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“I’m sorry,” I said to her.
“You tried,” Harper said. “You couldn’t have done any more than you did.”
Krial had handed down the worst punishment I could imagine. It was painful enough to have to watch our baby die, for his lifeforce to be drained like a vial of medicine, but to see dear sweet Harper, the woman I had given my heart to, succumb to the same fate…
Overwhelming anger came over me, far stronger than any I had felt before. The sensation was dark as midnight and I knew right then, I was capable of anything.
Anything.
A red mist descended over my eyes and I drew heavily from that golden light, the source of my species’ ability. A tiny worm of love wriggled across its surface and I seized it. A threat connected to the love I shared with Harper.
Tus grabbed Harper and yanked her from me. I lost my hold on her hand as she flailed and fought against Tus’s powerful grip. He dragged her over to Krial, who would draw every last fiber of strength from her.
“No!” I bellowed.
Tus shut his eyes, a look of intense dismay etched into his features.
The rage overwhelmed me and, with hot tears in my eyes, I screamed. In a single blink, half a dozen reflections dotted the room. Perfect replicas of me, each one roaring at the top of their voices.
Annas snorted and shook her head.
“They’re only reflections. They can’t hurt us.”
But I felt their solidity, the same way when I joined with Harper during our time together in my cell.
They drew their blades and, with none of the guards taking them seriously, buried their blades in each of the guards and one in Krial.
They clutched their hands to their necks and, gasping shock, their eyes bulged at the reflections that stabbed them.
Krial released his grip on Harper and bolted to his feet.
At the same time, Tus lost his grip on Harper, who bolted forward, reacting even faster than the others, and snatched the babe as it fell.
She turned and bolted for the distant door. There was little she could do to protect herself from these creatures in the room.
Only I could.
Annas and Rarr clamped a hand over the gashes in their necks and released me.
I skirted back, forcing a little distance between myself and the others.
Krial was the greatest threat. The others would instinctively move to protect him before coming after me. It was how we’d been taught.
The two reflections closest to Krial hacked at him with their blades.
Krial staggered back against the onslaught.
The other reflections couldn’t hope to move faster than my siblings, so I had them hurl their blades at Krial’s retreating back.
One knife missed. The other caught him in his upper thigh.
Krial staggered and collapsed beneath his weakened leg.
Annas hacked at a reflection, knocking him to the ground, beheading him with a single swing of her sword.
Rarr hacked the legs out from beneath his would-be assassin.
Tus was there to stab the remaining two reflections in the back and take them down with ease.
