41. Raelyna #3
Lucanus let out a roar of pain and outrage, the bullets landing in his abdomen as the shield dropped around him.
Callum’s fire affinity lashed out once more, circling the male firmly as he stood before him. I slunk behind Lucanus in the shadows, watching as Callum held him, immobilized by his fire affinity, the male bleeding out, staining the balcony with corrupt blood as the two males stood in a stand-off.
“You’ve gone too far,” Callum spat as he tightened his hold on his fire affinity, the cords of flames licking around Lucanus’s body.
The scent of burnt flesh filled the air, causing me to pause my movements as I nearly threw up from the suffocating scent.
“The corruption—the darkness. It has to be stopped. You have to be stopped.”
“I will never be stopped,” Lucanus roared as he fought against the restraints Callum had entwined around his battered form.
I began moving, my hand reaching for the blade on the ground as I stepped over rubble and destruction, walking up behind Lucanus.
Callum’s eyes flared as he caught sight of me moving through the space, his jaw clenching.
But he didn’t move to stop me. He didn’t say anything as he tightened his hold over the fallen king of Solis.
Because this was something I had to do .
. . for everything that had been taken from me.
I threw the dagger, the blade spinning as it tore through the air, before it embedded itself in Luc’s back.
I heard his roar of pain, watched as he crumbled to his knees, sinking forward as blood coated his back.
“That . . .” My voice sounded from somewhere inside me as I walked around his form, trusting that Callum wouldn’t let him reach me.
“Is for my father. For my sister. For me.” I didn’t stop walking until I reached Callum’s side, every part of me in pain as I stood beside him, drawing on his strength.
“You will pay for this,” Lucanus sneered, despite being in no position to threaten me. “Solis won’t fall . . . not today.”
I looked up, finding amber eyes already focused on me, scanning across my features, and I nodded.
Callum’s hand raised, his eyes still focused on me as the shot was fired, hitting Lucanus directly in the center of his chest. Somewhere in my peripheral vision, I knew his body was crumpling to the ground in an unmoving heap, but I wasn’t focused on him .
. . I kept my gaze fully focused on Callum.
For a moment, I couldn’t do anything. I just stood there—the world around me fading out as I focused on the male standing before me, golden wings splayed wide, his eyes wholly on me.
The male who had just saved my life.
Who promised to always come for me.
His arms wrapped tightly around me as he pulled me into a tight embrace. I breathed in the familiar scent of safety—of amber and leather.
“You came.” The words were a hoarse whisper as I sank against him, letting him support my weight. The sounds of fighting and the screams that filled the air faded into the background as time stood still for just a moment.
“Well, someone had to save you,” he replied. “Since you couldn’t simply stay in the apartment like everyone else.”
“It’s not like I planned this,” I protested. “But if I recall correctly, I saved your ass once too. So, really, this just makes us even.”
“Even . . . really?” he joked as his eyes scanned over me once more, his eyes assessing every scrap and injury I’d endured at the hands of the male he’d just taken out.
I wrapped my hands around his neck as I tugged him closer and pressed my lips against his.
Callum wasted no time, returning the kiss with a fiery passion as he devoured me.
I felt his tongue run against my bottom lip before he drew me closer, his hands trailing over every inch of my skin in reverence as he claimed me.
A large crash sounded in the distance, and I pulled away, my eyes widening as I remembered where we were . . . what was going on around us.
“Thank you,” I whispered against his lips. “For coming for me.”
“Always, starlight. I will always come for you.”
“I hate to interrupt . . .” Axel’s voice sounded from a distance, and my head snapped in the direction of the voice as I saw him flying closer toward our position. “But we’ve got to get moving.”
I felt Callum stiffen, his demeanor shifting as he glanced toward his second, a tight line forming on his lips as he nodded.
“Let’s get you out of here,” Callum whispered against the shell of my ear as I glanced up toward him through my lashes.
“My family?” I asked as Axel landed on the terrace, walking toward us.
“They’ve already been evacuated,” he confirmed. “They’re safe.”
Relief flooded through me at his words, another “thank you” falling from my lips.
“Ready?” he asked as Axel conversed with a female I briefly recognized, and I nodded in confirmation.
He lifted me in one arm, and my arms immediately wrapped around his neck, worried I’d fall as I looked at the male incredulously. “You do realize I can fly on my own?” I quipped.
He chuckled darkly. “You’re dreaming if you think I’d let you out of my sight, even for a minute, in the middle of a battle, starlight.”
I huffed a laugh, looking up at him as he pushed off the terrace and we began making our way across the Quarter.
Axel flew before us, wielding his water affinity as he cleared the path, and we raced toward the desert, away from the destruction.