Page 106 of Heavensent & Hellbent

“Sheis going to kill you,” I said coolly, my voice not even my own. My body was engulfed in flames. I felt the heat from every pore—it flooded my mind—and each breath sent more fire through the air. Zahhak narrowly missed each flame I threw his way. I’d caught him off guard.

He waved one hand toward me, flicking his wrist upward. Invisible bonds clung to my waist, and with just a tightening of his fingers, the bonds around my body became suffocatingly tight.

It felt as though my bones were shattering. I gasped, desperate for air, for something that would take away this feeling.

The moon shone above us, bearing witness as it had when we died three hundred years ago.

“Roxana!” I heard Zain call. “Release the fire. Let me in. He’ll kill you!”

I shook my head. I couldn’t. Zahhak would kill Zain first— I knew that. And I’d rather die than let that happen.

A wash of heat ran through my entire body, my power burning me from within and in turn breaking the bonds that Zahhak had placed around me.

I struggled up to standing, stumbling toward him, raising my hands in the air. I waited three beats before gently pushing my palms in his direction. Fire after fire after fire followed him, knocking Zahhak over.

His force field around us must have stopped working, because I could now hear noises from outside, though my ring of fire held strong.

“Roxana!” Azar shouted, and then, quietly, “Her eyes are red.”

“She’s more powerful than you think,” Keyon said.

I heard Zain grunting in pain, and this encouraged me to take further steps toward Zahhak. He dusted himself off before standing up, smirking.

“Your powers aren’t enough to stop me,” he said. “Feeble, just like your angel. And, of course, your mother, who degraded herself by wedding a pathetic human.”

His words broke something within me. My poor mother, who had wanted to shield me from all this, who had run awayfrom this beast, who had tried to live a normal life with my dad. Who had been killed and who I missed so much it physically hurt. I had to end this cycle for her, if not for all my past selves who hummed beneath my skin. I mustered up all my power, clenching my body until the fire within me burned hotter.

His next words, however, fanned the flames. “You and that angel are destined for misery. You willneverbe happy together. You, Roxana, will never be happy. In your next lifetime, maybe you’ll accept that.”

No, no, no, no, no, the voices within me screamed. And my own voice was loudest, desperate to prove him wrong. Letting out a shriek, I raised my hands and threw another fireball at him, all the fire within me expelled with the flick of my wrist. As the fireball slammed toward him, the impact sent him flying.

Even from a distance, I heard the snakes continue their complaining, hissing their unhappiness, their demands in his ear. They had the ability to drive him to insanity. That was his curse for making that deal with Shaitan and killing his own father. To defeat him, I needed their help.

As Zahhak got back up, I raised my hands and created small fireballs, five on each hand. As they spun, I released them. Not at Zahhak, but at the snakes atop his neck. They whizzed through the air, fast and hard, but I stilled them just before they made contact with the serpents.

I edged my flames ever closer, burning them a little. They hissed in unison.

Zahhak’s laugh was short, empty. “You cannot kill them. Trust me, I have tried.” He swiped a hand, and I was thrownbackward, my head slamming against the ground in the process.

Head throbbing, I forced myself to sit up. I spat out blood. Zahhak was saying something, but I could barely hear him. The shadow of a past self—Anahita—was trying to speak to me. I felt her reaching for my brain, caressing. She was the serpent speaker, the most reclusive of all my past selves.

Zahhak walked toward me. My fireballs were still hovering beside the snakes, moving with him.

I had no time to marvel at how I had managed to hold them there and began to hiss, speaking a language I didn’t know existed.

What will it take for you to turn on him?I asked the snakes atop his neck.

He is our master, the one on the right said.

But we despise him, the other said.Living with him is torment for us. We were not meant to endure him for this long.

You were ordered to torture him, I told them, Rabiya’s knowledge taking over.You were Shaitan’s punishment, but you have gotten complacent. You must turn on him and fulfill your duty.

No, the serpent on the right said, while the one on the left let out what could only be described as a sigh.

He’s no longer immortal. If you help me kill him, you can be free, I told them.

Distantly, I heard Zain screaming my name. Zahhak’s eyes were assessing. He could toss me with one look; I didn’t have much time.