in other timelines.
Regardless, permission was given.
The link was formed.
And everyone thought I’d done it out of duty.
My knees buckled now as the last of Kolstov’s life began to slip away, his crow appearing from thin air to caw in devastation against his master’s chest.
Ella burst into tears.
Tray sat stunned.
And I focused on that thread… the single speck of life that I needed… to bring Kolstov back.
Don’t you dare let go, I thought at him, aware that he couldn’t hear me, his final breath touching the air. Work with me here, Kolstov. Don’t give up.
But I felt him slipping away, his heart slowing as the final specks of his blood disappeared.
Fully dry.
Depleted of his essence.
Dead by all definitions of the word.
I hung my head, my heart in tatters. If this was what losing a first-level mate felt like, I couldn’t imagine what I’d endure if something happened to Aflora.
Death consumed me, my energy wilting beneath the onslaught of loss. But that flicker of life remained, tugging at my essence, sucking at the needed power to remain alive.
Don’t let go of me, I whispered. I’ve got you.
Tears blurred my eyes, the impact of loss overwhelming and terrifying.
Fuck, Kols. Just… hold on.
Because I couldn’t bear to truly lose him. And I didn’t even really like him. This had to be destroying Aflora.
As though she heard me, a rumble of power went through the ground, her energy flaring to life.
My eyes widened at the impact, then my lips parted as a burning thwomp shot up from the floor, decimating the table.
Oh, shit.
The Councilmen reacted, Malik running to the door and leaving his son’s corpse behind without a second thought.
Tray crawled toward his twin, his expression one I never wanted to see on another person again. Devastation. Loss. Abject terror.
“Tray,” Ella whispered, her voice choked.
But he didn’t hear her, his body collapsing over his brother on an anguished cry.
I swallowed, my fractured heart hammering against my ribs.
Tadmir was suddenly at my side, kneeling with his palm on my back. “Now, Shade. You have to take him now.” The words were a breath against my ear, lost to everyone else as they all started charging from the room, running toward Aflora’s intense destruction.
“He’ll be fine,” Tadmir said in a louder tone, a smirk in his voice. “But I can’t say I’m not enjoying his pain.”
“Oh, fuck off,” my father snapped.
“Come on, Aswad. It’s putting some much-needed hair on his chest,” Tadmir taunted.
I knew what he was doing—goading my father into another distraction, to give me time to act.
Once I did this, everyone would know my true allegiance.
The game would be up.
A final decision. Because there would be no coming back after this. Playing with time would no longer apply, not with Kolstov’s pending resurrection.
I’ve got you, I repeated, tugging on his dwindling spirit, his life literally slipping through my fingers with each passing second. We can do this, Kols. We. Can. Do. This.
I pushed myself to my feet, my limbs shaking with the effort. But adrenaline pushed me forward.
Tray snarled at me as I approached, his fury a whiplash to my senses. Then he broke again on an agonized cry that had Ella shattering beside him.
“I’m going to fix it,” I told them in a hushed whisper, my voice barely carrying.
I wasn’t even sure if they heard me, and I didn’t have time to say it again.
Kolstov’s essence was almost gone.
Now, I thought, using a blast of power to push Tray away from his brother. Then I bent and picked up Kolstov.
“Shadow?” My father’s confusion was palpable in his tone.
I ignored him, instead shifting my focus to Aflora as she engaged our bond. Shadowing, I heard her instincts whisper. I pushed the gift to her and told her where to go without words.
Then I followed her with Kolstov.
And landed shakily on my feet beside Zakkai.
His silver-blue irises flashed as he looked up at me.
“I need you all to listen and do exactly what I say,” I said. “Or we’ll lose Kolstov forever.”
Then I collapsed beside him, my tether to Kolstov snapping like a band inside my soul.
His essence floating… floating… gone.
I caught Shade’s spell in my mind, yanking it back to life and realizing with sharp clarity what he’d done.
Kolstov.
He’d cast a Death Blood necromancy spell meant to hold on to life for as long as possible after death, typically used when wanting to question a spirit in the afterlife.
A clever fucking trick.
One that might just work.
“Aflora,” I said, needing her to bolster the spell, my