It was not just blood he was losing, the blade was unravelling the very essence of what he was.
Panic seized me, but I anchored myself in his expression. Even now, with his life leaking onto the stone, Talon’s face was a mask of controlled frost. He would not show weakness, not to his kin, and not even to me.
His eyes flicked to Xylos, the movement causing his jaw to tighten. “You fought well for a captive.”
Xylos inclined his head, but he did not move. His gaze lingered on Talon’s unnatural pallor and the silver hilt that continued to drink his light.
“Leave us,” Talon ordered. His hand tightened against the wall, his knuckles white against the dark stone.
Xylos gave a brief nod, his eyes shifting to mine before he turned and slipped soundlessly through the archway.
I swallowed against the fear rising up my throat, the stench of the smoke rising from his wound making my stomach turn. I lifted one hand from the wound and braced my fingers on the side of his head, caging him with my body as if I could shield him from the death blooming in his side.
The dagger hummed with a consuming energy. It had no business inside him, yet it remained in his flesh like a parasite. The tendrils of smoke coiled higher, carrying the foul scent of his fading power.
“Do not remove it,” he ordered, his voice breaking.
I ignored him, my fingers moving to hover near the hilt. The frost radiating from the metal was absolute, a chill that leached the heat from the room.
“It is leaching you dry,” I whispered, my voice trembling as the first hot tear traced a path down my cheek.
“Yes.” He took a ragged breath that stalled halfway in his chest, his eyes flickering.
A sob fought its way up my throat. I wanted to scream, to rip the world apart for allowing this.
I reached up and touched his jaw, finding his skin—usually a furnace of heat—to be tepid and clammy.
He was fading.
“This is my fault,” I choked out.
His hand lifted with a visible struggle, his fingers closing weakly around my sleeve to pull me closer. “No. You sparked the flame, yes. But their wood was already piled high. I would have faced them eventually. With or without you.”
“But it was me,” I pressed, my vision blurring as the tears fell faster. “I am the reason you are dying.”
His grip tightened, dragging me down until our foreheads rested against one another. “You are not the first to betray me, little flame. But you are the first I cannot find the will to condemn.”
I leaned forward, my hand trembling as my index finger drew soft circles across his jaw.
“How can I help you?”
“You cannot.”
“There must be a way,” I pleaded, my thumb digging into his sunken cheek.
“No, Kaelia,” he gritted out. “There is not.”
“Then Leona will help. You cannot leave me,” I cried out, my tears falling onto the bridge of his nose.
Talon hissed, his hand moving between us to press down against mine. His fingers were now freshly slick with that iridescent black blood.
My eyes screwed shut and I leaned in to press a gentle kiss to the tip of his nose, my lips collecting my own tears. “I love you. With every twisted, terrified cell of my body. I am sorry I waited until the world was ending to say it.”
He drew a shuddering breath, his lips seeking mine. “I love you, my Kaelia. I never meant for a human to be my undoing. But for you, I allow the ruin.”
A watery laugh escaped me and I lurched forward, kissing him with every ounce of energy I had left. My lips moved eagerly against his, our tongues meeting in a dance that tasted of saltand smoke. But as a wisp of that foul smoke brushed my arm, I pulled back with a gasp.
“Talon,” I whimpered, looking up to see his eyelids fluttering closed. I tapped his clammy cheek twice, urging those icy eyes to open. “Talon!”