“Please, I beg you. I cannot bear to let her suffer this way. She would never have wanted to become this. I would do it myself, but—”
Tears brimmed in Effie’s eyes, her heart breaking for the man.
“Are you sure?” Lucian asked, his deep voice softer than Effie had heard him use it with anyone but her.
Khouman nodded, a lone tear leaving a dusty trail down his cheek. “We’ve already said our goodbyes.”
“It will be done,” Reyna promised, moving closer and dropping to her knee beside the Caederan man.
Khouman released a shaky breath. “My thanks, lady. I-I think I’ll wait outside, if you don’t mind. I’ll see you to town once it’s . . . over.” He didn’t wait for them to reply, turning and walking back down the torch-lit pathway.
“Reyna, you can’t really mean that,” Effie sputtered once he was gone.
She raised a dark brow. “Why wouldn’t I? She is an abomination, a threat to all of us. I eliminate threats.”
“Sure, but—” Effie protested.
“But this monster has a name?” Reyna asked, her voice gentle.
Effie’s chest hurt as she turned to the men, hoping one of them might agree with her. Not even Lucian, whose dark eyes burned when they met hers, was on her side.
“It’s murder,” she insisted.
“There is mercy in death,” Reyna replied. “As well as peace. Does she not deserve both?”
“Of course she does—”
“This is a kindness, Effie, I promise,” Reyna said.
Even if a more rational part of Effie agreed with her, it still felt wrong. “But what if we find a way to save her a week from now? Couldn’t we just take her back with us? Wait for Helena to get back . . . or maybe the Triumvirate know of a way . . .”
“Effie.”
It was Lucian’s voice that finally broke through her rambling pleas. She shook her head, not wanting to hear what he was about to say.
“You know that she would only be a danger to us. We cannot risk it,” he said.
“We have to at least try,” she said, her voice raw.
“It’s too late, little warrior,” Kael said, lifting his hand to place it on her shoulder.
Effie flinched away.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
This time when he wrapped his arm around her shoulder Effie let him.
It was one thing to put down a creature that was trying to kill her. It was something else when it was someone she knew, even if they’d only crossed paths a handful of times.
Reyna and Ronan moved back to the edge, peering down into the depths. They spoke in low voices, but the cave amplified their words so it was as if they were speaking right next to her.
“Without the ladders to climb down, we will need to bring her to us,” Reyna said.
“Thanks to the vines, we couldn’t risk it even with the ladders,” Ronan reminded her. Sighing, he added, “I don’t have enough ability in Air to fly her up.”
“A rope would do,” Reyna murmured, her eyes calculating.
Ronan speared her with a dry look. “I must have left my spare rope in my other pants.”
“I can help with that,” Lucian said, joining them.
Ronan lifted a brow. “How’s that?”
Lucian answered by pulling his cloak off his shoulders. His hands blurred as his eyes began to glow with bronze light. Effie’s eyes could barely track the movement of his fingers as he transformed the cloak into a long strand of rope.
When he was done, Lucian held the rope out to Ronan.
Ronan grunted. “Well, that’s just fucking useful.”
Her Guardian shrugged, and Reyna snagged the rope from his hands before Ronan even reached for it.
Effie might have also been impressed by the display of Lucian’s power, but her stomach was tied in knots. “Are you sure this is the only way?”
She was speaking to Kael, and her voice was barely more than a whisper, but Lucian whipped his head around to face her. He looked torn. Effie could see the war raging in his eyes. His duty was demanding he take care of the threat, but it also pushed him to ensure she was alright.
Kael squeezed her, dipping his head down. “You know it is. He would never agree to this otherwise. Lucian wouldn’t kill someone he could save.”
Lucian’s gaze still boring into hers, Effie swallowed and gave a small nod. It seemed to be all he needed. He turned away, refocusing on Reyna who had begun looping the rope and was preparing to toss it down.
“You sure you know what you’re doing?” Ronan asked.
Reyna glared at him. “Do you think this is the first time a Night Stalker has had to raise something from the ground?”
Since her people lived amongst the trees, Effie supposed Reyna probably was the most qualified for the task of bringing Tinka up.
“My aim is perfect,” Reyna continued, as she began to twirl the lasso she’d created above her head.
Ronan smirked. “Don’t I know it.”
Wholly focused on her task, Reyna didn’t bother replying. She released the lasso in her right hand, her arm swinging across her body while still holding the rest of the coiled rope in her left hand.
There was an enraged shriek and the rope began to buck in Reyna’s hand. Ronan moved quickly, stepping behind Reyna to help pull it in.
Effie didn’t have a clear view of what was happening in the cavern, but the sound of unfurling vines was unmistakable. “Watch out!” she cried, seeing the tip of one begin to writhe in the air.
Lucian’s sword was in his hand before she was finished speaking. Swinging the blade, he cleaved the vine in two, the squirming tip falling back into the pit as silver liquid began spewing out of the other half.
The top of Tinka’s head cleared the edge of their platform as more vines began to snake upwards, stretching toward them. They were growing fast, swelling in size as they reached for their next meal.
Tinka was tearing at the rope around her waist, squirming frantically as she tried to break free, her shrieks bouncing off the walls.
The foul liquid began to pool on the ground as Lucian dispatched more of the vines.
“Don’t let it touch you!” Effie called out.
A part of her itched to join the fight against the vines, but Lucian was moving so fast she knew she’d only be in his way. Besides, her dagger wasn’t exactly an ideal weapon as it would force her into close proximity to those razor-sharp thorns.
Eyes bouncing between the two separate fights, she sucked in a breath as Tinka lunged at Reyna, her hands outstretched as she tried to claw the woman holding onto the other end of her lead.
Letting go of the rope, Reyna launched three daggers in rapid succession. Two landed in Tinka’s chest, the third in her throat. Tinka dropped to her knees, her tiny body sagging as blood spurted from her mouth. It wasn’t quite the black ichor the rest of the Shadows had, but it was darker than anything Effie had ever seen come from a human.
Swallowing, her eyes fell closed.
“You don’t have to watch this,” Kael said in her ear.
“Yes, I do. If I’m going to stand here and agree to this, I at least owe it to Tinka to see it through.”
“Why?”
“Because if it was me in her place, I would want to know that I had someone there who cared at the end.”