Page 231 of Rain of Shadows and Endings

Nothing but the lightning crackling at her fingertips.

Nothing but the glowing of her palms.

Nothing but light floating around her like twinkling mist.

Nothing but her fury as she tipped her head back and screamed, streaks of light bursting from her palms. Wine bottles shattered as she broke, shards of glass slicing into her skin as they exploded.

She didn’t feel them.

She didn’t feel anything as she crumpled to the floor, curled into herself, and began going through song lyrics.

One more second.

One more minute.

One more song.

41

THEON

His feet slammed against the pavement as he ran along the roads outside the Acropolis. He had no idea how long he’d been running, but he hadn’t slowed when the storm had rolled in. He hadn’t stopped to catch his breath when the first drops fell. He hadn’t faltered when thunder cracked and lightning streaked across the sky.

He ran and ran, trying to outrun hearing Pen’s cries of pain. Trying to outrun seeing her crumpled body. Trying to outrun the failure of Axel ending her misery when it should have been him. He was the one who was supposed to protect them, and yet he’d failed once again.

Sweat mixed with the rain dripping down his face. His phone kept ringing, the callers announced in his earbuds as he ran.

Luka.

Luka.

His mother.

Unknown caller.

Luka.

He ignored them all.

There wasn’t even music playing. It was just silence. Just him and his thoughts.

Him and his failures.

Him and Caris’s tears as he was forced to watch her be tortured for his failures.

Him and Cienna’s wide eyes when he’d told her to run.

Him and Pen’s pained wails as Eviana drove a blade into her gut.

Him and Axel’s snarls of helpless rage as he ended Pen’s life.

Him and Tessa’s cries as she’d begged him not to leave her in the wine cellar.

It wasn’t terribly small. She’d be fine.

Another crack of thunder had him second-guessing that final thought.

He’d had no choice. He couldn’t stand to look at her knowing her actions had caused all of this failure, and he couldn’t leave her alone. On the off chance his father returned, he’d warded the cellar as well as drawn a Mark to soundproof it. Unless his father went looking in the wine cellar, he wouldn’t find her. He also wouldn’t look in the wine cellar. It was beneath him to do his own dirty work.

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