Cloak of Night (Circle of Shadows #2) - Evelyn Skye Page 0,91
Daemon advanced, teeth bared.
“I’m not scared of an animal,” Skullcrusher said, although he took several steps back.
“That’s fine,” Daemon said. “I’m not insulted. Because there’s something else you should be more scared of.”
Skullcrusher shivered but shook his head defiantly. “What?”
“You should be scared of me.” Sora materialized behind him, neutralized him with a choke hold, and jammed a knife into his rib cage through his heart.
The ryuu gasped as blood bloomed from his chest. “Traitor,” he whispered.
“I don’t think you quite understand the meaning of the word,” Sora said, dropping him to the ground. “You and the Dragon Prince are the traitors, not me.”
Skullcrusher glowered at her, but when he opened his mouth, nothing came out except his last breath. She was sure he didn’t have anything worthwhile to say anyway.
Fairy ran over to rejoin her and Daemon. Sora looked around at the ruined skeletons on the ground. The navy was still active—probably controlled by Skullcrusher’s brother—but from the sounds coming from the sea, Broomstick was blowing up a fair portion of them. Sora allowed herself a moment to feel triumphant anyway.
“Phase one complete,” she said.
“That was so much fun!” Fairy said. “Wolf, you were incredible.”
Daemon smiled, and even though his teeth were frightening, the effect was somehow still bashful. “Thanks. You were really impressive, too.”
Sora kept her own smile buttoned up, but this was definitely progress between the two.
“Want to bet Empress Aki is inside Dera Falls where Skullcrusher was headed? Let’s go.”
“On the contrary,” a man behind them said. “No one is going anywhere.”
Chills ran up Sora’s spine, and the soul pearl in her collar rolled insistently—almost maniacally—against the fabric, as if yearning to be reunited with the body it belonged to. She knew that poison-laced voice.
She hoped he wouldn’t notice the pearl trying to escape her pocket.
Sora turned slowly. But the Dragon Prince wasn’t the only one standing there. Sora let out a cry.
Prince Gin floated in a green orb at the top of Dera Falls. Tidepool was with him, and there were two people kneeling in front of them, their faces portraits of terror.
Mama and Papa.
No . . .
Then someone appeared a few feet behind them, visible only to Sora because they shared the same kind of magic: Hana, wide eyed as if she was a lost little girl instead of the Dragon Prince’s second-in-command.
Sora’s gaze met her sister’s for an instant.
But then Prince Gin pulled out his knives.
Chapter Forty-Seven
Hana trembled as she watched Emperor Gin push the blades against her parents’ throats. She hadn’t seen them since she was six—something inside her had resisted visiting them before this moment, as if she was afraid of what they’d say when they found out she was no longer a taiga, even though she had good reason for helping the ryuu pursue the Evermore. But now her parents were here, and they could die any minute, and she’d never had a chance to say hello to them before she had to say goodbye.
“Let them go,” Sora said to Emperor Gin, her voice shaking.
It was more than Hana could do. She’d never been more petrified since the Blood Rift raid on the tenderfoot nursery—not in the middle of battle, not when she was fighting her sister, not when she found out that her own soul was damned. All those things were terrifying, but Hana was a warrior; she was supposed to be in the path of danger.
But Mama and Papa weren’t. They were innocents. Hana should have thought to protect them. She should have taken them away from Samara Mountain and hidden them somewhere safe.
The emperor’s orb transported Mama and Papa to the rocks beside the waterfall, and the sphere vanished. He pressed the blades harder against their throats as he sneered at Sora. “You’ve dismantled more than half my skeleton army, Spirit. I’m very unhappy about that and think I should be recompensed.”
“You don’t need my parents,” Sora said, shaking even harder than before. “Please, I’m begging you. Let them go. We’ll do whatever you want.”
“You coward,” Mama sneered at Sora. “Grow a backbone.” Hana knew it was Zomuri’s influence tainting her words, yet it still made her flinch. But she understood that her mother wanted Sora to stand up to Prince Gin.
How could her sister do that, though? She wouldn’t risk her parents’ lives.
Emperor Gin’s lip curled at Daemon. “Spirit, tell your pet to release his electric shield around you and your fairy friend.”