Her brother unleashed a frustrated growl as Keras grabbed his golden hair, fisting it hard, and shoved his head down. Ares grunted as Keras kneed him in the face and tossed him away again, sending him stumbling backwards once more. Her brother braced a foot behind him, recovered swiftly and lunged forwards, slashing at Keras with his sword.
Forcing Keras to block.
The two of them clashed again, harder this time, each strike of their blades ringing in the thick air as she looked for an opening in which she could reach Keras and grew aware of something.
Her brother was trying to wear him out. He was trying to push Keras to his limit so he would be weakened, was stealing all of his focus to keep everyone else safe and so she could have a chance to reach him without him being able to lash out at her.
Enyo saw an opening and forced herself to remain where she was, to trust her brother not to hurt Keras. She prayed that Keras wouldn’t hurt him either, monitored him closely as he sent a wave of shadows at her brother and Ares dodged them all, swept around behind him and kicked him in the back.
Keras slammed face first into the black ground and was slow to push himself up. His black hair brushed his forehead as he shook his head, as he frowned and gritted his teeth. He lumbered back onto his feet and twisted towards Ares, a vicious snarl pealing from his lips.
Shadows suddenly shot up from the ground, wrapped around Ares and hurled him.
“Ares!” She flinched as he hit the ground hard, leaving an impact crater.
Keras’s eyes narrowed on her brother as he struggled to recover from the blow.
A smile curled his lips.
Shadows raced down from the sky and rose from the black earth in front of Keras.
They shot towards her brother in a thick black beam.
No.
Enyo hurled herself into their path, her heart beating at a dizzying pace and fear rushing through her as she braced herself.
Before the shadows could strike her down instead of her brother, Ares grabbed her and shoved her forwards, twisting with her. He pushed her and she hit the ground, gasped as she twisted, fearing the worst as he bellowed.
The black tendrils tore at him, ripping at his armour, cleaving long gashes in it. He glanced at her as the shadows reached for her, warmth and worry in his blue eyes, and sprinted away from her, taking the shadows with him before they could attack her.
Protecting her.
A shiver danced down her spine and over her arms.
Keras had told her that he had seen that her brother loved her, and she hadn’t believed him at the time, because she had never witnessed it for herself. She could see it now though as he placed himself between Keras and her, as he fought to free himself of the shadows and battled to keep them from her as they kept reaching for her.
When he failed to free himself of the shadows, he narrowed his blue eyes on Keras.
He teleported and grabbed Keras by his shoulder, ripping a scream from him as he dug his fingers into the wound on it. He pivoted, hurling him across the battlefield.
Away from everyone.
Her heart lunged into her throat as Keras hit the ground, as he tumbled across it, kicking dust up into the air.
He was still when he finally stopped in a wide clearing near the crumbling wall that surrounded the palace.
Too still.
She pushed onto her feet, her brow furrowing and heart screaming at her to go to him. Someone grabbed her arm in a bruising grip. She looked over her shoulder at her brother.
He shook his head. “Do not. He is too dangerous.”
His blue eyes shifted from her to Keras, the worry in them building.
She looked there too, the need to go to him only growing as she watched him lumber onto his feet and stagger around, as his brothers approached him and he turned on them, lashing out at them with shadows and claws, and baring his fangs.
She calmly placed her hand on her brother’s, eased it from her arm and put on a brave face when he frowned at her.
“I will be fine,” she whispered, not wholly believing that.
But she had to do something.
Keras caught Marek hard with his shadows, taking him down, and Caterina rushed to him, forming a barrier that didn’t last a second against the shadows. They shot towards both Caterina and Marek. A pale green bubble appeared over them and the shadows bounced off it.
Keras growled and shook his head, bared his fangs and attacked the barrier, darkness washing across his features as he savagely clawed at it and struck it with his shadows.
She walked towards him, mustering her courage, nursing the seed of hope that remained in her heart.
She wasn’t afraid of Keras.
He would never hurt her.
She kept telling herself that as she cautiously approached him, as he gave up trying to break through the barrier and viciously growled and snapped fangs at his brothers whenever they drew too close to him.
“Keras,” she whispered as he dug his hands into his black hair and staggered away from his brothers.
He stilled and looked at her.
She smiled for him.
“Listen to my voice.” She edged closer. “Come back to me.”
He bared fangs at her.
His scarlet pupils brightened.
Lightning struck just behind her, the heat of it searing her back.
A warning shot.
She couldn’t heed it. She had to reach him and bring him back. She needed him back.
She ignored everyone around her, narrowed the world down to only them as she lifted her hands and took another slow step towards him.
“I love you, Keras,” she murmured, feeling that love flowing through every inch of her to give her strength and the courage she badly needed. “I have always loved you.”
She risked another step.
Flinched as another bolt of lightning struck close to her, shaking the ground, and Keras roared at her.
She opened her eyes again and locked them with his. “I have loved you forever and I will love you forevermore. I need you, Keras. I waited so long to be with you, and I will not give up on you now. I will not give up on us.”
His black eyes softened.
Hardened a heartbeat later as he launched at her.
Too fast for her to dodge.
He seized her by her throat and snarled in her face, his scarlet pupils narrowing as he sneered at her.
She wasn’t afraid of him.
She lifted her hands, ignoring how he growled and snapped his fangs at them.
“You kept me waiting for so long,” she husked. “Do not make me wait any longer for that forever I have always wanted with you.”
She edged her hands up to his face, her gaze locked with his.
He roared in her face.
Lunged at her hand with his teeth.
Rage poured through her, threatening to shatter her hope as he tightened his grip on her throat. She was done being gentle with him. She had been right in Tokyo.
She needed to be strong with him, firm and unyielding.
Enyo grabbed his wrist with both hands.
“Kill me or come back to me, because I will not give up on you!”
Chapter 34
The air burst from Enyo’s lungs as Keras twisted with her and slammed her into the ground. Pain exploded down the length of her spine and stars winked across her vision. She choked as he pressed down on her throat, stared into the crimson abyss of his pupils and tightened her grip on his arm.
Fear crowded her heart, flowed through her veins and stole her strength as she lay beneath him, desperately trying to prise his hand from her throat.