30. Dirge

THIRTY

Dirge

I felt the explosion of power first. It was that same fleeting signature I'd felt the night before, but a hundred times stronger. I was already turning, my claws cutting through the soft loam of the forest floor to get back to my mate's side when I heard her scream.

I pushed myself harder, my wolf straining at his limits as I broke through the tree line. There she was, but I was too late.

Sorrow bombarded me as the scene clicked in my head. The airfield was a meadow, untamed and lovely from this angle. The sky overhead, which had been sunny when I'd left for a quick hunt, was overcast, heavy black clouds threatening to deposit their load over the airfield any second.

But all that was secondary. Shay, my beautiful Shay, had put herself between an assassin and her best friend. I watched as the wickedly curved dagger entered her flesh to the hilt, right over her heart.

I didn't stop to mourn, though. Lament what I knew marrow-deep was happening.

No, there was no hesitation as I leapt, taking out the throat of the fucker who would dare harm her. I ripped and tore, the spray of blood from his carotid bathing me in hot spurts as I clawed until I hit spine. When he was dead and glassy-eyed seconds later, I turned to her.

Brielle was there on the ground, trying to stop the bleeding, but it was too late. Shay's whole body was pale, shaking from shock and the overwhelming damage.

Between one heartbeat and the next, I was human. I didn't know how. The change slipped over me as easy as breathing, despite the years of struggle since I'd last worn my own skin. And then I was there, kneeling at her side, lifting her off the cold, damp grass.

"Shay, oh my Shay. I'm so sorry, my love. I'm here. I'm with you."

I cupped her face, her gray eyes fixed on mine as I held her, shuddering in my arms.

"I'm so sorry. I love you, I love you," I whispered as I stroked her soft cheek. I was unable to tear myself away and couldn't hear anyone else around me as the life faded from her eyes. Mere seconds later, she went limp, lips parted as if to say my name, though I knew she would never speak it, never again.

Something inside me broke, cracking right in two as her heart stopped.

I threw my head back and screamed my anguish at the thunderclouds. It was raw, and painful, and questioning. Why, when she was the most beautiful soul in this whole cursed world, why would they take her from me so soon? It wasn't enough. It would never be enough. Red haze prickled at the edges of my vision.

The wolf was half-rabid with pain and horror, fighting against my control. If I gave in, I would be feral once more. But this time, I had nothing left to live for. If I gave in, I would murder every single person in the clearing, and there would be no one who could stop me.

I couldn't give in, so I held him back with all the vicious sorrow pounding through my veins. I had to give my mate the burial she deserved. I had to hold on for a little longer, long enough to give her a warrior's funeral—an honor she deserved, to the bitter end, as she protected those she loved—and then bare my neck for Kane to take me out before I could hurt anyone else. The pain in my chest was so horrible, my wolf would burn the world to ash and never stanch it, even as he reveled in the flames.

It was the only way.

It was exactly as the Fetya had foretold, except?—

Pure-white light blasted out of Shay, brighter than the sun and as violent as any explosion. I screwed my eyes tightly shut, but held on for dear life as her body jerked against my chest.

This time, I heard the screams, but there was nothing I could do. The threads of time seemed to warp, as if someone was snatching the weft in a way it was never meant to go. Whether a minute passed or twelve hours, I could never say. All I knew was that when the feeling passed and I cracked my eyes open again, the light was slowly fading, sinking into her skin.