Together.
Tears collect in my own, blurring his image. Bloodying every memory. It’s better. I can’t stand seeing him witness this. My heart breaks for all that’s in store. Everything that’s to come once my part of the show’s over.
As if on cue, the gray clouds break. The Sun shines down, casting a fiery ring around Arlen and me; a spotlight illuminating the place where I lie and he crouches over me, his boot at my jaw like a hunter with fresh-killed game.
The Coliseum quiets.
A newly hung banner flaps in the wind. The red words IN SUN’S NAME, THE IMPERI WILL PROTECT YOU FROM THE NIGHT distorting with each whipping gust.
“Veda…” My name cuts through the silence as a whisper in my ear. As if by magic, Nico’s at my side.
I strain my eyes to see past his exterior. To find the boy I know so well within the enemy uniform. But everything’s a blur, and hard as I try, I can’t begin to pluck a single piece of him from the fray as Imperi soldiers barrel down on us.
In the background of chaos I hear one word.
“Wait—” Raevald says. The soldiers stop in their tracks; they glance up at the High Regent.
My sight settles on the altar, on Arlen, bloodlust in his eyes, the stone pedestal to our right, the large sacred hourglass suspended above. Red sand fills the bottom bulb.
A single bell rings.
It’s time for the finale.
Nico kicks Arlen’s boot off my jaw, throwing him off-balance so he falls flat on his back. I don’t see what happens next, but I hear knuckles to skin, a pained groan, and Arlen lies still not too far from me.
Nico picks me up. My body’s heavy, limp. I can’t move.
From Nico’s arms, I see the hourglass dangling above—all red.
He sets me down, resting my head on the altar.
Staring at the red, I watch as Nico’s shadow reaches for the blade.
“It’ll be all right,” he whispers.
Everything goes dark when my head’s covered with the canvas bag.
“I’m getting us out of this.” His words barely register or maybe I’m imagining them.
As if in answer, the unmistakable brushing of Nico’s thumb runs across my back: a long drawn-out arc: ad astra, to the stars.
Time stands still; the entire island, the Great Sea, all the world falls silent.
“Listen—” Again, Raevald speaks a single word that reverberates out over the Coliseum. I wait … No blade slices my neck.
Next, I listen … Silence. Then … An explosion not too far off. Objects whiz through the air, pelting the ground all around us.
Nico yelps out in pain.
His body falls, dropping hard and heavy onto my back.
Screaming.
Yelling.
Scrambling.
More zipping, the sound like a thousand birds diving from the sky.
I remove the bag from my head.
I’m barely able to move, but manage to sit up. I turn around, find Nico’s eyes, which are someplace between intense pain and relieved contentment. I hold him into my chest.
There’s an arrow in his back.
I pull it out.
He yells and whimpers at once.
My blood-stained hands shake as I throw the bloody arrow to the side.
“Nico!” I search his face. Blood soaks through the back of his uniform. “Oh my Sun,” I whisper, staring into his eyes. My Nico. Always with me.
“Get … out … of here,” he manages.
I finally look up.
The Coliseum is under attack. There are Night forces everywhere: in the stands fighting Dogio; on the dome floor fighting Imperi soldiers and officers alike; bodies falling in pools of blood; blades clashing; arrows flying.
“Get out. Veda,” Nico pleads.
“I’m not leaving you,” I say.
Together.
Over the High Regent’s speaking-trumpet, an Imperi guard shouts, “Bellona! We are under attack—”
But he’s cut off.
Up in his balcony Raevald is taken by his security council and disappears behind the red curtains.
“Veda! Please!” Nico says, shouting as best he can, his brown eyes begging me to leave him.
It’s then I have no choice. From behind, I’m lifted by the underarms, Nico’s body flopping to the ground.
Dragged away, my feet kicking, slipping in the snow, I screech a final, “NICO!”
He turns his head to look at me. We hold each other through our eyes.
Then, an explosion, like the end of the world, consumes the Coliseum.
All goes black.
CHAPTER 29
NICO
When I wake up I’m surrounded by shadows, the low flicker of light. Wherever I am, there is no Sun. No Veda. Only sharp pain in my back and chest. Darkness. And one, maybe two, dim orbs of orange light floating in the distance.
As my eyes focus, a shadow comes into view. Two shadows? Three?
“Nico?” It’s a low voice. Not one I recognize, which instantly sets me on guard and sends my nerves on edge.
I try to sit up, throw my fists toward whoever might be near enough for me to punch, when I realize I’m tied down. Strapped to the bed.
“Give him some space,” the voice of a woman breaks in from behind my head.
Barely … Slowly … I force my eyes open more fully. Blurred but standing over me is Dorian and an older man. There are others, more blurs, but I can only make out that they’re all dressed the same, wearing black.
Glaring from one face to the next, I see. I begin to remember. I put the pieces together.
I scream the only name I can think. “Veda! Where’s Veda?!”
“Shhh…,” the woman, peeking around a mound of bandages—a nurse, I think—soothes.
I’m not interested in any of it.
“Veda!” I pull against the ropes holding me down. I kick, jerk, nearly send the whole bed tumbling over.
“Not yet,” the man, the one who’s not said a word until now but refused to take his eyes off me, says. The one who holds a distinctive air of authority.
“Please, Sindaco, he deserves to know,” Dorian says. The man seems to consider his request and then gives a curt nod.
“Nico,” Dorian says. “Veda was captured by the Imperi during the raid. It was chaos. We tried to get to her, but with the blast, the confusion … it was too late.” He breathes through his nose, jaw flexed.
“What?” Again, I try to sit up. “No!” I use every last ounce of strength to fight the restraints holding my arms down. “We have to help her!” I shout.
“We have soldiers out on missions to find her. We’ll bring her back. I’ll bring her back.” Dorian’s eyes are puffy; he looks like he hasn’t slept in days.
“No.” I shake my head, and the movement sends a sharp pain down my back. “They’ll kill her. Raevald will kill her.” Pain be damned, I thrash against my bindings. “I’ve got to find her! I need to go to her!” I shout. “Please!”
“Is this necessary?” Dorian asks the man, eyeing my arms, the burns I can feel are quickly surfacing under the rope.
“It’s as much for his own safety as it is ours,” the man in charge says without emotion. He steps closer to my side. “Nico, your injury’s significant. You’ve got to rest.” And he motions to someone standing behind me. From the corner of my eye, I watch as the nurse approaches. A flash of silver and glass passes my periphery. Then, a hot, fiery sting plunges directly into my neck.