Byron lunged into his path, but he’d be no match for a demon. I had to save him.
Come on, Wilder. Do something.
But all I could feel was chaos.
A soft breeze twirled through my fingers, carrying the spray of the sea and pulling me from my spiralling panic. I concentrated on the feel of Byron; on the love I had for him and let him soothe my mind through the tether.
I called my power to me. I’d force it into submission if I had to, but I was going to beat this. Beat him. My father would not win.
With determination building in my gut, I pulled all the threads of my magic toward me but it was like trying to fit the sky into a box. Pain lanced down all my nerve endings as electricity flew through me like I was a conduit. Fuck, it felt like it was frying my insides, but I kept pulling it into my core and claiming it as my own. I was its master, and it would answer to me.
It built to a crescendo inside me, twisting and churning until all I could feel was power. My sight blurred, merging with the aether sight, and the layers of the worlds overlapped. Blood dripped from my nose and down my chin as I tried to contain everything within me.
“That power is mine!” I heard the King shout, but it was distant and almost lost on the wind.
“It will never be yours,” I replied, my voice steady and sure.
The power surged until finally, it imploded with the force of a dying star.
I dropped to the ground, my chest heaving, the agony lingering and the world a myriad of colours I’d never seen before. For the first time in my life, I could truly see everything that I was supposed to see. I heaved in a sob, finally feeling complete.
Byron raced over to me, checking every inch of me for any kind of injury.
I batted his hands away. “I’m fine. I can’t say the same for you, though. Jesus.”
He was covered in blood and dirt. His jacket was torn and there were several claw marks down his leg. “I’ll live.”
“How sweet,” the King spat as he stalked towards us. “Now there is only one way to get what I’m owed.”
I watched in horror as the King launched a blade towards me. It all happened in slow motion. Byron pushed me out of the way as the knife spun through the air. I hurled my magic towards the King, clasping onto his life force, but it was too late.
Byron dropped to a heap on the ground, struck down by the demon’s blade.
I sensed the King’s life force snap beneath my grasp, but it didn’t break completely. He fell to his knees, clutching his chest but I wasn’t looking at him. My entire focus was on the man who lay in the dirt, unmoving.
“Byron,” I screamed. The pain and horror rising in me the longer he didn’t move. I scrambled to my feet, running towards him, but something launched into my side, knocking me back down.
I fought back. Scraping and scratching, clawing at the ground to reach Byron. Maybe I could save him, maybe there was something I could do.
But I knew it was useless. I felt the tether between us fraying and the smell of the sea faded into nothing but a distant memory.
“Byron,” I sobbed. “Please.”
Nails scraped across my skull and twisted painfully in my hair. I was yanked up to my knees, but I didn’t look away from Byron. I couldn’t.
Please, Byron. Please. Just give me a sign… something… anything…
But the last thread of the tether finally frayed and then he was gone.
“How very touching,” the King snarled in my ear.
I wasn’t really listening. I had nothing left now. Nothing worth fighting for.
Tears poured silently down my cheeks, each one of them taking a piece of my heart with them as they fell into the dirt.
“I’ve waited a decade for this,” the King said as he wrapped his hand around my throat, and now I’m going to take it all.”
He squeezed my neck tightly, cutting off my airway. I didn’t even fight it, I just surrendered to the shadows as if they were claiming one of their own.