Page 125 of Tears for a Broken Sky
“She won’t,” Thorne said with a sharp, bitter laugh.
I held the shadows as tight as I could, but his presence… gods, it wasin me.Crawling into my thoughts, unravelling my focus. His mental magic coiled like smoke, invisible and insidious, gripping me with razor sharp talons.
I tried to hold him. I did.
But the pain—
Thepainwas excruciating.
“Ahh, Elira,” Thorne murmured, his voice empty, mechanical. “Still trying to save everyone.”
Then he moved.
The bindings shattered off him in an explosion of raw force. One shard of steel caught Slade hard in the shoulder—he hit the ground with a grunt, eyes wide with shock.
“No!” I screamed.
But it was already too late.
I faltered. My shadows flickered. Thorne was free.
And Slade— Slade was trapped by the compulsion.
Frozen. Straining. Powerless.
“Slade,” I choked, reaching toward him.
He looked at Thorne, hatred burning bright in his eyes. “You can’t have her,” he growled.
Thorne smiled, cruel and cold.
“I can. And I will.”
He turned back to Slade. His next words dropped like a stone.
“Throw your steel over the cliff.”
Slade jerked—stood. His movements were jerky, unwilling. I flung my shadows between them again, thick as smoke—trying to hold him back.
But all it did was slow him. Like walking through tar.
“Slade,please—” My voice cracked.
The pain bloomed behind my eyes—splitting, tearing. My vision dimmed. The world tilted sideways.
And Thorne—
Thorne just watched.
Silent.
Certain.
Waiting for me to break.
Slade moved like a puppet—each step jagged, jerking, like his mind was screaming while his body betrayed him. Sweat dripped from his chin. His eyes locked on mine, wide with silent pleading.
His fingers twitched with every blade he dropped, as if trying to hold on. One slipped from his hand like it burned him. Another clattered to the rocks, and he flinched—like a piece of him had gone with it.
