On the Edge (The Edge #1)(83)
Author: Ilona Andrews

The church shuddered.

A support beam split behind Casshorn.

Cuts on Declan’s face bled. She saw a line of red swell across his back.

Casshorn’s face shook with strain. His magic gained a foot. And another. They were too evenly matched, and Declan was tired. If only she’d kept him from that dock . . .

Streaks of silver poured from Casshorn’s eyes. He snarled. His magic gained another foot. If Declan’s flash collapsed, all of them would be wiped out.

Rose stood, untouched, unhurt, in the middle of chaos, listening to the sounds of the church breaking around them and hounds dying under William’s knife, and realized that she would have to watch Declan die. His death would begin the chain reaction. One by one everyone she knew would die as well, and the Edge itself would follow. She couldn’t let it happen.

Rose gathered her power. She had to reach deep, very deep, and drag it out, as if pulling her heart out of her chest. She focused it all into a single point, condensing her magic so tight, she shook with the strain of trying to contain it.

The dark magic advanced. Blood dripped from Declan’s leather.

She wished she could have said good-bye to the boys. She wished she had told them how much she loved them and not to worry and to listen to Grandma. She wished she and Declan had just a little more time.

Rose took a deep breath. It hurt so much she shut her eyes. Then she opened them and let her magic go. She held nothing back. Everything that she was, everything that made her alive, she gave all of it, so Declan and the boys would live. She would have given more, if she could have.

It tore from her in a blinding beam of light, straight as a needle. The beam pierced Declan’s flash and the darkness beyond it. She saw Casshorn’s face, a horrified mask, eyes wide open, mouth dropping downward in slack bewilderment and terror. She heard Declan scream.

The white beam sliced through Casshorn. The two halves of his horrible body stood still for a moment and then fell apart.

Blackness pounced on her and swallowed her whole.

DARKNESS.

Darkness all around, empty, blocking the world like a wall. If only she could break through it . . .

She didn’t want to die. She flailed, willing her hands to rise and tear up the darkness, but her arms were missing and she could do nothing as the blackness dragged her off, deeper and deeper into its depths.

A bolt of lightning tore through the dark wall. For a moment she felt Declan’s arms cradling her, she saw his eyes, heard his lips whispering over and over, "Don’t leave me!"

The darkness pounced, and he vanished.

A dozen narrow streaks shattered the darkness, and she screamed, because she was clenched in his arms, and he was flashing again and again, siphoning his life into her, his magic a dozen white currents binding their bodies into one.

Chapter 26

ROSE opened her eyes. Daylight.

A ceiling stretched above her with an all-too-familiar yellow stain. It had appeared two years ago, right after Jack in his lynx shape chased a feral tomcat up into the attic. She had long suspected it was cat pee.

"Here you are," Grandma’s voice said softly.

Rose looked at her, wide-eyed. A terrible fear clamped her. "Declan?"

"Alive. Barely, but he’s eaten some chicken soup this morning, so I do believe he’ll make it."

"The boys?"

"Fine. They’re fine. Thad died. Tom Buckwell’s leg had to be cut off. Jennifer and Ru didn’t make it, but other than that, we’ve survived the storm."

Rose breathed.

Tears swelled in Grandma’s blue eyes. "Never again, you hear me? Never again. Next time something like this happens, you go into the Broken and let somebody else fight it out!"

"Okay." Rose reached and touched her hand. "It’s okay."

"You were almost dead, baby. Your blueblood dragged you back from the dead, kicking and screaming."

"What happened to William?"

"He’s gone. Didn’t say a word. Just vanished after everything was over."

Declan loomed in the doorway. He saw her and swallowed. Quietly Grandma rose and stepped aside. Rose held out her arms. He staggered in, slowly, and lowered himself on the floor near her. She took his hand in hers and fell asleep.

ROSE awoke in her bed. The light coming through the window meant late morning. She had woken up several times during the night, terrified that she had only dreamed being alive and having Declan near. He’d slept by her bed on the floor, on a stack of blankets, and every time she panicked, he was there, until finally she crawled off the bed and lay on the floor next to him, drifting off in his arms. The next time she had shrugged off sleep, she found Jack curled up on their feet and George out cold in her bed.

Declan and the boys were gone now, and she was back in her bed. She didn’t worry. She knew he wouldn’t leave without her.

It didn’t seem real. She lay for a long time feeling the texture of the sheets under her fingers and trying to convince herself that this was real, that it wasn’t some hallucination flashing before her mind as she lay dying on the church floor. She failed and finally pushed herself upright. If it was a hallucination, she might as well enjoy it while it lasted.

The muscles in her legs felt soft, like wet cotton, but she managed to make it to the bathroom and then to the kitchen before her legs gave out.

"Rose!" Grandma dropped the steaming kettle back on the stove and caught her, sliding her into the chair.

"Where are they?"

"Outside. He went walking. He can’t run yet, but he wouldn’t stay in bed. I sent the hooligans with him in case he topples over. Here." Grandma put a bowl of Cocoa Puffs in front of her.

Rose put a spoonful into her mouth. "Oh, my God. Thish ish the besht thing I ever tashted."

"That’s because you haven’t eaten in four days."

The cereal crunched in her mouth. She emptied the bowl and instantly felt sick.

"More?" Grandma’s eyes twinkled.

"I’d better not. It’s trying to come back up."

"Drink some tea, it will help."

She sipped the hot, fragrant brew. "What happened to the device?"

"Jeremiah and the rest dragged it out into the Broken, chainsawing whatever came out of it. The damn thing stopped right away past the boundary. They poured concrete on it, drove it to the coast, and dumped it off into the ocean. I saw it with my own eyes. Your blueblood wouldn’t shut up until I went with them. Would you stop staring out the window? He will be back soon enough."

Rose looked into her tea.

"Where does this leave the two of you?" Grandma asked softly.

"I’m not sure," Rose said.

"He’s been making plans to leave for the Weird as soon as he can. He’s determined to take you with him."