Page 175 of Dawn of Chaos and Fury
“A little,” she admitted, and before the words had even finished leaving her lips, he was shrugging off his signature leather jacket and passing it to her. She gave him a small smile. “Thanks.”
He nodded, pausing beside her and helping her slip it on. There was another violent lurch in her soul as her power sparked with excitement, that same spark flowing throughout her body. Her fingers and toes tingled, and she couldn’t figure out where this damn mirror gate was. But…was the fogripplinglike glass?
“Breck, you said we were close,” she called to him.
He turned, walking backwards towards the fog. “It’s just around—” But his eyes went wide, his wings appearing suddenly as he gasped.
“Brecken?” Tessa asked, her power swirling as she lost a little bit of control with the sudden panic. She already had her bow over head, an arrow appearing in her hand. Nocking it, she started forward, her pace increasing. Then she was running as she saw blood flowing from the corner of Brecken’s mouth, and he dropped to his knees, as if in slow motion.
Behind him stood another. Pale blonde hair glimmered in the moonlight. She wore all black as well, and she held Tessa’s gaze as she placed her foot on Brecken’s back and pushed him forward.
Oralia.
Brecken grunted, falling face first to the ground, and that was when she saw the blade sticking out of his back, right between his wings.
“What did you do?” Tessa gasped, trying to comprehend what she was seeing, but it wasn’t connecting. She couldn’t— This couldn’t be happening.
“Taking care of a traitor,” Oralia sneered in that too high voice. “I tried to tell Dex he was double-crossing us for years, but no one ever believed me.” She bent down, gripping the hilt of the blade and twisting.
An agonized sound came from Brecken, and Tessa raised her bow, taking aim. But Nylah and Roan were already attacking, knowing what she wanted. Oralia snarled, moving to wrench the blade from Brecken’s back, but she was too slow. Nylah reached her first, her teeth sinking into her forearm, while Roan tackled her.
“Don’t kill her!” Tessa cried.
Not yet anyway.
“Tris, keep her here,” she added as she ran the remaining distance, dropping to Brecken’s side.
“Brecken? Brecken, don’t move. Let me… We’ll take you back,” she said, her words becoming too jumbled as she watched the blood pour out around the long dagger. He turned his head, one arm moving and his hand seeming to search. She snatched it up, squeezing his fingers. “We’ll come back another time,” she tried to soothe.
Oralia started laughing. A high-pitched thing that grated on her ears as much as her voice did. As much as anything the female said or did.
Roan was pinning her to the ground, his massive paws on her chest. Nylah still had her teeth in her arm, and Tristyn wascrouched beside her, a hand wrapped around her throat where a sage glow was emanating.
And she was laughing.
“What is so fucking funny?” Tessa demanded, her voice hard.
“You can’t save him,” she said between her laughter. “Not even the fucking Witches can save him. Look at his wings.”
Tessa blinked, her gaze going to the feathered appendages, and she tried to swallow her gasp as the tips of the feathers turned deathly grey, slowly decaying and starting to disintegrate.
Brecken’s fingers squeezed hers weakly, and she lifted her gaze to Tristyn, once again trying to understand.
He was somber when he said, “Just like there are special blades designed to end the dragons, Arius and Sargon answered in kind, creating blades to end the seraphs. It is absorbing the magic he stole while killing him from the inside out.”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. Not again. She couldn’t be watching someone she cared about dying in front of her again. Maybe Xan would know. Maybe?—
A fresh burst of laughter came from Oralia, and Tessa could see nothing but red.
She stood, striding around Brecken’s body as he tried to push onto his knees. Looping her bow over her chest, she plunged the arrow deep into Oralia’s side.
That laughter turned to a cry of pain.
“Stand her up,” Tessa sneered.
Roan backed off, but Nylah still held her arm while Tristyn yanked her to her feet.
“What are you going to do, Tessa?” Oralia managed to taunt despite her gasps of pain. “Create yet another mess? Sooner or later, you’ll fuck up so badly, no one will be able to fix it. Sooner or later, everyone will finally realize what a fuckingwasteit was to keep you so pampered and hidden. ‘Go to Tessa, Oralia,’”she mimicked. “‘Make sure Tessa isn’t alone, Oralia.’ ‘Make sure Tessa isn’t doing something stupid, Oralia.’” She paused then, her face twisted with hatred. “Why the fuck are you smiling?”
