CHAPTER 47
A SECOND CHANCE
Time – the threads of fate – will remain untouched.
– Vallenna’s oath to Occarlia
Kara landed hard. Her breath came fast, like she’d been running for hours. She staggered to her feet – the ground beneath her trembled with the echo of the Arcanth’s magic.
Wait, no, not magic.
It was the sounds of war that shook the earth. She spun around, disorientated. She was back.
The battlefield.
Everything stopped. She couldn’t breathe. There he was.
Sebastian. Alive. Fighting.
No... it can’t be.
Had the Arcanth truly brought her back? Or was this another dream? Her mind refused it, didn’t believe it. But her heart already did. It had to.
He’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.
Something faint, fragile, pulsed through her chest. Their bond.
Not the blaze it had once been but a soft ripple.
Enough to remember what it was like before the emptiness.
Before he died. It took every ounce of her strength not to run to him.
Not to throw herself into his arms, drag him away from the battle, away from Silas, get him to safety.
Every part of her screamed for it. But that’s not why she was here.
She would save him – but she couldn’t risk Vallenna’s future.
He wouldn’t want that. That’s not what he had died for.
She took a moment to orientate herself. Work out when she was in the battle.
She whipped around towards the sand. Silas was climbing over the bodies on the shore, cutting through anyone that got in his way.
A hatred unlike any Kara had ever felt coursed through her.
You took him from me.
She watched Sebastian and her past self inch closer together. Shoulder to shoulder. She remembered what they were saying:
We’ll fight him together.
She had minutes. If that. She had to find the soldier who had dragged her from Sebastian’s side.
End him before he could. She looked frantically across the chaos, her heart pounding.
She wouldn’t be too late this time. But she couldn’t let Sebastian see her.
Or the other her. She was still in her black funeral gown – if he saw two of her, one in mourning dress – a spark of recognition, any distraction, could cost them victory.
She had to stay in the shadows. Hidden. Deadly.
But there were so many. It was a melee of bodies, Draken and Vallennan alike. Panic clawed at her. Silas had reached Sebastian.
No, no, no. Where are you?
She scanned the chaos, once, twice more. She had no idea what direction the soldier approached from. She’d never seen him coming.
One chance. Don’t waste it.
The Arcanth’s words echoed in her head.
Don’t let me be too late again. Please.
And then she saw him.
She would never forget his face. The reason Sebastian had died.
But there was no fear, not anymore. Only rage.
Pure, burning rage. She’d seen him every night in her nightmares, grinning as he tore her away.
And now here he was, climbing onto the shore just minutes behind Silas, his eyes locked on his master.
Her vision blurred with fury, every part of her shaking with it.
She ran. Faster than she ever had in her life. Faster than she’d thought herself capable of.
She snatched a sword off the ground by a fallen Thorne soldier and hurled herself at the Draken.
He’d been so focused on Silas he’d been blind to any other threat.
The force of her strike, the sheer speed of it, drove him to the ground.
His face wasn’t grinning this time. She would make sure he never would again.
His arms came up – a useless attempt to shield himself.
But she was too fast, too strong, crimson bursting to life all over her.
Without hesitation or mercy, she drove her blade deep into his neck. Hot blood spurted out onto her hands.
“You won’t separate us this time,” she snarled viciously as death claimed him.
She stood, blade dripping with blood, and felt nothing but satisfaction. She whirled back towards Sebastian – alive – and watched in awe, in admiration, as he and the other Kara fought together. Driving Silas back. She took a step forward, her body aching to help them.
No. You can’t.
Her gaze swept the field instead, frantic, sword gripped tightly in her hand, hunting for the next threat, others that would tear them apart. But none came. Her eyes snapped back to Sebastian.
Still standing. Still breathing. The other Kara by his side.
I love you. I love you. You can do this.
Golden magic surrounded the pair, light exploding from them against the shadow. She watched as Sebastian parried, the other Kara swinging low, knocking Silas off balance just in time for Sebastian to land a blow that threw Silas to the ground.
Sebastian raised his blade.
Kill him. Kill him now.
Kara froze. Inky black tentacles of icy smoke had begun to unfurl from her palms, snaking upwards, binding her in place. The Arcanth was calling her back. Sebastian’s blade came down–
Please let it have been enough.
Please.
Please.
The world fell away once more. Agony flared through Kara again, but it was short-lived. She hit the ground, gasping, choking on the black smoke.
She was back in Thorne’s burial grounds.
No–
Her hands clawed at the dirt. But there was none. There was only grass. No freshly turned earth, no stone bearing his name. A burning sensation crawled up her arm as she moved. She ignored it.
The ancient voice spoke once more.
It is done, Karalynna Hale.
The Warrior lives.
A sob broke out of her. Her hand flew to her chest, trembling, hardly daring to believe. The bond hit her like lightning. Fierce. Alive. A blaze inside her so bright she nearly collapsed under it. His presence where there had been only emptiness. Joy replacing the crushing sorrow.
“Sebastian!” she screamed desperately. “Sebastian!”
She stumbled to her feet – and ran.
She tripped over her dress, threw open keep doors, ignored startled cries.
Servants gasped as she stormed past – wide-eyed at the sight of her.
Kara knew how she looked, dressed in black, hands red with Draken blood.
Some darted away from her, backs against the walls.
Some whispered. But she didn’t care. She only had one thought:
I need to find him.
She shoved them aside, screaming his name until it hurt. “Sebastian! Where are you?”
She tore through hallways, corridors blurring, panic and wild hope surging through her.
He was here. She could feel him. But she couldn’t believe it, not truly, not until he was in her arms. The bond thrummed harder – pulling her forward.
She followed it blindly, her heart racing.
She searched the library, the kitchens, every room she passed, until she found herself in the western corridor.
The door opened at the other end. A dark-haired figure rushed through – tall, strong, and achingly familiar.
There he was.
Sebastian.
Sebastian saw her the moment he burst into the corridor. Kara standing just a few steps away. She was pale. So pale. And exhausted. She clearly hadn’t slept in days. Her dark hair was wild. And her hands were covered in blood.
Why–
Those green eyes found his.
Her scream tore through the Keep and then–
She was in his arms.
She’d thrown herself so forcefully at him that he stumbled. He took a step to steady himself, catching her instinctively. He threaded his arms around her waist. She was warm. Real. His. But thinner, much thinner than he remembered. And she was sobbing. Broken apart instantly in his hold.
No, please don’t cry.
“Kara–”
But she wasn’t listening.
Her hands were pulling desperately at his tunic. Then they were on his face. His shoulders, his chest – like she couldn’t decide where to touch first. Or like she was terrified he would disappear at any moment.
“Thank you,” she gasped against his throat. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
“Kara, what–”
“You–” Her voice broke. She kissed his cheek and he could feel her shaking.
Her lips found his jaw, his throat, every movement frantic.
“You died. I saw you–I held you–” The words tumbled out between gasps, between kisses.
Incoherent with grief. She kissed his chest, again and again, right over his heart.
“There was nothing – no heartbeat. I couldn’t – I tried–”
Her words dissolved into tears; her whole body convulsing under it.
She crushed herself to him. So tight there was not an inch of space between them.
And through the bond he felt it. Her need for him.
Like she wanted to push them into one body – one soul.
Anything to make sure they would never be apart again.
He remembered. He remembered dying. He’d felt Silas’s blade piercing his heart – the agony in his chest. The moment he’d realised he’d failed.
And Kara’s face, the last thing he saw as he fell, horrified and devastated.
The crushing blackness that followed. He’d faced death a hundred times.
Expected it, even. But waking from it – feeling life flood back when he’d been certain it was over – that was something else entirely.
He’d opened his eyes in his chambers, heart pounding, memories fractured, two realities in his head: dying on the battlefield, and riding home victorious.
He’d died. And lived. Both real. Both true.
Sebastian had no time to process it before he’d felt her deep in his chest – raw terror and desperate hope – and heard her screaming his name across the Keep.
His body had moved before his mind caught up.
How was this possible? What had she been through so he could stand here with her?
He reached through their bond, and Sebastian felt it. The hollow nights. The waking nightmare the bond break had put her in – the crippling pain and horror of the loss, the silence. He realised he hadn’t just broken her heart the night he’d fallen – he’d broken her.
It killed him all over again.
How had she survived it?