Chapter 89 Dianna
DIANNA
I coughed as I came to and started digging my way out of the rubble.
The sound of clashing steel spurred me on, knowing that Nismera and Samkiel were locked in battle.
The palace shook with the force of their strikes, and I pushed myself up as she tossed him back.
His armored boots slid across the floor, and he buried his sword into the stone to slow his momentum.
Gods, he was amazing, but I could tell he was barely holding against her.
He leaned heavily on his sword, and when he tried to stand up, he stumbled and fell to one knee. He had fed me earlier, and I could smell his blood leaking beneath his armor. She must have cut him, and if he hadn’t already healed, it must be deep. Fuck.
I darted across the floor before dropping to my knees, sword out as I slid to her.
She turned toward me, dodging at the last second as my blade sang through the air.
I spun and hopped to my feet as my sword met hers.
Nismera bent, and knowing what she was about to do, I raised my knee, slamming it into her face.
Her head snapped back, and she cursed me.
She raised her sword, and I dropped mine, falling to the ground.
My palms met the polished stone floor, and her eyes widened a fraction before I used the momentum to land a kick to her chest with both feet.
Her sword clattered to the ground as she went sailing into a thick column, the archway above her cracking and falling atop her.
I spared no time, turning away and running to Samkiel. He was already on his feet when I reached him. I turned to keep an eye on where Nismera had disappeared beneath the stone. She’d recover fast, but the open ceiling meant we could escape.
“Baby, you’re bleeding,” I said, my hand touching where he held his side.
He groaned as he forced a half smile. “Sometimes that happens when you fight with swords.”
“Ass.”
I pulled his hand away, looking at the damage.
If it was too bad, he may not be able to hold the spike along my back to ride out of here.
The silver armor I thought was damn near indestructible had a huge gash in it.
Fuck, Nismera had swung her blade hard. But it was the blood pouring from the wound underneath that worried me. I might have fed too much.
“We have to leave. Now,” I said. “We put up a good fight, but we can’t beat her. Not here. Not today.”
“Putting my pride aside, I agree,” he said.
“Hold your side,” I instructed before wrapping my arm around his back. “Let me help you—”
She’s fast. Samkiel had told me over and over again, yet I’d still never learn.
It was only a second since I had checked that rubble, but a second too long.
Nismera stood only feet away, coated in dust and debris, holding her golden spear.
My eyes widened, and my heart thudded, time slowing.
Her smile was crooked and cruel, her teeth flashing brightly in her blood-covered face.
She pointed the tip of the spear at Samkiel’s back, and the power along its edge grew.
I knew what it would do, what it would take, and how fast it would eat through him. Was this what the poets wrote sonnets about? Was this what Gabby had meant when she spoke of a love that far outweighed yourself?
Whatever it was, I allowed my heart to make the choice for me.
My turn was nearly instinctive. Samkiel looked at me, bewildered as I held his arms. Then his eyes went wide with terror and rage.
He’d seen Nismera and the spear. The power emanating from it made the air waver, but she held it, controlled it, directed it.
He looked into my eyes and knew what I was going to do, and he hated me for it.
He threw his hand out, not to block the stream of power coming from the spear, but to push me away. I watched it all in slow motion, knowing it was already too late.
The light grew brighter as it hit my body.
His sword clattered to the floor. Heat pierced my back, and I saw his mouth shape a word.
I thought it might have been no. Fool. He was a fool to think I’d let something happen to him.
Was it possible that he didn’t know how much I loved him?
I was glad this was the way I left this world.
It’s what I would have wanted. To die in my lover’s arms, knowing I had sacrificed my life for someone I couldn’t live without.
I was able to memorize his eyes and his face, and know that the last thing I’d see would be him.
He was so beautiful, and I was going to miss him so much.
I thought it would burn. That it would be agony when my body turned to ash and disappeared. But the truth was, I felt nothing, no spark, no ember, and no hint of pain. I was simply there, and then I was gone.
I sent him one final thought, hoping it would be enough to keep him from ending the world.
“Remember, I love you.”
And I hope he did.