Page 76 of He Who Ignites The Flame
“We can’t afford to lose them right now,” Damien said then turned to me. “Go to Lucia. She’s conserving her magic in preparation for the darkling queen’s appearance. Guard her back, as she’s the only one who stands any chance of bringing that monster down.”
I grabbed his arm as he brushed past me, knowing there was no way in hell she had willingly allowed him to leave her side to fight on the front lines alone. “Does she know where you’re going?”
The Lupai seemed to bristle at my presence, and I let the flames flicker to life in my free palm, a gentle reminder that I wasn’t as helpless against them as many of my brethren were. He didn’t meet my gaze, didn’t respond, and his silence was enough of an answer. She didn’t know, or else she would be here, endangering herself to watch his back. When he glanced back at me, the plea in his eyes was explanation enough, and my grip slackened.
“You’re buying her time,” I said in acknowledgment. “A chance, by thinning out the darklings breaching the front lines.”
He held my gaze, not gracing me with a verbal answer, and I turned to the wall of flame wielders, watching as fire erupted before dying out again. Time was running out, our warriors falling faster by the minute. If we didn’t do anything to change it, she would be among those to fall.
I nodded. “Understood.”
A weary smile curved his lips, and my hold on his arm tightened. “Be careful. She needs you.”
“I don’t intend to leave my mate and child behind,” he assured me, placing his hand on my shoulder. “You be careful as well. She needs you too.”
Something blossomed in my chest to hear those words, to hear someone I so deeply admired valued my presence as much as I did theirs. I didn’t deserve it, not for all the problems I’d caused her from the beginning, but I would do my damnedest to live up to her expectations—would go to the ends of both realms to bring her enemies to their knees.
Damien nodded and continued forward, warriors and Lupai following him in a wave across the battlefield, cutting down darklings as they went. Micah dropped a hand on my shoulder and pressed his forehead to mine, our breaths ragged.
“We fucking make this out together,” he said, and I nodded, bracing to part ways with him again.
“On the other side,” I said, taking his hand in a tight hold, not wanting to let go.
“On the other side,” he echoed, and he split off, calling to his unit as he ran toward the city to defend what remained of it. Fuck, there was no telling what he would find there, what he stood to face, how many humans and immortals had already been killed or converted by the darklings. We had lost enough warriors; we couldn’t afford to be thinned further. I shook the thought away and shouted out commands to my own unit to regroup in the center of the battlefield.
I only prayed Lucia would be all right when we got to her.
28
THALIA
The foul taste of darkling blood lingered in my mouth, and I spit more of it on the ground. Gray fur was swallowed by black mist as I shifted back to my immortal form and gestured toward a warrior who’d been skewered by a darkling before I’d torn its head from its body. “Get her to the healers!”
I turned my gaze to the front lines. Our defenses had been solid, flame wielders burning darklings to dust before they could reach us, but the first hour passed, then the second...then the third. The defensive wall was failing, the flame wielders’ fire magic sputtering out before darklings surged to the break in the line and devoured them. I could hear the screams of agony as they were torn apart, and it was in those moments that I cursed our sensitive hearing.
He’s not among them... It isn’t him.
I paused for a breath, my own magic waning, my heart depleting of the hope I’d clung to over the countless hours we had fought. Imight be able to shift once or twice more, but after that, I would be spent. We couldn’t keep this up much longer.
My hand rose to the chest of my leather armor, feeling the hum of magic in my binding tattoo, the faint presence of Micah still lingering within the ink. He was all right, he was alive...but I didn’t have the same comforting proof of Lucia’s safety, nor Damien’s… Barrett’s.
The beast growled deep within me as a shriek pierced the hot air, and I swung my sword at a charging darkling, slicing through it before turning to cut down another.
Don’t die on me, beasty.
Rhyas’ words flitted across my thoughts, the request I held close to my heart, the one promise I refused to break. I would not fall here; I would not have survived everything I had to die by these creatures’ claws. I would not let his and Kish’s sacrifices be for nothing.
Iwouldget through this, find my bonded, my friends, and Iwouldlive to enjoy the other side of this hell.
Familiar yips of the Lupai reached my ears and I turned to find Damien through the chaos, warriors cutting down darklings at his side, his Lupai tackling more of the creatures in quick succession.
“Damien!” I cried out in relief.
His eyes found mine, and he offered me a smile. “Glad to see you’re still alive.”
“The feeling is mutual.”
“I want that defensive wall fortified!” Damien shouted to his warriors as they worked through the darklings. “Today is not the day we fall!”
