Chapter 53

Azran

My legs are shaking, my arms burning, and with each breath, the pain in my ribs spreads further.

“Ker,” I call, but he’s frozen in place, still hunched over his mate’s body.

I can’t make out Ela in the mass of soldiers surrounding us, but I land another blow on the soldier in front of me. I take a cut to the thigh and warmth spreads, confirming it is no superficial wound.

Stars cloud my vision and I can’t feel my lower body anymore. As I collapse with my knife still in hand, I get a glimpse at Nylren. My lips part, but no sounds come out.

The tip of two swords stops an inch from my face and the knife slips from my palm, clattering to the floor.

Soldiers seize me, grabbing me roughly and forcing me to my knees. Their hands grip tightly around my shoulders, confirming I’m out of options. Crimson pools underneath me, wetting my shin as blood gushes from my thigh. Guards take position in a half-circle behind me, leaving me just enough room to watch Airdan’s reddened face as he crushes his son’s neck beneath his palms.

Nylren’s head slacks to the side revealing his bulging eyes. A short nod of acknowledgement is all I can offer.

“The best part of this ridiculous attempt is that you have betrayed your own blood and country for nothing.” Airdan’s pants fill the air as his knuckles whiten.

Nylren’s emerald eyes settle on me, and I don’t look away until life leaves his.

How could someone with such an inflated sense of worth hate such a close copy of himself?

In the weeks I spent at the mercy of Nylren’s cruelty, I developed more pity than hate for him. I can’t say I understand him, for I know I made a different decision for myself, but we were both dealt cards to a game we didn’t know the rules of.

My head bobs to my chest when Airdan finally lets go of Nylren, and I’m tempted to close my eyes in the hopes the torment will stop. Zetrea’s prince lies on the ground, his chest perfectly still.

Airdan pushes his bloodied hand against the ground to help himself up and leaves a crimson palm imprinted there.

Every part of my body throbs with pain as I kneel against the cold floor, my joints aching and the guards’ fingers digging into my shoulders. I can’t help but wince as each breath sends shockwaves of agony through my side. At least one of my ribs is cracked, if not fully broken. I can barely see with my swollen right eye, the skin tender and hot around the socket. Blood mixed with sweat drips down my forehead from a gash somewhere in my hairline, and a metallic taste lingers in my mouth.

Lifting my head, I bit the inside of my mouth to keep alert. I can’t lose consciousness. I have to push through the fatigue permeating my muscle, and embrace the pain. Ela still needs me. She has to live and avenge us all.

A grunt tells me when Ela is kicked down. Half a dozen soldiers jump on her. She reappears moments later, still bound by a collar. Blood runs down her temple and arms, but she’s still breathing.

“I’m sorry.”

Her voice fills my head as her shoulders sag.

We lock eyes for a mere instant before Airdan steps between us.

Lifting my head, I stare into his beryl irises.

“I’m going to make you pay for every life you took,” I grit out.

He closes the distance between us, hate deforming his features in a mask of rage, his eyebrow twitching with madness.

“I don’t think so.”

Coming to a halt a few feet away, he stills before leaning down and bringing his face an inch from mine.

“She’s going to watch you die instead.” The whisper carries his breath over my eyelashes and he straightens.

“Her sword,” Airdan says, with a snap of his fingers.

Even from a distance, I can see Ela’s eyes widen when a soldier hands him Nahtar.

“No!”

With a scream, she pushes on her arms to free herself, in vain. She kicks and snarl until a punch lands in her stomach and she doubles over, trying to catch her breath.

Fury infuses my blood, but I’m powerless, forced to witness her distress and our defeat.

With stars twinkling in the corner of my vision, I know there is no way out of this. Only, I’m going first and getting off easy. I’m leaving this nightmare of a place, but she’s staying. She will be alone once more, with no one to help her.

Calen can’t have taken Endya already. The battle is most likely still raging by the bridges. No one is coming, and I’ve failed her again.

“Spare him,” Ela blurts out. “It’s me you want, Airdan. Kill me—”

A soldier slams their first in her face, cutting her off, and a roar leaves my ravaged throat as I thrash under the restraints.

She’s endured enough. Gods know, she’s endured enough. A pit opens in my stomach, though it is not Death I fear. Her soul will shatter when mine leaves my body by her own blade.

“You’ve missed your chance, dear,” boasts Airdan, self-congratulation oozing from his smug expression.

Tears roll down Ela’s beautiful face, tracing a path through dried blood and dust, and I scan her features, engraving each little detail in my mind. Her full lashes trying to blink the tears away, the shape of her eyebrows, the color of her hair as it reflects the light. But also, the dips on her cheeks and her hazel eyes that sparkle when she smiles. How she closes her eyes when she laughs and the determination that settles in them when she makes up her mind. The outline of her mouth, the soft skin at the back of her neck, and every curve on her body. Wherever I’m headed, I’ll take her with me.

Airdan takes position next to me, giving Ela a clear line of sight.

Nahtar flashes in the corner of my eye, but my gaze is set on Ela. If this is to be my last moment on earth, let her be the last thing I gaze upon.

“Give them hell, little one.”

Her terror flares down the bond but I keep staring into her eyes, pouring in all my love in response. From the first time I saw her, to our countless verbal jousts and embraces, we’ve come so far and I wouldn’t change a thing. I would suffer the same trials to get to her, in this life and the next. I lived through hell and found paradise in her.

“It’s all right. I’m ready.” A sob tears from her throat, but I keep going. She has to hear this. My silence cannot be the last she hears of me. “Fuck this world that’s always wanted us dead. I got to share a love with you that transcended all the horrors they threw at us. Nothing could ever take that away from us. They may take my body, but my soul will forever yearn for you, little one.”

She nods weakly through her tears as stars take over my eye sight. I push on.

“I’m yours, and you’re mine.”

When Nahtar digs into my chest, its blade sears my flesh inch by inch for what feels like an eternity before it retreats.

My only wish is for the last thing I take with me to be her beautiful face, but instead it’s her scream, the battle cry of Death.