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“Always with the tone of surprise. There is no place in this world or the next that you can hide from me, akrai.”
She twisted in my grip. “You’re pathetic.”
“Am I? Curse me if you want. Throw your hateful words. Whatever you need, I can take it.”
I saw the struggle in her eyes as if she warred within herself. She pulled at her arm, trying to free her wrist.
“How many do I have to kill for you to give up on me?” There it was, a final split in the armor she built so diligently around herself. Her expression twisted, and I could see that she hadn’t meant to respond, the words slipping out.
“You could make a river of blood run down these streets, and I would still try because I know you, the real you, not this version he created.”
She lowered her blade just a fraction and huffed. “You’re wrong.”
“If I’m wrong, then so was Gabby, and I know she wasn’t. She wouldn’t give up on you, and neither will I. We can do this dance until this world burns and the next takes its place, but I will still choose you.”
She stopped.
Her sister’s name had once grounded her but now seemed to be a catalyst to emotions she fought to destroy.
“You want to save me? You want to be like Gabby so badly?” she hissed, all fangs and sharp edges. She twisted her wrist too sharply, snapping from my grip. “Then you can join her.”
Her face crumpled, but not from tears. Anger flashed behind her crimson eyes, pain hovering in their depths. She used the rage, turning it into resolve as she’d been forced to do so many times in the past. Kaden had taught her feelings were a weakness, and now she threw herself into that belief more than ever.
She lunged too hard and fast. My blade connected with hers, shattering from the force behind her strike. I had a mere second to summon another to protect against the onslaught of her fury.
“You’re a fool, and so was she.”
Slam
“You will only end up dead because of me.”
I stumbled and brought my blade up to meet hers, but the power behind her strikes made my muscles shudder with strain. My back hit the ground, and I summoned a second blade, placing it across my front to act as a shield. It absorbed her every hit as she unleashed.
“Dianna was weak.”
Slam
“She was a stupid girl.”
Another world-shattering slam.
“Who dreamed of flowers and happiness in the middle of war.”
A crack formed on my blade, a small tiny fissure that grew with every strike.
“She was too trusting and cared too much. She loved too much, and now she’s gone.”
Slam
“She’s dead, and she’s not coming back.”
I knew then it wasn’t herself she was talking about, but the sister she so desperately missed. Even as she rebelled and fought with blind savagery, I saw the shine in her eyes. A part of her shattered, and I knew then and there that Drake had been right.
I had reached her.
With a last ferocious strike, she slammed her sword against mine, breaking it. Then she was atop me, her blade in both hands as she raised it, threatening to impale me. Even with my armor, she had the strength to do it.
“I’ll carve that damned heart from your body,” she said breathlessly. “Then you’ll leave me alone.” But she stopped a fraction from my chest, her hands and arms trembling as she panted.
