Lynx helped her onto his back, and they raced across the Mainland, passing battling Vinderland, and Remlar, who had been fighting near the woods. He brought dreks down with the smallest movements. They shared a look.
The forest flew by in a flash, and then she was at the bridge. She slid off Lynx.
He would come to meet her. She knew he would. Isla waited for minutes, wincing as she heard the battle raging, willing Grim to come find her.
When more minutes passed, she almost pulled her necklace.
Then, the woods filled with shadows.
At once, the bridge was blocked by a new wave of the Nightshade army. They drew their shadows. They were everywhere.
A howl broke the air in half.
“Even think about touching her, and I’ll kill you,” a voice said. Steps sounded behind her. “Hello, heart.”
BEFORE
When Isla finished training, Grim was waiting for her in her room.
It had been weeks since he had told her the truth. She hadn’t sought him out, and he hadn’t returned.
“I told you I never wanted to see you again,” she said. The betrayal was still raw.
She didn’t mean it. She had missed him so much, but she needed time before she could think about forgiving him.
Grim tried at a smile. “I might have good news for you, then,” he said.
“What do you mean?”
He looked so serious.
Grim swept across the room and took her in his arms, and she let him, because she knew something was wrong. He studied every part of her face, as if trying to commit it to memory.
Her starstick was hot against her back. It was glimmering in his presence, as if in warning. Something isn’t right, it was saying. She gripped his chest and said, “What’s wrong?”
“The scar has opened. In a place it never has before. A place previously deemed safe.” Isla’s stomach sank. He had told her about the scar, about how he didn’t think Nightshade could survive much longer. “Hundreds of people live near it.”
Isla gasped. She opened her mouth, but he beat her to it.
“Whatever happens to me, heart, I want you to know something.”
“What?” she said. She tried to shake out of his arms. “Grim, nothing is going to happen to you, nothing—”
“Let me talk, heart,” he said, pressing a finger against her lips. “Interrupting is very rude.” She could tell he was trying to distract her. Trying to make her smile. She did not.
“I need you to know that you changed everything.” He ran his thumb down her cheek. “The gods don’t listen to people like me, but I would go on my knees and beg them to let me keep you. You were once the bane of my existence . . . and now, you are the center of it.”
He couldn’t possibly be saying this, not him, demon in the shadows, ruler of darkness. Not him, looking at her as if she was the answer to all his dreams. “My entire world was night, and you lit a match. No matter what happens to me in this life, I’ll find you in the next one. I’ll always find you. What I feel for you can never be extinguished. Like the nighttime sky, it is infinite. You and me . . . we’re infinite.”
Tears streamed down her face. Why did it sound like he was saying goodbye forever?
“No. Don’t go,” she said. “I can help you. We can figure this out, whatever it is, Grim, together. Let me go with you. We can try the sword. Let me go.”
“Okay, Hearteater,” he finally said. “You can come.”
He kissed her. It was quick, and brutal, and then soft—
She didn’t even notice when he slid a hand down her spine. By the time she did, it was too late.
He had taken her starstick and vanished, making sure she wouldn’t be able to follow.
DAY AND NIGHT
Grim stepped onto the bridge. Exactly where they needed him. He was wearing his full armor, the one she had seen in her memories. Spikes everywhere. On his shoulders. On his helmet. He looked the part of a demon. Shadows swirled and lashed out around him.
But the ones at his feet puddled. “This is obviously a trap,” he said, taking a step forward. “You knew I’d find you.” He smiled. “You knew nothing could ever keep me from you.”
“Even certain death couldn’t keep you away?” she asked, voice trembling.
He smiled wider. “Oh, Hearteater,” he said. “You and me . . . we’re infinite. Death doesn’t stand a chance.”
Isla couldn’t breathe. She was drowning from the inside out, knowing what was about to happen. Knowing what she must do—
Oro landed in front of her, and power rumbled across the island.
Grim only smirked at the king. “And neither do you.”
And then he struck. A burst of shadows erupted from him, right at Oro, but the king shielded it with a covering of flames so saturated, they were tinged in blue.
Isla prepared to block herself from the shadows too, her Starling shield forming, but they moved around her almost gently, like extensions of Grim himself.
Oro burst forth with a thick cord of power—a mix of silver energy, water rushing from the sea, and flashing flames. Grim met it with a chain of pure darkness.
Their powers clashed and reverberated in waves. The bridge below them shook. Isla barely kept herself on her feet. She felt the force of their strength in her bones.
Both were too powerful. They roared, fighting, each with equal hatred clear on their faces.
Grim was gone—then, he was right behind Oro. He hit him with a wave of shadows, and Oro only just barely blocked it with a shield of crackling Starling energy. Still, the impact knocked him onto his back.
Before Grim could take another step, Oro’s arms went wide, and the sea rushed from hundreds of feet below. It hit Grim, then hardened, then cracked as he fought to melt through it with his shadows. He couldn’t move his arms. Oro shot enough fire to char Grim through the ice, but, at the last moment, he portaled away, leaving the frost behind. It fell back onto the bridge and shattered.
“Behind you!” Isla shouted, and Oro turned just in time to block Grim’s blade. Oro created a sword out of Starling energy, and they dueled across the bridge.
Grim grinned as if he was having the time of his life. “It’s been a long time since we fought, Oro,” he said, advancing. “What a shame that it will also be the last time.”
Oro let his sword disappear and shot up into the air.
Grim followed. He portaled so quickly that it was as if he were also flying, appearing then disappearing in wild spurts. They dueled in the sky, this time with streams of power.
Isla watched from below, finding herself cringing at every blow the other landed. She bit the inside of her mouth, dread churning in her chest.
There was no winning.
A rumble sounded before the sea below spiraled up, becoming a massive snake that lunged at Grim. In response, he spun a wolf formed of shadows. The creatures battled, mauling each other, protecting their creators.
Oro shot out his hand, releasing a dozen throwing blades made from flames. Grim blocked them with a dark curl of smoke before that shield became a dozen arrows all aimed at Oro’s chest.
They ricocheted against Starling sparks, and both of their attacks quickened. Grim was portaling so fast, she could barely track him in the sky, and Oro was creating so many weapons, she missed half of them by blinking.
Finally, Oro paused for a moment, as if gathering his energy. This was it. It was about to be over. The air seemed to go taut in anticipation before he shot out his hand—and released a strike of lightning. It raged across the sky, charged with energy, a combination of his abilities.
It all happened so quickly.
Before the lightning could hit Grim, he was gone, then replaced—
With Oro.
Grim had portaled him there, using his power, in that fraction of a second. Isla watched helplessly as Oro’s own lightning struck him.
And then, he was falling.
He landed on the bridge with a force that threatened to make it crumble away beneath them. She raced forward, but Grim landed between them.
“No!” she screamed.
Shadows burst forth from his palm, but before they turned Oro to ash, he came to and lifted his own hand. Fire, energy, and wind wrapped around and around. Their powers met in the middle.
Oro was injured. He looked like he could pass out at any moment. She knew what she had to do.