Keras rushed to Cal, his heart in his throat, the darkness growing stronger as he shoved his way through the enemy and his allies alike. He drew to a sharp halt as he reached his brother, dropped to his knees and pulled him carefully into his arms.
Cal clutched his throat, blood pumping from between his fingers as he lifted weary blue eyes to meet Keras’s gaze.
Keras grew aware of the fight that raged around them, of his brothers as they desperately fought to turn the tide of the battle in their favour, all of them injured.
The enemy were stronger than he had thought.
They weren’t going to win this unless they went all out.
Including him.
He looked down at Cal, had never felt as responsible for the fate of this realm and his family as he did as that realisation hit him.
A strange stillness fell over him as Marinda took Cal from him, as Cass appeared beside him to tend to his brother, as he stood and looked at the battle, saw Marek take a nasty hit as he tried to protect Caterina from a valkyrie.
He had to do something.
He would do something.
The night he had fought Enyo in Tokyo came flooding back. He had never felt as powerful as he had in that moment, but he had come dangerously close to losing his mind to the darker side of his blood, had almost been overwhelmed by it. It had been a violent struggle to bring himself back from the brink, and there had been moments when he had feared he wouldn’t be strong enough to do it, that the darkness inside him was too powerful for him to defeat.
Valen went down as he tried to reach Marek, lightning crashing all around where he disappeared from view, and a great fireball blasted through the enemy towards him, Ares sprinting just behind it, desperation written in every tight line of his bloodstained face.
Keras knew what he had to do.
He removed his gauntlets and discarded them, emptiness flowing into him as he tossed them on the ground.
He twisted his fingers around the black band on his wrist and snapped it.
Power flowed into him, a surge that rocked him forwards and had the darkness within him growing agitated, pushing for freedom.
Keras looked to his right, his gaze seeking Enyo—his strength, his heart, his everything.
Sorrow was swift to fill him as he looked at her, as he soaked in the sight of her, regret that had lived inside him for centuries now.
She cut down the valkyrie she had been fighting and wiped her brow. Froze and tensed. Slowly looked across her shoulder in his direction.
Her jade eyes locked with his.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured, sure she wouldn’t hear his words, but needing to tell her.
He slipped his fingers beneath the black and silver bracelet she had made for him.
Her eyes widened.
She screamed.
“No!”
Lunged for him, desperately grabbing and shoving at anyone who stood between them.
Keras closed his eyes.
Snapped the limiter.
Welcomed the darkness.
It rushed into him on the crest of the sensation of power that surged through him.
Obliterated his consciousness.
His final thought was his final fear.
He wasn’t coming back from this.
Chapter 33
Keras was gone in a flash, disappeared before Enyo could reach him and stop him. She skidded to a halt where he had been, disturbing the ribbons of black smoke he had left behind, and dropped to her knees, scooped up the remains of his limiters and stared at them.
The ground trembled ominously and the hairs on the back of her neck rose as Keras’s power buffeted her and a cold wind scoured the battlefield.
She slowly lifted her eyes to the sky.
To the obsidian clouds gathering above her.
Crimson arcs of lightning chased across those clouds as they rapidly billowed outwards, their surface rolling like boiling liquid, and the power that pressed down on her grew stronger still as they descended towards her.
Enyo closed her fingers over the tattered bracelets, unable to shake the fear that gripped her—fear she had seen in his eyes too.
He wasn’t strong enough to go all out like this and retain control of himself.
In Tokyo, he had come dangerously close to losing himself to his darker side, and he had only broken one limiter then. Now he had removed both of them, had allowed the full force of his power to flood him, and his last words to her had been more than an apology.
They had been a goodbye.
She felt that deep in the heart that was breaking in her chest.
He knew that unleashing his full power would destroy him, changing him into someone else, something he wouldn’t come back from. He knew and he had done it anyway, sacrificing himself so he could protect his brothers and win this war.
Sacrificing himself to save his family.
To save her.
Daimon and Cass appeared near her. Daimon’s pale blue eyes lifted to the clouds that hung low above them, still descending towards them.
The witch came to her and crouched, touched the hand she clutched the bracelets in and said, “Tell me what you need.”
Enyo shut down her fear, cleared her mind and focused on the battle, because if they could help Keras, there was a chance she might be able to bring him back, as she had in Tokyo. She could reach him, but only if he wasn’t allowed to fight alone. He wanted that, but she wouldn’t allow it. She needed to be there with him, so he didn’t need to go all out, so he didn’t have to let the darkness completely consume him in order to win this war.
She looked at Daimon, and realised he wasn’t alone now. His brother Ares was there too, together with Marek and Caterina, and Valen. Esher stood a short distance away, his blue eyes gaining a crimson corona as they locked on one direction, the one she could sense Keras was in.
Battling the furie.
He had retained enough sense to target the most dangerous of their foes at least, remaining on mission.
“A barrier,” Enyo said as shadows began to spiral down from the clouds, scarlet lightning chasing around them and slamming into the earth when it was close enough to connect, shaking the ground beneath her. “I can cast one too. It will contain his power at least.”
“I can cast one that will contain everyone, stopping them from escaping, but I cannot guarantee how long I can keep it going. I will need to constantly repair it.” Cassandra glanced at Daimon.
“I’ll protect you while you maintain it.” He dragged his gaze away from the clouds. “If you need to tap me for strength, you do it.”
Valen stepped forwards. “I’ll help him.”
“What do you need from me?” Ares said, worry shining in his fiery eyes.
Enyo looked from him to Marek, Caterina and Esher. “I need you all to work together to take down as many of the enemy as possible. The less Keras has to deal with himself, the better. If you can take down Eris or one of her comrades, do it.”
“What are you going to do?” Marek looked her over, and she grew aware of her injuries, that she wasn’t in peak condition and had expended much of her strength.
“I’m going to try to bring him back.”
Esher looked over his shoulder at her, concern written in every line of his face. “I want to help you.”
“You will be. Help me by helping him, Esher. Work with your brothers. Stay in close formation. Do not get separated.”
Ares nodded and his handsome face grew sober as he looked down at her. “Bring him back.”