Kicking off the ground, I sped toward Quinn and her assailant. The puppeteer smiled, wearing the skin of one of our civilians. I made a split-second decision. There was no other choice. She had to die.

  I layered enough uses of Burst to feel my magic reserves dip. Concrete cracked underfoot and sprayed the hounds with pebbles like hail. The distance between us seemed like it folded as I tore through space, feeling my muscles crack and pop with overexertion. Growing ever larger, the puppeteer’s smiled widened, white and welcoming, as I slashed with Stoneflow. The cut was eerily silent, as if the world shunned the very fact that it was happening.

  The golden glow in her eyes faded until all that remained were unfocused blue irises, confused at the sight of the rapidly approaching blade. Stopping was not an option. My sword dug through her neck like a streak of lightning, emerging on the other side without so much as a trickle of blood. Eyes wide, she stared at me and reached her hand to her throat, feeling for the cut.

  A wisp of gold emerged from the side of her head, and floated into the sky to embed itself into the veil. Frozen, I stared as the civilian returned to normal. “I-I,” I stuttered. “I’m sorry.”

  First the blood came in a small drip, gradually increasing until it coated her entire hand in pulsating gushes of glossy crimson. Her words gurgled in her throat as she crumpled to her knees, and then to the ground.

  “God…” I muttered and looked for the golden wisp. I’d wasted too much time, it was already gone.

  A dull ache flared in my chest as I heaved for breath. I had killed before, but never innocents. The smell of iron felt thick in my nostrils. Before I knew it, tears welled up in my eyes and bile rushed at my throat, even as I turned and bent down toward Quinn.

  Grabbing her by the shoulders, I shook her and shouted, “Quinn? Can you hear me?”

  Gazing at me through slitted eyes. She nodded faintly and I felt a wave of relief wash over me. I swallowed a rush of bile and guilt and lifted her up.

  Gabi’s car wasn’t far. I rushed to it with Quinn in my arms. Behind me I heard the shouts of agony as the civilians dared approach their dead friend. I forced my eyes shut, and focused on the moment. I could feel guilty after this was over. Skidding to a halt next to the car, I shouted, “Doc!”

  He was already moving, reaching over the backseats into the trunk and rummaging through his bags for tools. Gerrard opened the door, and made room for Quinn by ambling himself into the passenger seat.

  Gunfire and explosions crackled nearby. I looked away from Quinn to the defensive line and Daryl leading it. They were crumbling without me. Questions flew at me from Gerrard and Gabi, but they fell on deaf ears. I was elsewhere, torn between my conscience and responsibilities.

  Gritting my teeth, I left Quinn in their care and bolted back to the battle without a word. I couldn’t do more than I already had—not there. My place was on the frontlines.

  COBA’s Blessed were locked in combat wherever I turned. Daryl was holding his ground, ordering his cohort into action in places where they made an actual difference. Though it irked me for an asshole like him to be skilled, I had to give it him. He was. And I was thankful for it in the moment.

  Screaming, my legs carried me to the back of our lines. The layered use of Burst had no doubt ripped my muscles. I clenched my jaw and bore it.

  Never taking my eyes off the veil’s movements, I rushed back to the battle. Whenever I passed a soldier in trouble I killed their opponent with a swift strike to the neck. Killing was not hard if your target didn’t expect you. And the hounds never expected me as I darted through the battlefield with noise-dampening shoes. To them, I might as well have been a ghost with the amount of sound I produced.

  With my presence lessening the pressure each soldier faced, the lines regained their composure.

  Cutting and slashing, I made my way back to the front. We had made a dent in the hounds’ numbers, but they were still far from few. Drumming against my ribcage, I couldn’t tell if it was the thrill of battle or my guilt that drove my heart. Whatever it was, I followed its rhythm as I weaved through the piles of bodies, slashing, kicking, punching, stabbing.

  Never stopping even as I left the lines of Blessed behind, I charged onward into the maw of the horde. Limbs flew through the air like macabre birds. Each kill helped ease my mind as they brought me closer to the puppeteer. He was at fault—not me. It wasn’t me who killed her, it was him. I clenched my hand around Stoneflow’s leathery grip.

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  Time flowed, and soon the flickering blues from the apartment buildings died down. I glanced back to see Nyla join our lines with a stoic expression. She searched the lines for Quinn but couldn’t find her. We locked eyes through the tide of monsters. Worry crept onto her face when she saw me fighting alone.

  She plowed through their numbers like a typhoon, and my unease started to calm. With her on our side, the fight wouldn’t take long to finish. Smashing a hound’s skull to bits, she kicked the headless body into the tide like a bullet, clearing a path to me. She dashed through it with a thunderclap. “Where is she?!”

  Killing three hounds with one slash, I spat, “Hurt.”

  Not too far behind, Daryl saw an opening and screamed, “Follow them!” A thundering charge followed as our lines began to push back the tide.

  “How bad?” Nyla asked, exploding the chest of a hound with a punch.

  “Don’t know,” I muttered through laboured breaths. “Shot.”

  Nyla’s expression darkened. I could see why. “Not your fault,” I added. “One of ours shot. Puppeteer.”

  She gritted her teeth, muttering. “Let’s end this.”

  Exploding with light, she clad her body in blue lightning like armor. Waves tore through the veil with her at the centre. I’d never seen a reaction this large before, and I was suddenly very happy to have never pissed her off.

  She blitzed away faster than my eyes could follow, leaving blue afterimages where she tore through the scourge. I glanced back and watched as Daryl waved for the convoy to start driving. Still at the very back of the convoy, Gabi was clutching the steering wheel with a face as pale as paper.

  She’d make it. Not even Nyla would be able to see this last mission through. It was just too costly. We’d already lost more than half of the convoy.

  Glossing over the remainder of the convoy, I relaxed. But then I saw it, a movement in the veil that made my heart seize. The golden wisp from before, it moved through our lines without notice. Moving with intent and purpose, it tore through the minds of one civilian after the other, looking for something, or someone.

  Gabi and the others drove past Daryl when the wisp pierced the hull of their car like a ghost.

  My feet moved before I could wrap my head around it. Layering one use of Burst over the next, I kept going until my muscles started to snap from the pressure. The pain was there, but it was dull and in the back of my mind.

  “Gabi…” I whispered, lips trembling.

  As if hearing my voice, she turned in that moment and looked at me. Mouthing something with lips as pale as snow. Her brows were knitted in confusion. The wisp of gold seeped into her open mouth and eyes. And I was powerless as I watched her lovely hazel eyes begin to glow golden.

  Everything happened so fast.

  It felt like something inside me shattered. “No!” My scream reverberated throughout the battlefield. Gerrard, who sat with his back turned, jolted from the sound and tore his eyes from the backseat to me.

  Gabi smiled in the driver’s seat. But it wasn’t my Gabi’s smile. Hers was warm and kind. Sometimes teasing. This one was wicked and corrupt. It was evil. Taking a hand off the steering wheel, she reached down and unholstered her gun.

  Gerrard followed my eyes to Gabi, instantly realizing that something was off. His eyes went wide at the sight of the gun. Gerrard’s lips moved as he screamed something, but all we could hear from outside were muffled voices. Without even a hint of doubt, he threw himself at her and pushed the pistol away before she could fire at the backseat. Several bullets bit into the roof of the car, making the windows light up with flashes. The vehicle stirred with movement.

  To their side, Daryl finally caught on and burst into action. He ripped the driver’s door clean off its hinges and threw it to the side. I expected the sound of gunfire to flow out, but all I heard was the clicking noise of a pistol without ammunition. Screams emerged, all familiar ones.

  My thoughts raced. This wasn’t at all how it was supposed to go.

  I slowed my pace into a walk as I reached the car. Daryl disarmed Gabi and threw her onto the steaming concrete. Holding her down with his foot. Her white smile was stained by red goblets of blood. As was her face and hands.

  She laughed manically and looked me dead in the eyes. “You should see your expression! Did they really mean so much to you? Powerless insects… They would serve better as pets than lovers, would they not? Now what will you do? Will you kill her like you killed the other one?”

  I dared a glance inside the car. Gerrard’s eyes met mine as he heaved for breath in the passenger seat. He beckoned me inside as each of his breaths grew raspier than the one before. A trail of blood ran down the side of his mouth as he pressed his hands against two of the many holes in his body. He coughed, painting the dashboard red.

  I leaned inside, pressing my hands against Gerrard’s wounds and looked at the backseat. Doc sat huddled over Quinn in the back. He’d shielded her with his own body, earning him a few wounds. Tears wet my cheeks, I couldn’t stop them.

  Gerrard reached a hand back to Doc, feeling for his friend. When he didn’t respond, Gerrard sighed and tugged at my coat. I turned to him, and wiped my face against the sleeve of my coat.

  Managing a small smile, Gerrard muttered, “Give my love to Sunny… Please?”

  The words caught in my throat as I tried to respond. “Of course,” I finally mumbled, but he had already breathed his last.

  “Cal?!” Nyla shouted.

  I stumbled back out of the car, my legs trembled beneath me, struggling to bear my weight. Judging by my expression, Nyla probably expected the worst. She rushed inside the car, taking my place in the driver’s seat.

  I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. The sounds of battle had gone silent. Only Gabi’s crazed laugh echoed. She was still grounded by Daryl’s boot as I knelt beside her.

  She grinned. “Now show me, little pest. Show me your inhumanity! Show me who in the Legion would dare harm another!”

  I know some of you thought the worst to come was over...