Page 281 of Commanding Blood And Bonds

“We don’t know!”

Carrion and rot filled the air, my stomach turning as we closed the distance to the sound of horrified screams. A gust of rancid wind blew my hair back—and that’s when I looked up.

Birds. So many birds.

Ravens and…impossible shadow birds.

Seven of them, each drawing on elements. The Flying Squad was airborne.

My theory was confirmed when two enormous shadows dove for the ground, transforming into Lainalei and Makena before they hit the dirt. The earth trembled as they summoned walls of clay in stabbing shards toward…something.

Something I couldn’t see beyond the ash.

The closer we got, the worse the reek became. I threw my hands forward, shoving a wall of air through the darkness, sending it rushing across the field. As the debris cleared, a chill raced up my arms.

One figure stood within.

As tall as Alvara, the woman was at least six-three, her moon-white hair blowing in the breeze. She turned with preternatural grace that sent my nerves screaming. I staggered back when her eyes met mine—wholly black, with no whites. Black veins spread from her eyes and neck, climbing her arms like a disease she welcomed.

It looked like the poison from a reaper’s bullet—but she was alive, unbothered, and smiling.

She lifted her face to the sky and breathed in, drawing power from her destruction. That’s when I understood the ash. Every blade of grain she touched withered, died, and disintegrated into soot, blown away on the wind.

Like skin infected by reaper’s venom.

Oh, not good.

Reyna’s flyers didn’t hesitate to exploit the opening. Both charged as three more birds dove.

“Can you stop her!?” G barked, snapping me back to myself. I blinked. Okay, focus, Freya.

“I don’t know,” I breathed, but threw my hands forward, launching tendrils of power.

“Can you try!?”

“What the fuck does it look like I’m doing?!”

My gift sensed everything but her. Shadows, ice, water, earth—every element brushed the fingers of my siphon. Everything except this Goddess of destruction.

She walked through the field, hands destroying crops with every touch, drifting toward Lainalei and Makena like they were an afterthought.

Only when Lainalei let out a battle cry and spun forward, blades flashing, did the demonic bitch engage.

Each block looked…effortless, even as she fought Makena on the opposite side.

My eyes locked with G’s. We were both thinking the same thing.

Not good. Not good. Not good.

My boots crunched onto the decaying earth, every step lifting charcoal into the air.

Where the fuck was Alvara? This shit was right up her alley.

The bitch moved with alarming fluidity. Lainalei and Makena grunted with effort, already pushed to the defensive. Dread pooled in my gut, and the warning on my lips came too late.

She clamped a hand around Lainalei’s throat. Her other arm threw a shield so violently it sent Makena flying. She slammed through the mud, sliding a good twenty yards before skidding to a stop. A screeching bird dove from the sky as Lainalei’s hands clawed at the grip on her throat. She was lifted off the ground, feet kicking.

Then the bitch’s lifeless black eyes locked on her face—and Lainalei let out a soul-rending cry as her body turned to ash.