74. Pallas

Abraxas ran into the eruption of mana that had exploded from the earth below. It swirled like a giant twister, the vortex pulling us in. I grabbed Jun's hand and tried to pull him away from where the earth continued to crumble below our feet.

"I have to help her!" I could barely hear Jun over the thrum of power.

"Jun, there is nothing we can do. Abraxas is with her—"

Handsclutched my arms, and I was being hauled up and away. Kaleos and Raula grabbed me and Jun, pulling us back to the relative safety of the palace wall as we watched the mana rage.

Then, in an instant, it was gone. Some sunk back into the earth while the rest floated away into the sky. At its core, Abraxas knelt with Tori in his arms.

"No…no, no, no." Jun pulled against Raula, but she held him fast.

"It can't be," she murmured.

Abraxasrose and turned, never once taking his eyes off his mate. Tori's head flopped back as her arms hung down, swinging with no control. Her normally tan skin was sickeningly pallid. It was cracked in patches all over like all the moisture had been sucked out, and beneath it glowed a haunting blue-green. Her eyes were open, dull, and unmoving. She was very much dead. No twisting shadows or uncertain fates. She was gone.

Raula'sgrip faltered, and Jun lunged for his sister.

"Tori, Tori! WAKEUP!" He grabbed her face, twisting it towards him. Magic had no effect on the dead.

Hescreamed, and the entire world shook. Everyone covered their ears, but Abraxas, who just stared at the woman in his arms, almost as lifeless as she.

Myears rang, so I couldn't hear what was said, but Jun shouted at Abraxas. He reached out and grabbed the man's armor around his neck to shake him. Abraxas didn't even react.

Junsaid something else, and finally, Abraxas' face changed; something like life returned to his eyes. He nodded and strode off. Jun followed right behind him. I ran to follow when Jun spun around. He locked eyes with me, and I saw the apology.

"FALL!"

Thearchway he passed beneath crumbled to the ground, blocking my way.

"Where the hell are they?"Avlyn and Kaleos helped me pull some of the rubble clear so we could follow after Jun and the king, but we had lost time. Raula had hauled Hadeon off to a nearby manor, where a whole cohort guarded him. Right now, I didn't even think about him. AllI was thinking about was Jun. What the hell was he going to do?

Wescrambled down the crumbling alleyway. Most of the fine manors were completely destroyed to rubble. Bodies in fine clothes lay crushed beneath stone alongside those who wore nothing but rags. A few still had walls standing, only partially victim to the city's destruction.

"Keep moving," I told Avlyn as they started to pull open a door to a still-standing building. They frowned but followed me.

Wekept going until we passed a home with its entire right side destroyed, all the fine trappings covered in a thick layer of dust. The hair on my arms rose, and I felt the air vibrate as magic was used nearby.

Imotioned to Avlyn, and they helped me pull open a door in one of the undamaged walls. We stumbled into a library, the shelves lined with deep red oak bookshelves; most of the books were knocked to the floor from the destruction. Jun and Abraxas moved about the space frantically. In the center of the room I saw gashes in the floor where they had hastily pulled a table over; the princess" body rested motionless on top of it.

Junslashed his arm and let his blood drip into a bowl held out by Abraxas.

"What are you doing?" I scrambled over the prone furniture and books towards him. I reached out for his arm, but he jerked away.

"My blood is Tori's blood. We need it to locate her."

I'dseen spells like that before. Using a person's own living blood to find their location. Tori lay on the slab before us. It was no mystery where she was. I looked at Jun with worried eyes.

Abraxassaw my concern and interrupted before I could speak. "We are using it to locate her spirit."

Hehad inscribed a glyph circle on the ground, and it pulsed eerily with the faint green glow of his magic. He had healed from the battle, his dragon blood making quick work of any injuries, but his eyes were still hollow, and his skin was almost as sickly as Tori's.

"You may be a God, but even you cannot cheat death."

"I have once, and I will do it again."

Ilooked over at Tori's body. This wasn't like the cavern. There, I could feel how life had clung to him and how he had clung back. His heart had still beat, if weakly. Tori's heart was empty.

Ilooked at Avlyn, and tears streamed from their eyes. They reached out for Abraxas cautiously.

"She is gone," Avlyn whispered.

"SHEISNOTGONE!" he snarled, his eyes turning that blazing yellow.

Myheart caught in my throat, and I took a step back, trying to drag Avlyn with me. The king took a deep breath and calmed himself. That gold faded back into a deep green that was drowning in sadness.

"I can still feel her; she still clings to life. Our bond is not broken—not yet." A heartbroken fool.

Junhit me with a look so unlike him, so menacing and full of warning. It reminded me of Tori. I reached out with the magic I now felt beating within my own heart. Tori had broken the world open, and magic now sprung up from every leaf and stone. It was easy to find and easy to use. LikeI had been born with it. I reached out to it. I didn't need much; just a fraction of my energy gone. The magic leaped from my heart to Abraxas', and I felt his bond with Tori. It was weak, stretched tight like Spinner's web, just a moment away from snapping, but it was there.

"You have little time," I stated blankly. He blinked and then nodded, returning to his work.

Itwas cruel for me to give him hope. Death was the final barrier, the one all magi faced and had tried to overcome. How many stories had my mother recited to me over the years, the moral always the same? Anyone who tried to cheat death failed every time. Any other hope was no more than a faetale.

Isaw what he intended to do. He would use Jun's blood to locate Tori's soul and try to summon it back to her body. It wouldn't work. I had read the accounts of numerous attempts over the ages, all of them failures. Death was the greatest force of them all, and it cannot be overcome. At best, the spell simply didn't function. At worst, something much more horrible came back, or the caster themselves were flung directly into the hells. I could see there was no arguing with him. I let him work.

Ireadied the magic that now blossomed from my heart. WhateverAbraxas did was his own prerogative, but I would not let it harm Jun. I would not let it harm Avlyn, who I knew wouldn't leave his side. I slid my hand into theirs. Their eyes widened for a moment as I slipped my fingers into theirs, but they squeezed my hand gently as we watched Abraxas' manic work. Jun trailed behind him, providing more blood as needed.

Eventually, he finished his preparations and nodded to Jun, who stepped out of the circle. I sighed in relief as he came to stand near Avlyn and me.

Abraxaswalked over to the table that held Tori's body and picked her up as if she were the most delicate of flowers. Her head and arms lolled lifelessly, and it brought a wave of nausea to my stomach. He stepped into the circle with her and knelt down in the center.

Hetightened his grip on Tori's fractured body. The glyphs at the edge of the ward shifted from green to a glowing bright white; Jun's blood bubbled as it was burned away by Abraxas' magic. I looked over the glyphs again, and I frowned. They weren't right. These weren't the glyphs for a summoning, and he wasn't leaving the circle. He just held Tori with their foreheads pressed together.

"Abraxas, this is wrong…" I said. Avlyn looked at me with worried eyes, moving closer to the circle, but the power of the spell drove them back. I looked at the glyphs again when I saw it. No, this wasn't a summoning but a sending.

"Abraxas, you can't possibly mean to…"

Hedidn't look at me, only at Jun. "It's time."

Abraxaslooked into Jun's eyes, eyes the perfect mirror of Tori's, and they held all of her ferocity right now. Abraxas relaxed, and I think he took comfort in knowing that they might be the last thing he saw in this life.

Henodded to Jun, and I tried to reach out to stop this. It was madness. BeforeI could move, a single word fell from Jun's lips, but the entire room shook with it. "DIE."