Chapter Nineteen
Shaw Black
I stiffened, unable to fight back. There was a ringing in my ears as another scream threatened to rip from my throat in sheer agonizing pain.
“No!” Neera yelled.
But she couldn’t reach me. Couldn’t help me.
My assailant removed the blade with a sickening squelching sound before he stepped forward to grab Neera.
I collapsed to the earth. My head thumped against the cool grass beneath me as a pool of crimson stained the surrounding greenery. The world moved in a blur. I blinked, struggling to keep my eyes open. The strength of my body fading into a distant memory.
“Shaw!” Zola’s scream pierced my haze.
My eyes flew open, and I stared up at my attacker. “Gilen…”
The golden eyes I had known since childhood stared back at me with a cold, steely edge, absent of the warmth I once knew. From the shifter I once called my alpha. My friend—
Gilen bent to grab Neera’s shackles and dragged her from the tree line toward Anjani.
I groaned as Zola reached my side, her hands applying pressure to my wound to try and slow the bleeding.
“No! Stay with me, Shaw!”
Time slowed. My chest heaved as I forced a ragged breath to enter my lungs, trying to follow her command.
“Get him out of here, Zola!” Neera’s scream tore through me. “Get him to Skylar!”
Anjani chuckled darkly as Gilen forced Neera to her knees before the High Fae. “How noble.” Anjani reached out to pull Neera’s chin toward her, their gazes meeting in a silent fury. “You’re Skylar’s cousin, correct?” She glanced toward Gilen.
He nodded as he stepped back.
“Excellent. Your death, young shifter, will serve us well.”
My voice was a rasped whisper, “No! Neera!”
“Shaw.” Zola’s voice was raw and full of unspoken emotion. She applied more pressure to my wound. “I can’t help her. I can’t leave you to die. Please—”
Through our bond, I felt her, felt the tether between us pull, trying to keep me with her.
“Sword!” Anjani said.
A guard stepped forward, following the her command.
Anjani raised the blade above her head, muscles tensing as she prepared to swing her steel through Neera’s neck.
“Die, shif—”
Anjani’s words fell short. The sound of steel slicing through flesh and bone filled the chilling breath of silence that cascaded across the clearing.
But it was not Anjani’s weapon.
I gasped as I watched her head fall to the cold earth, her body following a breath after. Shouts rang out amongst the remaining guards. Confusion and chaos erupted in the clearing. And in the center of it all stood Seamus.
“Shaw, can you sense Skylar through your pack bond?” Zola asked.
“I don’t know. I can try.”
I closed my eyes, summoning my final breaths of strength to focus. Time slowed, and it felt like days in only the span of a few seconds.
Silence.
Then, for a moment, hope flickered.
I felt it. A faint pull, like she was on the other side of the door, drifting down the corridor.
“Shaw!” Skylar said through the bond.
My heart sang at the sound of her voice.
“Zola! Shaw!” Neera was somehow at my side. “Shadow jump to Solace.”
Zola’s grip on me tightened, her shadows spreading in preparation to jump us through the night. “What about—”
“It’s abandoned,” a male said.
I forced my eyes to open, my jaw going slack at seeing who had joined us.
“We moved our forces from the shifter lands to gather here and prepare for an attack. You’ll be safe there.”
I couldn’t believe it. Wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen this with my own eyes.
The High Fae Prince of Aelius, Seamus Duran, stood beside Neera with a hand clasped to her shoulder. Emerald eyes blazing with a deep emotion, his gaze centered solely on her.
Blood staining the blade in his grasp dripped onto the grass. The blade he used to kill his cousin, Anjani.
“And the other guards?” Zola asked. “The fallen and others hunting us?”
“I’m in their minds. You will not be followed,” Seamus answered with confidence.
Zola turned her gaze to Neera.
“I’ll be safe with Seamus,” Neera said, her voice devoid of fear. “You need to go.”
Zola arched a brow, eyes narrowing on Seamus. “Your blood oath?”
“Broken… for now,” Seamus said, looking to Neera. “But we need to get moving.”
Skylar’s voice was panicked. “Where are you, Shaw?”
I had enough strength to answer, “Solace,” before fading into the black.