absorbed it all and it changed her. Her eyes were black, her once blond hair was now black, her fair skin was translucent white. And she looked at us with pure hunger.
She had become the demon.
“No,” I whispered, my heart breaking at the sight. “No, Kenna, please.” I dropped my sword and took a step toward her. “Kenna, please, fight this.”
“Devon, stay back,” Ryder said from somewhere behind me. “She doesn’t seem to be herself anymore.”
I ignored him because I knew, deep down I knew Kenna wouldn’t ever hurt me, even when transformed into a demon.
She threw her hand out, sending a wave of darkness at us. I crouched down, only feeling it brush over me, but the wave slammed right into the chests of the other warriors and sent them flying across the cavern.
Demon Kenna snarled at me, showing off her razor-sharp teeth.
My blood went cold. This didn’t look like my Kenna, but she had to be. My Kenna couldn’t be gone.
“Kenna, listen to me.” I raised my hands to my sides, a sign of peace, though I wasn’t sure a demon would recognize it. “You’re in there, I know you are. Fight this. Push it away. You can do this.”
She sent her magic out again, aimed at me. I tried to dodge it but wasn’t fast enough. Her darkness hit me square in the chest, robbing me of my breath. It enveloped me, hard and fast, and before I knew I was on the ground, writhing in pain as the darkness traveled through my body, claiming every inch of me.
Until it stopped my heart.
Kenna
There were no walls around me, no ground, but everything was dark and cold. I moved to one side, then to the other. I swung my arms wide. I called out. “Hello!” But there was nothing.
Just me and the darkness.
Suddenly, a voice, a tiny whisper sounded in the back of my mind.
“Kenna, please, fight this.”
Fight? Fight what?
I didn’t know where I was, what I was doing. I wasn’t even sure who I was.
And yet, that voice … it tugged at my chest. It made me want to find out. Who I was? Who did that voice belong to? What was happening?
I clawed through the darkness, listening to that voice.
“Kenna, listen to me.”
It grew slightly louder the more I clawed and moved, the more I fought to swim toward it.
“You’re in there. I know you are.”
In there? In what? A big abyss?
Still, I followed the voice. Louder and louder.
“Fight this. Push it away. You can do this.”
I could do this.
This …
Then, I recognized the voice. I knew who it belonged to, even when I didn’t even know my name.
“Devon,” I whispered in the darkness.
I blinked and the darkness faded, like a fog lifting. There he was. Devon.
My heart squeezed as thick darkness wrapped around him. His eyes wide, he fell back, quavering under the darkness’s power.
“No, no, no,” I whispered, rushing to his side. I skidded forward, almost tripping over him and falling to my knees. I hovered my now shaking hands over his body, calling on the darkness inside of him, consuming him. “No!” I cried, pulling it out.
But I was too late.
His heart stopped.
Devon was dead and I had killed him.
I buried my face in my hands, ashamed of what I had done. Heartbroken because he had trusted me. He had called for me. He had held on to me.
And I had killed him.
I dropped my head to his chest and cried.
“Kenna,” someone called from behind me. I ignored the voice. I didn’t care about anything or anyone. All I wanted was Devon. “Don’t worry, Kenna.”
A rush of anger sliced through my sorrow. Don’t worry? What the hell? I lifted my head and glared at Ryder. I opened my mouth to yell at him, but Owen stepped forward, a small grin on his lips. “He’ll be fine.”
I froze. “What did you say?”
“He’ll probably be disoriented when he returns, but he’ll be fine,” Ryder said. I gaped at him. “It’s the way we’re designed. There’s only one way to kill us. Otherwise, we’re immortal. When dealt a killing blow, we’ll 'die'—” He made quotation marks with his fingers. “—for a couple of minutes, but then we come back.”
I returned my huge eyes to Devon.
Just then, he inhaled deeply and his eyes fluttered open.
I half-gasped, half-laughed.
Rubbing at his chest, Devon sat up. “Hey, you.” He offered me his half smile. “I knew you could do it.”
My gaze was blurred with tears. I glanced down at myself.