The Wrath of the Fallen, page 65
“There it is.” Nismera smiled, her arms outstretched as she screamed to be heard over the pounding storm. “This is the part of you that is just like us, Brother. Will you use it? Will you destroy this world like you did Rashearim? I remember that, too. They all do. You’re no savior to us and never have been. You wear a cloak of justice and silver armor to hide the one thing you have always been. A World Ender.”
“I will kill you.” My voice was thick and painful, as if I had been screaming this entire time and had not known it.
“Do it, Brother.” Her smile stretched the jagged scar along her face, baring her teeth in a feral smile. “Show them. Show them all the truth of you and your power. They think my power is wicked, but you are Oblivion itself, and sweet old daddy isn’t here to hide that from anyone now. End this world and tell me if they still chant your name or bow their heads to you? I don’t think so.”
“It won’t matter. No one will be left to know what truly happened here.” I flipped the blade in my hand and struck, aiming for her head.
Her smile faded, and her eyes widened as she ducked, Oblivion cutting through the wall behind her. Its destruction spread in waves, eating everything it touched and seeming to revel in its freedom. One of her generals hadn’t moved fast enough, and he screamed as Oblivion ate his arm before consuming his shoulder. He spun and darted into the storm. Almost playfully, a wisp of power whipped out after him before coiling back on itself.
Blade after blade formed in my hand, and I threw them toward her darting figure one after the other. Nismera ran as the world shook and crumbled, her laughter a sick, twisted sound. She seemed to take great pleasure in my desolation.
I threw another dagger as she ran, and it sank deep into a wall. The world shook, or maybe that was just my body trying to adjust to the loss of my heart and soul. She had taken both of them with her. I guessed that made sense, considering she owned all of me, anyway.
Anger lashed me again, refusing to let me fall into despair. We weren’t done here, and I was sick of being the whipping boy for Unir’s actions. I had paid, like I always had. They had taken revenge on me when I did not deserve it. I was always held accountable for my father’s sins. They had taken my family and my akrai, and they would regret it. I was no longer a child to be punished for my father’s crimes, and I was not someone they could manipulate to their will.
I would make sure my name was the last they spoke and my face the last they saw before I sent them all to Oblivion. The sky screamed, and all light fled. Oblivion yawned above me, summoned from the depths of my soul to avenge the person I could not live without. I didn’t just revel in it. I devoured it, and let it consume me in turn. It spilled out of the gaping wound in the sky, snapping tentacles reaching for buildings and people, reducing them to dark ash.
A part of me that was lost and tired begged for it to claim me, too. Maybe then I could have some peace. I would search the afterlife for any remains of her, but first, I would send Nismera to Oblivion.
My head snapped back as screeches filled the air. A thick swath of legion soldiers riding ryphors raced through the sky toward their bitch queen. I slammed my hand down, and tendrils of Oblivion eagerly ripped from the clouds above them. They hit the few beasts that did not dodge, raining ash on the ground. The others split into two sections, continuing toward us. My arm shot up, and I reached for that raw, dark power again. I felt the ache of the call and its gleeful response before tossing my arm toward the beasts and their riders. She would not escape, never again. A silver blade pierced my hand, tossing my arm to the side, blood dripping onto the floor.
I growled and called down a tornado of wind and pure, dark power. It played for a moment, eating at what remained of the palace before I aimed it at the being who had robbed me so completely.
Her castle melted to floating dust, and she laughed. A demented, cruel-sounding thing as we landed on the bare ground. Oblivion touched down, and the ground hissed as Oblivion ate that, too.
Taking a step back as the world shook. She lifted her hands, but not to aim a blade at me. A ryphor whipped past with a sharp roar, somehow having evaded the tendrils slicing through the air. Nismera grabbed the dangling reins, tossing herself atop the beast and preparing to flee. My hand shot out, teeth gritting as a loud ringing filled my head. It was a telltale sign that I was nearing power exhaustion, but I didn’t care. I didn’t stop, allowing the living, rotten thing my grief had become to pour from me. The ryphor dodged, Oblivion colliding with stone and hills, debris flying in every direction. I’d kill her, even if I had to destroy the world, too.
A heavy form collided with my back, and I faltered, hitting the ground face first. There was so much force on me that it felt like I was being crushed beneath a building. I lunged to my feet, spinning to remove whoever held me and had distracted me from my prey. A fist slammed against the side of my face, causing my vision to flicker.
Cameron’s snarling face came into view. I could see he was screaming something at me, but my ears were still ringing and I only caught part of it.
“… ’re killing people! Innocents!”
He hit me again, and I blinked rapidly, refocusing on everything around me. Ash floated around us like we were in a blizzard made of the dark remains of the people Oblivion had claimed. Rain pelted from the storm above, another violent twist starting to rotate. That was why Nismera ran. That was why she’d laughed. She truly had made me the monster they all thought I was. I raised my hands, but it was too late. A large chunk of the cliff dislodged and buried us.
92
SAMKIEL
Rain pelted us in torrents as we dug our way through the rubble. I crawled from the mud and spat dirt from my mouth as I gained my footing. The world we stood on was a wasteland, nothing left but wet ash and dark skies. My gaze swung to Cameron, and I charged. My fist shot out, catching him on the jaw and knocking him sideways. I had lost my shield of numbed detachment, and my heartbreak and rage were tearing me apart. Cameron was the reason I was aware, so it seemed only fitting that he tasted my pain.
I tackled him to the ground and punched him again as he tried to block my blows. “Why did you do that?” I yelled above the rain, the storm raging around us. “You dragged me away from her!”
I didn’t want to be here. I wanted to die with Dianna, and he’d robbed me of that. So, maybe I would beat on him until either I killed him or he killed me. His fist slammed into my face, the force of the hit splitting my cheek. I welcomed the physical pain. It was a momentary distraction from my overwhelming emotional agony. He flipped me off him and rolled on top of me, gaining the upper hand. We were a tumbling mass of blood, fists, and mud until he managed to rest his knee on my throat.
“I need you, too!” Cameron yelled into my face, the rumbling of the violent sky adding power to his words. Something in me broke, and I went limp, sinking into the mud as rain splattered all around us. We stared at each other, both of us panting.
“Let me die,” I said, my voice cracking and my chest heaving.
The sound he let out was so full of anguish that I struggled to believe it came from Cameron. I thought he was going to hit me again as he lunged for me, grabbing the collar of my dark armor, but he only pulled me to him. “I can’t,” he sobbed.
Tears poured from my eyes, mixing with the rain. “She’s gone, Cameron. I saw …”
“I know,” he said like a parent coddling a child. “I know.”
An exceptionally loud clap of thunder came from above, sounding like the collision of worlds. Cameron and I scrambled to our feet, our faces turned skyward. Flashes of blinding silver light pierced the clouds, breaking through the storm and returning light to the darkness. One after another, the gods streaked across the sky. My heart thudded. Gathrriel hadn’t been wrong or crazed. The gods were alive, and they had abandoned me.
I watched in shock as they landed, not realizing what was about to happen until it was too late. They said nothing before attacking, unleashing their burning silver power. A piercing sound rent the air. We fell to our knees and grabbed our ears, my vision blurring as hands grabbed me and forced me back into the mud. Feet pressed into my back as they pulled my arms behind me and bound my wrists in another set of those cursed cuffs. As soon as the collar snapped shut around my neck, my connection to my power was severed.
Rain continued to pour over us, and I blinked away the water to focus on every silver-eyed god glaring their hatred at me. It seemed I had already been accused and found guilty. I heard Cameron hiss next to me as they placed him in chains as well. My head snapped toward him, and I snarled.
“Don’t fucking touch him!” I screamed, mud coating my face and mouth.
A lithe red-haired goddess slammed her axe handle into my face, whipping my head to the side. “You’re disgusting. How have you fallen so far?” she asked, glaring at me.
“Fuck. You,” was all I said.
I glanced at Cameron. His face was bloody, and he was soaked and covered in mud. A god I didn’t recognize had a foot on his back, holding him in place. I snarled up at the unfamiliar god, hoping my eyes conveyed my rage. Even if we weren’t bound, we couldn’t fight our way out of this. I would never risk them hurting Cameron.
Nearby, another god landed with a splash. He towered over most of the others.
“Blayne,” the red-headed goddess called. “The rest of the area is secure.”
“Any survivors?” Blayne asked. His helmet slipped away, and he ran a large hand over his closely cropped dark hair.
Another goddess landed on the heels of his question, followed closely by a celestial. The goddess’s helmet completely covered her face, but her power felt familiar.
“No,” she said curtly.
That voice. I knew that voice. Kryella?
My eyes widened, and my heart started to race, the blood pumping loudly in my ears. Kryella slid her helmet back, revealing her long braids. Her gaze slid over me with a look of pure disgust. The god next to her had a clean-shaven head and brown skin. I didn’t recognize him, but the man on her other side was heartbreakingly familiar. Xavier, alive, whole, and unable to meet my gaze. I knew where his eyes were, what they’d landed on, and I felt the bond between us shatter. Even if I couldn’t read it in his eyes and how he held himself, I had known him for eons. He thought we had betrayed him, too.
Kreylla’s magic whipped out in deceptively fragile-looking wisps. They wrapped around my body, completely subduing me. The fucking magic chains they’d bound me in clenched tightly as Kryella pulled.
“Take them to Arcelia. We will question them there,” Kryella ordered, and I knew by the look of pure hatred on her face that their questioning would not be the pleasant type. Xavier’s pain-filled eyes were the last things I saw before the bald god stepped forward and slammed a silver hammer against my head.
Honestly, the encroaching darkness was a sweet relief, pulling me from the constant blistering pain of Kryella’s magic and the much worse agony of the emptiness Dianna’s loss had created in me. For a second, I felt myself falling, falling through air, through clouds, and then through time itself.
93
DIANNA
My every nerve ending fired with pain, my skin feeling as if it was being peeled off layer by layer. I felt like I’d been tossed into a star, made and unmade, born and reborn. Bone crafted to bone, muscle to muscle, as my body reconstructed itself and screamed to life. Or was that just me screaming? The floor came into view, and I panted, air filling my lungs. The first thing I became aware of that didn’t hurt was a soft, warm scent that reminded me of cookies. Then I heard the sweet sound of birds singing. My chest still heaved as I looked around, trying to focus my blurry vision. It took a moment, but a small multicolored rug came into view below me.
What the fuck?
No, this was wrong. Was I dreaming? I was with Samkiel, and we were fighting Nismera. He needed me, and I …
I looked up and blinked again. A scatter of magazines and two cups littered a low table. I pushed to my feet only to fall back to the floor with a thud, my body struggling to keep up with itself. Feeling like a wobbly baby with new legs, I tried again. It took a few minutes, but I finally managed to remain upright and get my knees to stop shaking. Keeping a steadying hand on the wall, I looked around the room. It wasn’t very big, but the light off-white color made it seem a little more open. Someone obviously lived here. Framed pictures and diplomas were neatly organized on the walls. A TV sat on a long white and brown entertainment center, and I could see a fully stocked kitchen from here.
My heart started to pound, and I didn’t think before rushing to the window and pulling back the blinds. The sounds of a bustling city filtered in through the glass, cars honking as they passed on the street below. People talked as they walked, either to each other or on their phones.
No. I wasn’t with Samkiel because I was on Onuna. I heard a key fit into the lock, and the front door opened.
“Yeah, let me call you back.”
I turned and forgot how to breathe as Gabby walked in, groceries in hand, and her cheek pressed to her shoulder, holding her phone. Her eyes met mine, a distracted smile curling her lips.
“Dianna?” she said, wrinkling her nose. “What are you wearing?”
Her question was valid, considering I was still in my dirty, battleworn armor, but I was too focused on the fact that my sister was alive, breathing, and talking to me to be overly concerned with my wardrobe.
I stalked toward her, unable to keep my distance. I had to make sure this was real. How could this be real? I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her in tight, crushing her to me. She grunted with the impact against my armor and dropped her bag. The scent of her was nearly overwhelming, and I pulled back to meet her confused eyes.
“Is this asteraoth?” I asked.
She looked at me as if I had lost my mind, then her hand went to my forehead. “Are you sick? Can Ig’Morruthens get sick?”
I shook my head and hugged her again. “Oh, gods, I missed you, but …”
Samkiel. If I’d died and was in asteraoth … No. He’d … no.
She tipped her head and smiled at me, seeming happy but a bit bemused by my behavior. I opened my mouth to question her further, but then noticed the bangs along her forehead. My brows drew down because I remembered when we’d cut them. We’d watched a show and wanted to copy one of the characters we thought looked cool. Fuck. I didn’t need the calendar on the fridge to tell me what I already knew.
I wasn’t in asteraoth. I was somehow in the fucking past.
Loud bangs and the shatter of wood and glass came from down the hall. If it weren’t for the loud curses, I would have thought a beast had risen in the apartment and was struggling to escape. I moved out of instinct, pushing Gabby behind me.
“What is it?” she asked, peering cautiously around me.
“Shh. I don’t know, but stay behind me,” I said, summoning a blade.
“Whoa! That’s new!” Gabby said excitedly.
I braced myself as I heard heavy boots pounding down the hall toward us, but nothing could have prepared me for what appeared in the doorway. Kaden and Isaiah stepped into the room. They were covered in blood and dirt, scraps of brightly colored clothing hanging from the spikes and sharp edges of their battle armor. It looked as if they might have ported in Gabby’s closet.
We stared at each other for a long moment, then my shoulders dropped.
“Oh, fuck.”
A HERO ROSE, AND NOW HE’LL FALL …
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
First and foremost, how do we feel guys? How are we doing? Does it get better or worse? Who knows? Definitely not me …
In all seriousness I want to say thank you to all the readers. The fact that you even wanted to pick up this book means the world to me! Thank you endlessly. Also, thank you to every single person I have met and become friends with on this journey, and I hope you enjoyed this installment of Samkiel and Dianna’s epic journey.
Next, I want to say thank you to the Rose & Star Publishing team for believing in me! There is not a single day that I am not grateful for all you have done for me. Thank you for letting a mixed kid who never thought she would see herself in stories flourish. You all own my very heart. Thanks for letting me blow your phones up with a thousand messages and regular Facetimes. Samkiel may have lost his home, but I found mine with you!
Thank you to Kensington and Hachette for believing in me and taking a chance on these books and this series. I cannot praise you all enough. This has been quite a ride, and I am so lucky to have a home for my crazy, loveable, chaotic characters.
Mikayla, my bestie and PA, I truly could not do this without you, and I hope you know that. Minus the seventeen phone calls per day and just gossiping about this series, you have truly helped me so much and now you have it in writing how much I love and adore you!
Aisling, my amazing editor, thank you so much for seeing my world and loving every single part. Thank you for believing in me as well and not being afraid of Dianna and her chaotic ways. I also apologize in advance for the rest of this series.
I also want to say thank you to my Found Family who has listened to me vent and cry and accepts me all the same. I’d burn the world for you guys, too! Thank you for loving me!
I want to say thank you to the beta readers (you know who you are). Thank you for being the best beta readers a girl could ever ask for. Your feedback means the world, and I treasure you guys.
Thank you to my mom and sister, whom I love dearly. The family bond in this entire series is a reflection of them for me—the undying love and the ability to do anything for the ones you love. We have been through hell and back, and I hope you both know how much I love you.
