Page 267 of Swords of Soul and Shadow
He didn’t know to whom he pleaded, to Jagamot or the Gate, to Clara’s god or some other one, or to his own mind. He just needed her to be okay.
Skibs released him. He crawled over and took Hallie’s hands, rubbing them, kissing them to warm them up. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
Navara leaned over and kissed Hallie’s brow. She pulled back. “She’s alive, but not for much longer.” She took a shuddering breath. “The damage…the damage from…I healed her windpipe. I cannot be sure of…her mind.” Navara whispered another spell over Hallie. Kase could only stare at his hands, suddenly sickened by the sight of them strangling her fingers. But he couldn’t bring himself to let go, either.
“But if you healed her, why—"
“There is also a rift in the veil that holds her soul,” Navara interrupted gently. “It is too deep for me to heal, even with the renewal of the Chronal Gate.”
Kase barely heard the words. He pulled Hallie back into his lap, holding her tightly. Her head lay on his shoulder, and tears slid down his face and into the collar of his blood-spattered shirt. She was warmer, a little. But she didn’t wake.
He’d done that.
He’d promised to protect her, to take care of her.
He’d killed her.
How could he look Stowe in the eye ever again—how could he bring her back to her mother and brother like this?
Before him, golden and blue light sparkled around a glittering archway. Both colors danced on Hallie’s blood-stained blouse. Her blood. His blood. Black blood.
“It needs a guardian,” Skibs said from above him. “I can do it, but I’ll need you to make sure…”
“No.Iwill become the guardian,” Navara said, reaching into her pocket and taking out a folded, slightly crumpled piece of parchment. “I’ve always known my destiny was not my own. I have run long enough. It is time I embrace it.”
The air still burned with the scent of ashamox, and with each second, the dark entity closing in on the shimmering, blazing archway before them continued to expand.
“Give this to Jack Walker, please.” Navara set the parchment in Skibs’ hand. “We must finish this before Jagamot manifests once more.”
Kase could barely focus on anything, the ice dripping through his blood making him want to shiver. But he could only hold Hallie tighter. Pray harder.
Please. Please.
Navara bent and kissed Hallie’s head once more. “I am sorry, little one. You fought well.”
She then walked to the Gate, the ashamox still writhing above them. Jagamot had failed to use Kase to manifest, but he awaited another opportunity to try. For all Kase knew, someone else in Kyvena was now fighting the same battle he had. The next second it could be Ben. It could be Kase again.
He didn’t know if he would triumph a second time.
“I’m here, Hallie,” he whispered into her hair, his voice shaking and uneven. “I will always be here. I’m not leaving you.”
He kissed her hand again, noticing the odd blue sheen of Ana’s ring. He held it closer to his face. It must’ve been a reflection from the Gate. Unless…maybe he’d been able to pour some of himself into it?
He looked at Hallie’s face, analyzing the curves of her cheeks, the slope of her nose with the small knot in the center. He’d never gotten to ask how she’d broken it.
She was still pale. He couldn’t tell if she was breathing yet. Navara had healed her windpipe, but had it been in time?
The anguish waged war on his soul, so potent it was like Jagamot had slunk back into his mind. His hands shook.
Resist. Don’t give in.
I refuse to bow to you.
Navara stepped up to the center of the Gate, the light bathing her in a discordant glow. She placed a hand on the side and looked up into the rippling smoke that grew more furious the longer she waited. The two swords floated in the center, awaiting a third. “Raern knew, and now I do as well.”
And then she walked through the center of the archway into the light.
Just like that. Without looking back.
