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Shadow met fire with enough force to shake the isle beneath me as I tried to stand.

Pain exploded across my temple from a blow Rythos landed, tearing a sharp gasp from my mouth.

Rythos’ head snapped towards me, the crease between his brows deepening as his eyes frantically searched me for the source of my pain.

“No!” I screamed as Helion drove his flaming fist into his side.

Rythos staggered, his sword spinning from his grasp before clattering across the rocks, far beyond his reach.

Fire exploded over Riven's palms as he caught Rythos by the arms, searing through flesh with a sickening hiss.

Rythos threw his head back, a roar tearing from his chest so filled with agony it hollowed something inside me.

The bond between us flared as if he was blocking how much pain he was in.

No.

I gritted my teeth and stepped towards them.

They wouldn’t listen to my please. They were fucking men. Men always thought they knew best. I would make them listen.

Power swam through my veins, glistening under the surface of my skin while they fought.

My heartbeat rapidly, pounding the ugly truth through my veins.

I did not want either of them to win if it meant one would fall.

My vision darkened, whispers from the sea crawling through the fog and wrapping around my heart.

“Stop!” My voice split into a melody of piercing screams. A thousand voices wove through my own, as if every reincarnation of me that had ever existed dared them to ignore me.

The water in their bodies answered me, their knees slamming into the stone.

My breath came in fast inhalations, sweat beading on my forehead as I struggled to hold them against their will.

They knelt before me, a god and a monster at my will. Both had captured me. Both had hurt me. It felt so fucking good to hold the power.

My gaze wandered over the black veins pulsating beneath Rythos’ skin before traveling up to his sharp cheekbones, strong nose, and deep-set dark eyes. I didn’t realise, but I had walked towards him, pulled like the tide against its will.

“You will not fight each other.”

My fingers trembled as I brushed the damp strands of hair from Rythos’ brow.

I gasped. His skin was colder than I had expected, like a corpse long dead.

He froze, fury draining from his face in an instant. Those starless eyes fluttered shut as if my touch soothed something inside him.

Reverently, he leaned into my palm. The movement was so natural, so heartachingly raw that I nearly dropped to my knees in front of him.

His shoulders sagged beneath the weight of it, the rigid Commander disappearing before my eyes. For one fragile heartbeat, he looked exhausted. Not from battle. Not from the curse consuming him, but from missing me. A quiet breath escaped him, warm against my skin.

“Lyra...” My name left his lips like a prayer whispered by a dying man.

My heart cracked. Every instinct screamed at me to close the distance between us. To cradle his face. To tell him I was sorry. To tell him I loved him. To promise that none of this had been his fault.

But my eyes flicked down to the pulsating rot spreading through his veins from his heart.

I didn’t deserve his love.