Page 286 of Commanding Blood And Bonds

My focus narrowed to the serpent as Ally’s flames surged white-hot and blue, weaving between souls as the creature thrashed back. I shaped bolt after bolt, guiding each strike down from above, gritting my teeth as the snake’s jerky movements kept it just out of reach. Glowing scars marred its iridescent black scales. Sweat slid down my temple as Ally’s fire forced it back, the heat rising into the air. It screamed—a high, piercing sound that would haunt my dreams for years. And then it dove again, straight through the wall of flame, targeting Freya as she called her own lightning down—less precise than mine, but enough to force it to veer.

Now! I barked mind-to-mind.

The souls unleashed hell. Alec, Brody, and Ajax rained arrows from above. Fae cracked the ground beneath us, slamming massive plates of clay together to trap the serpent’s writhing body.

But it was Cyrus who launched himself between the beast and Freya, wings flaring wide, arms stretched like a living shield.

I’d blinked—and suddenly he was holding an enormous golden blade. The snake reared back with a shriek so loud it rattled the sky, then recoiled, its body folding in on itself as a woman emerged at its center, arrows jutting from her shoulder and thigh.

Then the shadows swallowed her whole.

Cyrus vanished after her, a storm of ravens diving into the darkness behind him.

The rest of us stood panting, stunned. One by one, the ravens returned. A blonde woman I assumed to be Reyna Gwyne met Ally’s eyes and gave a small, grim shake of her head.

But it was the man with the gold wings who held my focus as they vanished—seemingly absorbed into his tattoos—while he moved straight for Freya.

FIFTY-THREE

ENEMIES

CYRUS

“You okay?” I demanded the second my boots hit dirt in front of Freya, where she stood staring at her hands, panting.

“Fine,” she breathed, dropping them into fists at her sides. Her eyes lifted to mine. “You?”

“Yeah.” I could feel the eyes on my back, their animosity about as subtle as a spear to the gut. Unfortunately for them, I was fresh out of fucks after whatever the hell that was. Eyes locked on hers, I snatched her wrist. She half-heartedly resisted, and I raised her arm, gingerly peeling her fingers open. She hissed, and my stomach clenched. Livid red blisters covered her palm all the way to her fingertips.

“That doesn’t look fine.”

“It’s nothing,” she insisted, pulling her hand back just as footsteps crunched through the grain behind me.

“It’s not nothing. You channeled too much power too quickly.”

“Giant. Snake,” she bit out, daring me to make a scene in front of everyone.

“Let me help you.”

“What, are you a healer now?” she shot back, cocking a hip and brow with a flash of defiance.

I glared and took her hands anyway, holding her uneasy gaze as I summoned the softest breath of ice. I blew a plume of frost over her seared skin.

Her moan of relief lodged itself straight in my memory vault. The tension it carved out of her shoulders…the way her lashes fluttered closed…it stirred something primal. And that possessive monster that woke in my chest? Yeah, not going anywhere.

“I told you,” I muttered, shaking my head as I exhaled again, gentler this time. “Your body will burn out before your gift does. The more power you channel directly, the faster it’ll wear you down.”

“Directly channel?” she echoed, eyes narrowing.

“You can either act as a conduit—let magic flow from a source, through you, to a wielder—or channel it directly. Conduit’s safer. Slower burnout. As long as the wielder has a well big enough to take it.”

She blinked, her lips parting. A flash-fire of emotions tore through her expression—understanding, betrayal, fear, resignation—all there and gone in a heartbeat. Her voice stayed flat. “Makes sense.”

She rolled her lips, then snapped her gaze over my shoulder. I turned, feeling the heat before I saw them—the warrior couple standing close, weapons still in hand. The man looked like he was weighing whether to light me on fire. Cold calculation. Familiar eyes.

Freya lifted her hands in surrender, visibly annoyed. He lunged forward anyway. White light flowed from his palms over hers, and I watched the skin smooth and heal.

But Freya was only looking at the woman beside him, whose emerald eyes shimmered.