Chapter Thirty-Seven
Kenyon
My gaze was pinned to Yun, to the blood that spilled from her mouth, dripping over her chin and leaving fat droplets in the soil. My powers gave me the ability to see her pain, the swelling in her face, the large slice to her inner cheek.
Corsa struck her.
That thought repeated in my head like a nightmare. Right there, right in front of me, when I’d promised to protect the one thing that mattered to me, I’d watched her be harmed.
I yanked against the hold that kept me still, but as before, it was entirely unmoving.
Even with that, Yun didn’t back down. She didn’t cower. She stared right back at him as though she had no fear.
The fact that she would go that far for us, it humbled me.
And I wouldn’t allow her to suffer another strike.
“You will fall in line,” Corsa roared back, his voice deep and angry. “You will do as you’re told.”
“I won’t!”
“Then you will suffer the consequences.”
I closed my eyes, focusing on the power that surrounded me, that kept me from moving except where they wanted. It was like a field, like chains that covered my entire body and forced me at their pleasure. An unfamiliar energy source coursed through it, and it gave me an idea.
Not a good idea, but when were any of my ideas good? I had to assume this was connected to the energy we used, just slightly different, and given that it controlled us but not anything inanimate.
This is going to suck…
I sent a silent prayer to whoever might listen just before I reached inside myself, studying my own body, and stopped my heart. It wasn’t easy, everything I had telling me this was a horrible idea, but it was all I had.
My head turned fuzzy all too fast, but I used that power to keep my heart from beating. With any luck, as soon as I fully let go, when I was past that brink, it would start again automatically without my interference, but who knew for sure?
Smart people didn’t go around stopping their hearts, after all.
The world darkened, but the power still kept me standing, holding me so tightly that I couldn’t even fall. Then everything disappeared, forcing me to trust myself—or at least know I was willing to risk it all.
Time stopped for that long moment, which made sense given I was, by all accounts, dead.
Later—I had no idea how long—my brain sparked back to life, my own powers treating the damage done, getting my heart going, and when I gasped and coughed, I got a mouthful of soil. I opened my eyes, my entire body feeling like I’d taken a swan dive off a two-story building.
I was on the ground, but my brain still focused on the only thing that mattered, like even after being dead, I’d held onto a single thought.
Save her.
I shifted. The power had released me. Then again, why would it hold me if I were dead? Pointless. All attention was still on Yun and Corsa, with Carter and Ingram struggling against the hold but unable to do anything but blink and speak.
I couldn’t let anyone notice, needed to move fast.
Corsa lifted his hand as though to strike again— Not a fucking chance. My body moved without any input from my brain, my boots digging into the soil as I propelled myself forward, ignoring the way I couldn’t catch my breath, the way my entire body felt drained. I could deal with that all later.
I threw myself between the two—I lacked the strength or skill to attack him, but I wouldn’t allow him to hurt Yun. I’d happily take anything he had to dish out.
The pain in my side said Corsa hadn’t been content with a small slap this time—no, he’d wanted to make a point, throwing an actual punch with all his strength. My ribs screamed, but I ignored them, tucking her behind me, facing off against him.
His eyes shone a brighter purple, as though ignited by the fury inside of him at being so fully denied.
That had always been his problem, though.
He had no idea how to accept that he couldn’t have everything.
He’d always been spoiled, more afraid of looking foolish than being foolish.
The idea of him being rejected in front of others was an insult he couldn’t let pass.
“Enough!” The shout came not from one of us but from the strange woman from the other realm. It went along with another rush of that power, but this time, it affected each of us—including Corsa.
Well, all except Yun. It forced the rest of us to our knees, but left Yun standing tall in the midst of so much chaos.
Had she ever looked so much like a goddess? Even bleeding, hurt, she stayed on her feet, ready to meet any threat head on.
Not for herself, not for power or ego, but for us.
It made me realize that no matter how this all ended, no matter if we got out of it, she was everything to me. She’d taught us all something we never would have learned another way, given us trust and faith and love like I knew damn well we’d never earned.
That woman there was my whole damn life, and that alone had made it a good life.