the same clothes. Luc’s blood was among the stains, but she couldn’t pick out which ones belonged to him. She couldn’t bring herself to speak.
“How?” Kaine asked.
She swallowed. “It was—an accident.”
She told him everything. What she’d realised, and who it had been, and everything over the months. That Luc had tricked her, and she’d reacted, and then it was too late.
“I tried to heal him …” she said, her voice shaking. “But it was like there wasn’t enough of him left to hold on. He was unravelling and I couldn’t—” Her chest seized, threatening to crack. “I was supposed to save him—” The words came out a whisper.
Her throat contracted and her whole body shook and she couldn’t make herself speak. Kaine was silent until she managed to compose herself again.
“Morrough must be so old,” she said. “Paladia’s more than five hundred years old.”
“This whole war was just two brothers fighting over who gets to play god?” Kaine gave a disbelieving, bitter laugh. “You think you’re picking a side, and you’re just on the opposite end of the same fucking coin.”
Helena didn’t speak, gripping the blankets draped over her until her knuckles turned white. She had to get up, but she felt like glass a breath away from shattering. “I have to get Lila.”
“The war is over, Helena.”
She flinched at the way he said her name. That he’d used it to say that.
“I know,” she said, going hot and cold all over. “You don’t need to tell me. I know we’ve lost!”
She pressed her lips together, grinding the heels of her hands against her eyes as she tried to control herself.
“I’m not saying it’s not over.” Her voice still shook. “But we have the obsidian now, we can both make it, and if we’re more covert—we could still bleed him dry by killing off the Undying.”
“There is no ‘we’ anymore,” Kaine said. “You’re leaving Paladia.”
She looked up sharply. He stood over her, arms crossed.
“I’ll kill them, but you’re done. Holdfast is dead. The Eternal Flame is gone. It’s time for you to go.”
She shook her head. “I can’t leave you here.”
His expression was hard as stone. “I don’t want you here. It’ll be easier for me to work if Morrough assumes a complete victory.”
Helena’s jaw tensed. “Fine,” she finally said in a tight voice. “I’ll collaborate long-distance initially, if you think that’ll make things easier.”
“Good.” He stepped back, turning away. “I’ll have everything arranged.”
She watched him warily, not sure she believed him. Reasonable as it was, she knew he’d already wanted her out of Paladia. There were no other choices, though. She had to get Lila to safety. Until Lila was secure, Helena had no room to negotiate.
“I’m only going if Lila’s with me,” she said.
