36. Alana

THIRTY-SIX

Idrop to my knees, my heart shattering into a million pieces as I stare at Finn’s lifeless body. His skin is deathly pale, almost translucent, and his once vibrant eyes are now dull and empty.

I can’t breathe, can’t think.

This can’t be happening. Not like this. Not now.

“Finn...” I run my hands over his chest, desperately searching for any sign of life. “Please, please wake up. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

But he doesn’t move, doesn’t respond. His body is still.

Behind me, Briony approaches slowly. She puts her hand on my shoulder. “Alana,” she sobs. “We should go.” She glances to her left.

Eldrion is clinging on to the edge of the roof, back towards us, breathing heavily.

“Finn would want us to go,” she pleads.

From the corner of my eye, I notice the elves and the Shadowkind guard disappearing down the steps back into the castle.

“I can’t leave him.” I turn back to Finn and cup his face in my hands. I brush my hand over his eyes, closing them, then kiss his forehead.

“Alana, please.” Briony tugs my arm, but I jerk out of her grasp.

“You go. I’m not leaving.”

“His wings...” It is Eldrion’s voice. I look up, blinking through the tears that blur my vision.

Eldrion draws closer. I stand and splay out my fingers. “You will not touch him,” I hiss.

“Alana, his wings.” Eldrion points to Finn.

I look around quickly. At first, I don’t notice what he’s looking at. But then I realise that Finn’s wings, once a dull, tattered grey, are now black. Pitch black, like the darkest night.

I look up, my eyes locking with Eldrion’s. He stands there, motionless, watching me with an expression I can’t quite read. Is it sorrow? Regret? Or something darker, more twisted?

I don’t care. All I care about is Finn. My Finn, who jumped in front of me, who took the blow meant for me. Who sacrificed himself to save me.

I turn back to him, gathering him into my arms. His body is heavy, limp, and so, so cold. I bury my face in his neck, my tears soaking into his skin.

He’s gone, and it’s all my fault.

No. It’s not my fault. It’s Eldrion’s.

When I stand, my grief and sorrow begin to morph into something else. Something hot and fierce and all-consuming.

Rage.

I turn to face Eldrion, my hands clenching into fists at my sides. Purple light begins to flicker around me, tendrils of energy that snap and crackle in the air.

“You,” I hiss, my voice low and dangerous. “You did this.”

“I did not mean for this to happen, Alana.”

“You took Kayan and now you have taken Finn.” I shake my head, the fury building inside me like a volcano ready to erupt. “No,” I snarl. “This is on you. All of it. The suffering, the pain, the death. It’s all because of you.”

The light around me grows brighter, more intense. I can feel the power surging through my veins. “And now,” I whisper, my eyes locking with Eldrion’s, “you’re going to pay.”

I raise my hands, purple flames dancing at my fingertips. Eldrion’s eyes widen, and for the first time, I see a flicker of fear in their depths.

Good. He should be afraid.

I take a step forward. But then, a sound cuts through the roaring in my ears.

A cough.

I spin around, my heart leaping into my throat.

There, hovering a few inches off the ground, is Finn.

His eyes are open, his chest rising and falling with shallow breaths.

He’s alive.

But then I see his wings, still black as night. They are moving. They are growing.

I stagger backward and reach for Briony’s hand. Finn’s body rights itself so he is upright in the air. And his wings continue to grow.

His eyes spring open. He is staring at me. I jerk forward, but Briony keeps hold of me.

Finn tilts his head, then opens his mouth. A scream that makes my bones feel as if they might splinter fills the air. It grows louder, and louder.

A cracking sound follows it.

His arm jerks into an unnatural angle. Then the other arm, and his legs.

His body is breaking.

I cry out and drop to my knees. “What are you doing to him? Stop!” I turn to Eldrion, no longer too proud to beg.

But when he meets my eyes, the look I see on his face sends a shiver of dread to the very basement of my soul. “I am not doing this,” he shouts over the sound of Finn’s pain. Then, wrapping his wings around me, he pulls me back, grabbing Briony, too.

Eldrion stands in front of us. Shadows start to swirl around his fingers. But instead of flowing out, towards Finn, they begin to flow inwards. They coil around Eldrion’s arm, and squeeze. He tries to shake them off.

In the air, suspended in front of us, Finn is watching. But his body continues to break.

Now, he is like a tortured marionette. Limbs hanging loose, held up by his enormous new wings.

He blinks. When he opens his eyes again, they are red, and his limbs begin to solidify once more. Only now, they are bigger. Stronger.

Shadows swirl around him, but they are not hurting him. They dance on his skin, leaving it decorated with ink-like patterns. The ink snakes up his throat, over his arms, onto his hands. Then the sides of his face, too.

A moment ago, his skin was completely free of blemishes. Now, it is covered in tattoos I cannot interpret.

Finn flexes his wrist. The shadows playfully float from his palm. “They do not listen to you now, Eldrion,” he hisses. “They listen to me.”

I turn and see Eldrion’s eyes widening as the shadows press down upon him, squeezing his chest, constricting his ribs.

“They listen only to me, now.” Finn shakes his wings. There is a familiar chime that almost brings a smile to my face, but then there is the sound of the bells falling to the floor.

I look down to see two jester’s bells at my feet. When I look up, Finn is staring at me. “Thank you, Alana,” he breathes. “I could not have done this without you.”

I stagger backwards, clinging on to Briony.

“I meant what I said.” Finn extends his hand for mine. “I want you to be beside me when I take the world back to how it was before.”

He blinks at me again, and then I see it. The red eyes.

Red eyes glinting in a shadow-covered face.

I remember the vision I had in the woods. The demon that loomed over Eldrion and me. The way it laughed at us.

“You can do it, Alana, take his magic.” Eldrion talked softly into my ear.

I remember the words. But I misunderstood them.

I thought Eldrion wanted me to take the demon’s powers and give them to him. I was wrong. All this time, it was Finn who wanted Eldrion’s power. And I gave him exactly what he wanted.

Waves of nausea wash over me.

I vomit onto the floor.

Finn tuts at me, then laughs. “Poor, sweet girl,” he hisses. “I guess this means you won’t be joining me after all?”

Behind me, Eldrion is gasping for breath. I turn away from Finn and bring flickering balls of purple light into my hands. I throw them at the shadows, and they dissipate like forks of lightning. I throw more, and more.

Finally, I break them. I yank Eldrion free and shake him. “Eldrion, you have to help me.”

Finn rises up higher into the air. He seems unconcerned by us now. As if we are so small and insignificant that he will not waste another second thinking about us.

Briony rushes to the edge of the roof. Finn is above us. His wings stretch out, filling the sky. Shadows swirl around him like storm clouds. Thunder rumbles and lightning cracks. He pulls the shadows in around him, breathes deeply, then disappears.

He is gone.

But he is not finished with us.

This is only the beginning.