bChapter /bb162 /b

Cassian

One of the feelings only ra ever manages to awaken in me takes hold of my body: fear.

I don’t see the faces of the others–I can only focus on hers.

The instinct to ce her behind me is stronger than any other.

I’m prepared to be her shield.

Screams echo in my ears; however, nothing escapes from ra’s lips.

For a moment, I have to check that it’s really her hand I’m holding and not a corpse’s.

The shapeshifters are feasting–tearing out throats and gutting every vampire they encounter.

I see the others‘ faces, their efforts as the few blessed ones try to use their powers to stop the attack. Nothing happens.

I try mine. No result.

“Did they steal your blood, ra?”

Her face is far too pale, and for a few seconds, she seems lost in nothingnessb, /buntil she blinks and snaps out of her trance.

She looks at me, panic drawn in every line of her features.

“Yes.” Her grip on my hand tightens. “When they had me in the dungeons.”

I mutter a curse.

I pull her until we’re partially hidden behind a column.

I hold her face in my hands and force her to look only at me, because I know the horror unfolding around us will paralyze her.

“I need you to run,” I say. “As fast as you can–and don’t look back.”

“No, I can’t just run away.”

“You can–and you must.” I stroke her cheek in a steady rhythm to calm her amidst this chaos. “They want you. I can’t let them have you, do you understand? You have to run—for you and for me–because I’ll lose my mind if I lose you again.”

Her breath hitches against my lips and she nods with her eyes closed.

When she opens them again, I see only determination–and pride fills every cell in my body.

I brush my lips quickly against hers, and when I see her running off with her skirt clutched in her hands, I regret not kissing her deeper.

As I step out of our hiding spot, my foot hits the corpse of a Diluted.

I feel no pity, but each loss is a blow to our side.

Before, I didn’t care much. But now ra is part of this, and I won’t let them reach her.

Abraxas is fighting one of those beasts. I’m about to jump in when the pink–eyed vampire appears from the side and stabs the creature’s lung with what looks like a golden candbrum torn from the wall. The brothers share a meaningful nce before Abraxas turns his eyes on me. As always, he’s wearing a different face.

Ciro realizes what his brother is looking at and addresses me.

“Where is she?”

“I hope far from here.”

1 shrug off my jacket and let it fall to the ground, where blood flows like a river and quickly soaks it.

I roll up my sleeves, ready to fight.

“You left her alone?”

“I need to buy her time.”

“Powers don’t work on them. Several have tried, all in vain,” Abraxas informs.

At that moment, one of the shapeshifters grabs one of the dancers who had remained on her ribbon, too afraid to set foot on the ground.

Unfortunately, height often doesn’t stop these rabid animals.

I watch without blinking as the beast’s jaws rip the woman in half, her screams silenced as fast as they began.

Abraxas raises his sword and spins it in a clean 360–degree arc beforeunching forward and driving it through the enemy’s nape.

Just as the creature falls, it lets out a pitiful howl.

“Why now? Why, after all this time, have they dered war again?” Ciro looks at me closely, and my silence is all he needs.

“It’s ra, isn’t it?”

“Don’t say her name,” I growl.

“What is she, Cassian?” he presses. “We all saw her eyes. They weren’t human.”

I clench and unclench my fists, barely holding back the urge to leave.

I never imagined ra could make me this weak—and this strong.

“She’s not something that can be named,” I manage to say.

“That special, huh?”

“I hate to interrupt your moment of worship toward the human,” Abraxas cuts in, “but I have a n. bIf /bI’m not wrong, they’re here for ra, who, by the way, is currently out there running for her life, am I right?” He sees my expression and continues, “Ciro, go find her. Meanwhile, Cassian and I will draw them away so he can use his little earthquake trick.”

“It’s not a trick,” I hiss through my teeth. “And how do you know they’ll follow usb?/bb” /b

Ciro doesn’t wait–he bolts.

And I’m sure that just like me, he can sense ra’s wild scent.

bSat /bAug

When I focus again on Abraxas, I see an exact replica of her before me.

For a moment, I stop breathing–but the suffocating sensation passes when I focus on her eyes.

ra’s beyes /bare gray–many would say sad and dull.

But when I look at them, I bsee /blife in its wildest form.

The sky just before it breaks with a storm.

The pair in front of me? Everything people say about her who don’t know her: empty eyes.

“Act like you’d die protecting me.”

Her voice is identical.

“I thought you could only change your face.”

“Not everyone goes around unting their powers.”

It’s astonishing how quickly he starts acting like he truly is ra–he hides behind my body, and it takes me a few seconds too long to react and start running through the shattered hall, making sure we draw the enemies‘ attention.

My boots crunch over the ss shards that once made a perfect window.

I extend my hand to Abraxas, whose hands are small and delicate like ra’s.

I force myself to stop searching for ws in the replica.

Some shapeshifters twist their necks toward us, jaws open and drooling blood onto the floor.

I see how desperate they are to reach their goal and leave.

I scoop up the false ra in my arms, and for a moment, I think the illusion of her dress flickers between my hands.

“The clothes areplicated,” he informs me.

The only thing he hasn’t replicated is her weight–it’s like dense muscle mass is packed into that small, fake female body.

I make sure to hold him the way I would if it were really her and start running as fast as I can, feeling the furious strides of our enemies behind ollius. /li/ol

They howl, calling the rest of the pack, unaware they’re being led straight to their deaths.

AD

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