Chapter 39
39
KATERINA
T he silver-blue flames that spilled from the Void cared nothing for Katerina. They curled around Niko, knotting around ankles and wrists, binding him. By a miracle, he was still alive, but his breath came shallow and irregular, blood pumping from his wound with each sluggish beat of his heart. Desperate, Katerina tried to pry the flames loose, as if disentangling a plant from an invasive vine. They didn’t burn her, but neither did they give way.
The circle of rowan-fires still burned, protecting Katerina from the demons’ attack. But what did that matter, if she couldn’t save her Shadow? If the rowan-smoke kept the demons out, but let their hell-flames in?
She cast spell after spell, sending wind whipping through the clearing, her hands pressed to Niko’s chest to stop the flow of blood. When those failed, she pressed one hand to Niko’s Mark, clutching the amulet around her neck with the other. Maybe she could force him to Change, to give his body a chance to heal itself in the form of his black dog, impervious to Grigori venom.
Her Shadow shuddered in her arms, a low growl escaping his throat, trying his best to obey—but there could be no shifting with a Grigori-soaked blade in his heart. His Change stalled and stopped, the growl subsiding into uneven, soundless gasps. Blood ran from his eyes and nose, streaking his face.
Elena had done this, her and whatever unnatural bond she had formed with her demon. Maybe she could undo it. For that, Katerina would join her power with a Grigori’s, no matter the cost. For that, she would give her life.
Katerina glanced upward, preparing to humble herself by begging Gadreel for help—and froze. Elena was staggering toward the doorway to the Void, compelled by Katerina’s curse. She walked one uneven, drunken step at a time, all of her usual grace gone.
The Vila convulsed, her face contorted. A scream ripped from her throat, then another. Her demon lunged for her, only to have her slip through his grasp as she took another lurching step forward. Gadreel laughed, a low, rich sound that made Katerina’s skin crawl.
And then, mere feet from the doorway to the Void, Elena’s body stilled.