draki tongue. Will pulls my hand harder to follow him back inside the tunnel.
I shake my head with a growl, remembering he can’t understand. And yet I can’t leave Cassian. I can’t abandon him. Even now, in the space of the heartbeat that I look back at the others, I feel the deep pain radiating through Cassian’s body. It almost bends me over at the waist.
I inhale a hissing breath and force myself to move through it, reminding myself that it’s not real for me. It’s not my pain. It’s his. And I have to end it.
I yank my hand free from Will and charge down the hall to a T-junction. I look left and right—spot Cassian tangled at the end of the corridor with the gray draki. They’re a blur, moving much too fast; I can already smell the blood on the air. I don’t need to see his wounds to know that it’s Cassian’s blood I scent.
I take off toward them, half running, half flying. Gray on black, they fight, tangle with each other wildly. It’s hard to distinguish between the two of them. I cry out as a spurt of blood arches across the air, narrowly missing me.
I have to stop it. I can’t let this go on. There won’t be anything of Cassian left.
I focus my attention on the largest area of gray I can detect and release a gust of fire, desperately hoping my aim is accurate.
I make contact. The draki roars and tears free from Cassian. I focus on the gray one, fire dancing on my tongue, preparing to let loose another blast of heat on him.
His knifelike scales shake and make a strange whistling sound. The protruding scales on his shoulder retract and flatten. His fingers tenderly test the charred flesh of his shoulder, growling as the flesh slides and slips between his fingers like melted wax.
The sight of this—of what I can do, the damage I can bring to my own kind—makes my stomach twist sickly.
“Jacinda!” Will arrives breathlessly at my side, coughing from the increasingly smoky air. His stare swings to the gray draki and he lets loose a curse.
The gray one drops his hand from his shoulder and squares off.
“He looks pissed. You do that to him?” Wills asks amid a coughing fit.
I nod. “Uh-huh.” I draw a deep breath, ready to pull the heat up from my lungs, but my airway feels too thin, constricted. I inhale and then gasp, choking and hacking violently as I draw in a lungful of toxic fumes.
Will understands instantly. I have no defense. No fire. I need good, clean oxygen. His hand grabs mine. “We have to go now!”
He’s right, of course. We have to go before the fumes knock us out … or worse.
But not without Cassian.
I lock eyes with Cassian, stepping forward, not thinking. Not thinking that I still have to get around the gray draki to get to him.
Cassian shakes his head, eyes glinting fiercely at me. “Go, get out of here!”
He can’t mean for us to leave him.
“Cassian, no!” I surge forward another step with a flap of wings, ready for another go, even if I can’t breathe fire. Will clamps down on my shoulder, yanking me back.
The gray draki’s legs brace wide, ready for me. The pupils of his pewter eyes shudder. I look again at Cassian, beyond my reach.
“Go,” he shouts again from around the draki’s legs, his voice breaking into a savage spasm of coughing. His gaze flicks to Will. “Get her out of here!”
Somehow, intuitively, Will understands him. Or maybe it’s just the obvious thing to do. Only not to me.
Will wraps an arm around my waist, dragging me back.
“Cassian,” I scream.
Will moves his other arm in a wide arc and then pushes his palm out in what’s becoming a familiar gesture.
The earth falls before my eyes in a roar of dirt and debris.
“Get back,” Will yells behind us to the others. His grip on me tightens as he jerks me back into the tunnel. We land in a tangled pile.
Then Will’s on his feet, hauling me back as the curtain of dirt keeps coming at us in a ravenous tidal wave. But I don’t care. Coughing violently, I jerk free
I shake my head with a growl, remembering he can’t understand. And yet I can’t leave Cassian. I can’t abandon him. Even now, in the space of the heartbeat that I look back at the others, I feel the deep pain radiating through Cassian’s body. It almost bends me over at the waist.
I inhale a hissing breath and force myself to move through it, reminding myself that it’s not real for me. It’s not my pain. It’s his. And I have to end it.
I yank my hand free from Will and charge down the hall to a T-junction. I look left and right—spot Cassian tangled at the end of the corridor with the gray draki. They’re a blur, moving much too fast; I can already smell the blood on the air. I don’t need to see his wounds to know that it’s Cassian’s blood I scent.
I take off toward them, half running, half flying. Gray on black, they fight, tangle with each other wildly. It’s hard to distinguish between the two of them. I cry out as a spurt of blood arches across the air, narrowly missing me.
I have to stop it. I can’t let this go on. There won’t be anything of Cassian left.
I focus my attention on the largest area of gray I can detect and release a gust of fire, desperately hoping my aim is accurate.
I make contact. The draki roars and tears free from Cassian. I focus on the gray one, fire dancing on my tongue, preparing to let loose another blast of heat on him.
His knifelike scales shake and make a strange whistling sound. The protruding scales on his shoulder retract and flatten. His fingers tenderly test the charred flesh of his shoulder, growling as the flesh slides and slips between his fingers like melted wax.
The sight of this—of what I can do, the damage I can bring to my own kind—makes my stomach twist sickly.
“Jacinda!” Will arrives breathlessly at my side, coughing from the increasingly smoky air. His stare swings to the gray draki and he lets loose a curse.
The gray one drops his hand from his shoulder and squares off.
“He looks pissed. You do that to him?” Wills asks amid a coughing fit.
I nod. “Uh-huh.” I draw a deep breath, ready to pull the heat up from my lungs, but my airway feels too thin, constricted. I inhale and then gasp, choking and hacking violently as I draw in a lungful of toxic fumes.
Will understands instantly. I have no defense. No fire. I need good, clean oxygen. His hand grabs mine. “We have to go now!”
He’s right, of course. We have to go before the fumes knock us out … or worse.
But not without Cassian.
I lock eyes with Cassian, stepping forward, not thinking. Not thinking that I still have to get around the gray draki to get to him.
Cassian shakes his head, eyes glinting fiercely at me. “Go, get out of here!”
He can’t mean for us to leave him.
“Cassian, no!” I surge forward another step with a flap of wings, ready for another go, even if I can’t breathe fire. Will clamps down on my shoulder, yanking me back.
The gray draki’s legs brace wide, ready for me. The pupils of his pewter eyes shudder. I look again at Cassian, beyond my reach.
“Go,” he shouts again from around the draki’s legs, his voice breaking into a savage spasm of coughing. His gaze flicks to Will. “Get her out of here!”
Somehow, intuitively, Will understands him. Or maybe it’s just the obvious thing to do. Only not to me.
Will wraps an arm around my waist, dragging me back.
“Cassian,” I scream.
Will moves his other arm in a wide arc and then pushes his palm out in what’s becoming a familiar gesture.
The earth falls before my eyes in a roar of dirt and debris.
“Get back,” Will yells behind us to the others. His grip on me tightens as he jerks me back into the tunnel. We land in a tangled pile.
Then Will’s on his feet, hauling me back as the curtain of dirt keeps coming at us in a ravenous tidal wave. But I don’t care. Coughing violently, I jerk free
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