Page 177 of The Dragon and the Dove

The swords at his hip clanked as he sauntered towards her. But that cruel smile curled, then died, when her eyes turned gold.

Anouk offered her own malevolent smirk. ‘I know you can climb, soldier. But I wonder how well you can fall.’

Magic spun through the stone like a tornado. The Bridge of Tears bowed, the stone groaning as it cleaved.

The Stargrazers screamed, slamming into the rising water.

By the time the abutments came apart, half the soldiers had made it onto the bridge. Too late, they charged at Anouk. She offered a queenly wave as the entire structure caved in, tossing them into the river.

The current claimed them.

The Strix were washed away, and, with them, their flailing riders, until all that remained were their helmets.

Chapter 53 Ransom

Seraphine went over the edge of Traveller’s Arch like a raindrop sliding down a windowpane. One minute she was beside him, fighting off a Strix, and the next she was gone, swept to the ground in a swirl of black feathers.

His heart seized as her scream died out.

He needed to get off this damn arch. But the monsters kept coming, talons sharp and beaks snapping. Whips struck the stone around him, spewing chunks everywhere. Fear stoked his magic, that primal urge to protect Seraphine, to tear down the world that dared to harm her, forging a dragon so vast and terrible his head spun.

He stumbled as it took flight, killing ten Strix in as many seconds.

They crashed to the ground, breaking the cobbles. Soon, enormous black corpses littered the stone circle that surrounded the arch. They had crushed their riders, the unlucky survivors crawling out from under their mounts only to collapse on the stone.

Beyond the arch, bootsteps rattled over the north bridge as Andreas came to collect his prize.

Over my dead body.

Ransom swung down from the arch. He moved frantically among the bodies, searching for Sera. There were so many dead Strix, so much blood and fallen rubble… Where the hell was she?

Caruso and Theo were fighting. Both bruised and bloody, Theo had the Saint of Warriors by the throat.

Caruso twitched, his eyes rolling back in his head.

Ransom charged the soul-eater. They fell together, rolling across the wing of a dead Strix. Ransom pinned Versini by his breastplate.

‘I told that idiot to stay down!’ spat the soul-eater. ‘He kept coming at me!’

‘No shit, traitor. He’s trying to kill you.’ Ransom slugged him in the jaw.

Theo jerked, spitting blood. ‘You’ve got it wrong, tunnel rat.’

Ransom hit him again, reaching for Saintkiller.

He drew the dagger and struck.

Versini bucked, the blade missing his throat by a hair’s breadth. It bit into stone and Ransom pitched forward. A split second to right himself was all it took for the soul-eater to grab his jaw. Ransom choked on a gasp as Versini’s power plunged into him.

He shuddered at the intrusion, at the uncanny sense that his soul was being scraped clean. He collapsed on top of the soul-eater, and Versini rolled him until he was the one pinned to the cobbles.

‘Where is Sera?’ he snarled.

Ransom spat at him.

He gritted his teeth. ‘Where?’

A shadow swept over them: Ransom’s dragon, soaring overhead. His magic was still in flow, which meant Theo Versini wasn’t devouring his soul.