Page 393 of Commanding Blood And Bonds

The shadows whispered: Run, Prince.

And I braced, letting them pour forward, scouring the black for a threat I couldn’t see.

“We’ve got company,” I warned. August and Ansel nodded wordlessly. Moonlight—red as blood—filtered through the atrium.

Alvara grunted, voice thick with strain. Her mate flinched. August’s gaze swept the black.

An unnatural silence settled. Dense. Electric. The kind that came before the scream.

Lana must’ve felt it too—she turned, tight and deliberate, gun sweeping the upper floor in a steady arc.

Then—ice down my spine. Every hair on my arms lifted.

“Hurry, baby,” August whispered.

Shnick. Blades were drawn all around us. My hand closed around the weapon up my sleeve—but my shadows were the better bet now.

“Fucking trying,” Alvara snapped. Then screamed in unseen agony, like a soul cleaved from its flesh.

“She’s burning out,” August muttered. “We’re almost tapped.”

“Just find me a target,” Freya snarled. A breeze swept past our faces. Rubble clattered in the distance.

Wind inside? Not a good omen.

“You’re no better off,” I muttered. She glared but didn’t argue.

The shadows slammed into me, urgent, and terrified. I cast ribbons of smoke into the dark—heart pounding, lungs straining.

Empty. Nothing there.

For now.

The fight, I could handle. The waiting? That was the real torture.

A metallic rattle rang out in the distance, stiffening my spine.

“Pretty sure those are talons,” Alec muttered. Ally cried out again—raw and cracked—and he turned to Freya, eyes frantic. “Take mine,” he begged, arms out, practically offering his throat. “Freya, take mine. She’s gonna drop.”

“I know,” Freya whispered, anguished. “But it’s not enough. Alec—I could kill you.”

“This is Ally,” he snapped. “If she and August go down, we’re all fucked anyway.”

“Alec, I⁠—”

“Now, Freya,” he barked, eyes flicking from her to the portal behind.

Alvara sobbed—the tear was shrinking. But not fast enough.

A swirl of ash passed over us. I turned, but no one was there.

But then—the shadows deepened. Thickened.

Something massive fell from the mezzanine, and Freya screamed as I yanked her back. The shadows shielded her and Alec roared as the thing collided with him.

Shouts and clatters of steel cleaved the air. The shield swung his blade into the darkness as it swallowed him whole, and blood sprayed across my face.

SEVENTY-TWO