Page 96 of The Blade in the Ashes
I heard Nessira’s hushed gasp of horror before I fully turned back towards the castle.
Dimitri stood between Caldrius and the guard he’d fought earlier. Caldrius’ lip was split, blood dribbling down his swollen jaw. He shuffled back a step, staring in disbelief at the blade that pierced through Dimitri’s chest from behind.
No.
The guard made a heaving grunt as he pulled at his sword. The weapon slid out of Dimitri and he fell to his knees with a heavy thud.
“We have to go,” Nessira insisted, yanking painfully at my arms.
I couldn’t move. I couldn’t blink through the cold horror that was squeezing my heart.
“Thea, come on,” Nessira tore at me. “We have to go. We have to go!”
“He needs help,” I mumbled, unable to look away from him even as I felt Caldrius’ eyes on me.
“He’s already dead!” Nessira screamed. “Now,we have to go.”
My feet budged, following where she pulled at me as a strange sense of numbness fell over me, dulling my senses. The night dimmed. The drums didn’t sound as intense anymore.
And I allowed myself to float in that detached state, taking solace in the emptiness there.
When we were far enough away that the guards couldn’t grasp onto us and pull us back, my steps slowed. Nessira pulled on my arms, tears streaking down her face as she begged me to keep going—to keep running.
But I found myself stilling, remembering the letter I had written to Clay—the request I had made of him.
I turned and stared at the castle.
That castle was my home. It was the centerpiece of the most beautiful of memories and the most horrid. It stood at the edge of the bridge where I had first emerged into the Mortal Realm after my creation. It was where the Dragon had beat me and forced his mouth on me. And it was where Clay had taken me onto his balcony, extended a rose to me, and showed me how beautiful my powers were.
It was where Hyrax had taken everything away from me.
The Athenian castle was beautifully tragic, a presence in itself. The last piece in the chess game I had been playing since my creation.
I looked at my Nessira, staring deeply into terror-filled eyes, and lifted my chin.
“Burn it,” I ordered her. “Burn this castle to the fucking ground.”
For a moment, time stopped. She blinked, shaking her head.
“Do it now.” I repeated.
She brought a ball of fire to each of her palms, daring a single, final questioning gaze. Whatever she saw on my face must have settled her doubts,because without another word she turned to the castle gardens, and set them ablaze without another questioning glance.
And then we ran.
Breathless. In pain. Crying. Alone.
We ran while the castle of Athenia burned behind us.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Thea
“Ihad thought winter was ending.” My teeth were chattering so violently I was sure they would shatter.
I was so incredibly,unbearablycold.
Nessira tugged her cloak closer around her, and her boots squished in the accumulating snow. “It appears one last storm is in order.”
