Chapter 29
Leo
It was chaos. Maddie and I had pushed our way through to Frostwatch. The town that had sprung up here was small—but it had families, shops, a schoolhouse. People lived here. And now their homes were burning to the ground.
People were screaming. Crying. Running in every direction.
Some fought. Most fled.
I caught a mother clutching two small children as they stumbled from a smoke-choked alley. I didn’t think—just moved. I scooped one of the kids into my arms, growling for Maddie to cover us.
“Go!” I barked, nodding to the path that wound toward the cliffs. “The ships—follow the path with the green banners!”
The mother nodded, too dazed to speak. Maddie flanked her, shielding them with one hand already brimming with thorns. I didn’t wait to see if they made it. I was already moving again.
Everywhere I looked, Sentinels were pouring in from the hills. Archers fired from rooftops. Fires licked the edge of the main street like it was made of kindling.
This wasn’t a battle.
It was a slaughter.
I caught a glimpse of Phoenix across the square, fire blazing at his palms. He was holding the line with General Marcus and a handful of soldiers, pushing back a wave of Crown troops.
“Elira!” Maddie’s voice snapped me out of it. “Where is she?!”
I scanned the smoke, the panicked crowd, the rising flames. I didn’t see her.
“Leo,” Maddie said, grabbing my arm. “She’s not here.”
I felt something crack in my chest.
She wasn’t with us anymore.
“She went another way,” I said, though I didn’t know how I knew it. I just… felt it. The bond between us pulled taut—distant. Strained. But not broken.
“She’s with Slade!” Phoenix shouted from across the street, fire bursting from his hands. “They’re holding the line—to give us time to evacuate.”
Maddie nodded grimly. “Then we clear this path. Get as many out as we can.”
And we did.
We fought like hell.
But behind us, the sky was darkening. Not just smoke—ships. Dozens. Closer than they should’ve been.
We were being flanked.
“We’re being cut off,” I muttered. “They’re boxing us in.”
“We need to move,” Maddie said. Her vines snapped outward like whips, wrapping around a Sentinel and dragging him off his feet.
I looked up the hill. Toward the smoke. Toward where I felt her.
“Elle,” I whispered, breath sharp. “Where the hell are you?”
A woman collapsed in front of me, her baby in her arms. The kid was screaming—raw, terrified. I dropped to my knees, scooped them both up, and sprinted toward the boats.
Caelen was there, yelling orders, frantically ushering people onto the vessels.
From my position, I saw it—Phoenix, alone on the far side, about to be swarmed by Sentinels.
But the woman clutched at me, fists twisted in my shirt.
“Stay with me! Please!” she sobbed.
I hesitated—heart pounding, torn in two.
“I’ll help Phoenix!” Caelen shouted, drawing his sword without hesitation. He was already moving.
Maddie was pulling all the wood and vines she could from the earth to make a bridge against the bottleneck we had inadvertently created.
A twisted bridge of vines emerged from the water and people used the opportunity to race along to the boats.
But I could see she was slipping. Sweat dripped down her body.
I heard a whistle in the air. I looked up in horror as a cannon ball went flying above my head towards the docks.
“They’re firing on us,” I breathed.
Then louder, “Fuck. Maddie—get down!”
One of the docks exploded in a spray of fire and splinters. The blast flung me backward. My body slammed into the ground. For a moment—just a heartbeat—the world was smoke and ringing silence.
Then came the screaming.
And the fire.
Where she’d stood, smoke coiled. The vine bridge still held—but barely. And Maddie? I couldn’t see her.
I dragged myself up, coughing—head pounding, ribs screaming. The air stank of smoke and scorched timber. My ears were ringing, but one thought punched through the static like a drumbeat.
Maddie.
I staggered forward, eyes scanning the wreckage. The vine bridge still held—barely. Flames snapped at its base. People were still crossing, screaming, scattering. But she wasn’t there.
“No, no—” I pushed through the smoke, shoved a soldier aside. “Maddie!”
A shape crumpled near the edge of the dock—half-buried in ash and debris. I bolted for it, heart slamming in my chest.
It was her.
Her cloak was scorched, but she was breathing—gods, she was breathing. I dropped to my knees and gathered her close.
“Maddie. Maddie, look at me.”
She blinked, dazed. Blood streaked down her cheek, mixing with dirt and ash.
“Leo…” she croaked. “The bridge…”
“I’ve got you,” I said, lifting her as gently as I could. “You held the line. You saved them. But now it’s my turn.”
Behind me, another cannonball hit the beach. Screams tore through the air. The evacuation ships were pulling back—one by one—sails unfurling in the smoke.
“We’re almost out of time,” I muttered, tightening my grip. “Don’t you dare give up on me now.”
I stood—legs trembling under her weight—but I stood.
And I ran.
**
Phoenix
The explosion rocked the dock. It threw me sideways and gave the Sentinel I was fighting the opening he needed.
My flames flickered—just for a second—and that was all it took.
Pain slammed into my back. I staggered, gritting my teeth as I whirled around and blasted him away in a burst of fire that left scorch marks on the stone.
But the damage was done. Pain rippled through my skull—hot, sharp.
I knew this feeling.
My stomach dropped.
Thorne.
Somewhere nearby, his magic was pushing out like a net. Reaching. Searching. Tearing.
I forced myself upright. Breath heaving. Head pounding.
Beside me, Caelen was in a full brawl—three Sentinels at once, sword flashing, cloak whipping in the wind. It should’ve impressed me.
If he wasn’t such a godsdamn jackass.
Thorne was my best friend. Always had been.
So seeing him now—stepping through smoke like he wasn’t dragging hell behind him, with those black, empty eyes—it was like watching a ghost wear his skin.
Thorne’s boots crunched the scorched earth as he stepped toward me. Calm. Precise. Not rushed. Like he had all the time in the world to kill me.
“Hello, Phoenix,” he said.
His voice was smooth. Detached. As if we hadn’t bled side by side. As if I hadn’t once trusted him with everything I had.
“Thorne,” I said. “What are you doing here with Vael?”
A cruel glint lit behind his void-black eyes. “You mean, why am I alive, don’t you? Funny. You must’ve thought I was dead. On that dock.”
He paused. His head tilted slightly, just enough to make the anger in my gut twist.
“The night you left me behind.”
My heart kicked against my ribs. “I didn’t—Thorne, I wasn’t there. I was unconscious. I didn’t even know you were taken until—”
He held up a hand.
“Don’t. Lie.”
“I’m not lying,” I snapped, stepping forward. “I swear to you—when I woke up, you were gone. We tried to find you. We never stopped.”
His face didn’t move. But his grip on the blade shifted.
“That’s sweet,” he said. “Really. But the facts don’t change, do they? I was taken. You lived.”
“I would have traded places with you,” I said. Voice cracking now. “Gods, Thorne—if I could’ve—I would have.”
Silence. Heavy and sharp.
And then—
“Too late.”
He struck.
I threw up my own sword, meeting him strike for strike. But he had me on the defensive. I didn’t want to kill him. I wasn’t sure I could.
“Thorne, stop. This isn’t you. You’ve been brainwashed – corrupted – “
Thorne struck out catching my face. A long cut opened on my cheek, blood pouring from it like water.
“Wrong, Phoenix,” he snarled. “I’ve been shown the truth. I know what you are now—traitor. I’ve come to claim what’s mine.”
I staggered back a step, panting. “And what’s that, huh? You think killing me is the answer?”
Thorne’s eyes flared black, void of everything I remembered. His voice dropped low—deadly.
“I think killing you is the only thing I’ve thought about since I woke in chains. Since the king let Vasquez peel my mind apart. Since you left me.”
“That’s not fair—”
He surged forward, and I barely deflected the blow.
“All of you,” he spat. “Twisted. Traitorous. You chose her. You all chose her. And you left me to die!”
My heart cracked open. “We didn’t choose her over you, Thorne. You chose her over us. You’re the one who sent us away!”
He hesitated. Just for a second.
“No. No! You are wrong. You are lying! Kill the Shades. Elira must be delivered.” He repeated it like it was a mantra. “Order before mercy. Truth before feeling. Duty before desire.”
A sickening feeling ripped through me. This was worse than I could imagine.
“Listen to yourself!” I shouted. “Thorne! Fight it! Those words are not yours!”
He didn’t blink.
“Remember me!”
And for the briefest of moments—I saw it.
A flicker.
A fracture in the mask.
The man I loved like a brother. The man who once stood between us and the abyss.
His grip faltered.
His eyes cleared. Just for a breath.
Then—
Gone.
He roared—and lunged again.