Page 129 of Fire to the Stars

Crack.Mercifully, the crossbow wielder’s next bolt misses a kill shot to the heart between her ribs. It strikes the fleshy stretch of her wing instead. The strategist in me celebrates the stroke of luck—repositioning her body saved both of us. At the same time, she’s spitting shield fragments and dripping blood from both wounds. She’s human, she’s a beast—

Her anguished shriek cuts through every muscle fiber I have. Instinct compels me to end her pain somehow, some way, but it’s nother. Not yet. It rips my insides to turn away.

I sprint for the cavern’s mouth. Claire resumes her chase. Shouts in the Old TongueandCommon Tongue rise urgently behind me. The Immortals reorganize into two groups that I can see: one coming for Claire and one for me. Both groups ignore the Gendarmerie.

Two more Immortals step in front of me, a sword and a sickle raised, respectively.

These are Claire’s would-be slayers.

That thought fuels my first strike with pure brutality.

I know how they’ll attack. I am them. They are me. I parryone with a force that sends him tripping backward into the cavern. The fall impales him on a stalagmite with a gurgling gasp. My next swing is wide. It hacks off the other Immortal’s sickle-holding hand at the wrist. Blood sprays the rock. I drive my sword into her heart. The strike is so forceful, the blade gets stuck in her rib cage. Before Claire can catch up to me, I try to yank the sword out of my victim. It snags. Blinding pain flares up my shoulder and speckles my sight with black dots. I hear the muscles rip inside me as much as I feel them.

My arm shakes from the pain, immobile. Useless. Too weak to dislodge the heavy sword. The ground quakes under my feet—Claire is closing in. Empty-handed, I race past the threshold, where sunslight meets shadow.

“Abel, run!” Lyle screams.

Crack.

A bolt rips through my calf. I stumble.

Crack.

A second bolt punctures my stomach like the sickle that pierced through Hanna.

The force knocks me into a stalagmite. My one useful arm wraps around it for balance. Lucy emerges from her hiding place near Noctu’s cage, ears perked toward me.

“Stay!” I shout, voice hoarse, startling her into hiding.

I pay for the command dearly. The bolt in my gut shifts and spills blood, which spatters between my boots. The pain tilts the ground out from under me. I collapse on my side.

Claire roars louder than ever. The stalagmites tremble.

Noctu approaches the cell bars, chains pulling taut. His celestial eyes watch her approach. His voice reverberates through the cavern as if traversing beyond the mortal realm.

“Brother, I’m here!”

“Arrêtez!” an Immortal screams.Stop!

The cavern floods with fire. Eyes clenched shut, I scream in agony as scalding heat invades the tears in my armor, raking up my side and searing my nostrils and throat. Tendrils lick past Micah’s teeth and boil my face until it’s black and blistered and I’m certain even my eyelashes have gone up in flames.

I don’t know how long it lasts. Seconds. Minutes. Time is a foreign object.

Everything goes cold.

Quiet.

The blurred shape of the cavern comes into focus. Wisps of smoke drift to the ceiling and curl around the stalactites. Embers sputter out.

Noctu’s cell is a melted mess. His chains lie warped in a pile of ash.

The only remnants of him left.

Claire growls, eyelids drooping. Her head bows and her body lowers to the ground, like a docile hunting hound. In a rush of steam, her scales, wings, and tail begin to dissolve. Eventually, her human shape emerges from the shroud. She lies on the stone, asleep. Naked and woundless, save her original scar.

Ican’ttrust that she’s free of the curse just yet. Not until I see proof of life.

I hold my breath.