Faith felt the cold before she felt the sting. It was a freezing, hollow sensation that started in her shoulder and raced toward her heart like a wildfire made of ice. She looked down, her eyes widening as she saw the zigzag handle of the Void Blade sticking out from her skin. Black smoke began to curl off the wound, twisting like tiny, dark snakes.
"Faith!" Killian's roar shook the very foundation of the Sunken Arena.
He reached her just as her knees gave out. His large, scarred hands caught her before she hit the sand, pulling her tightly against his chest. His gold eyes were wild, flashing with a terrifying, lethal light.
"Please Stay with me," he hissed, his voice trembling. "Faith, look at me! Don't you dare close your eyes!"
Five feet away, Maya stood with her hands trembling. Her face was a mask of twisted satisfaction and pure- madness. "You were never supposed to be the Catalyst,"Maya whispered. "You were the Dud. You were the one we stepped on to get to the top. If I can't have your power, then nobody can."
You….monster," Leo snarled. He stepped between Maya and the fallen pair, his Beta facade finally crumbling as his Royal aura flared. "Guards! Seize her!"
But the Royal Guards didn't move for Leo. They moved for the King.
King Valerius stood on the high balcony, his violet eyes glowing with a cold, detached curiosity. "The Void Blade," he mused, his voice carrying over the chaos of the crumbling arena. An ancient weapon designed to unmake the soul. If the Catalyst dies now, the Lunar Grid will shatter, and every shifter in this city will lose their connection to the moon.
"Then help her!" Sarah screamed, racing toward her daughter. She shoved past a guard, her lab coat torn and stained. "Valerius, if she dies, your empire dies with her!"
I have no interest in a broken tool, the King replied coldly. If she cannot survive a simple blade, she was never the Architect's true successor. Guards, eliminate the Nightshade rebels. Leave the girl to the Void.
Killian ignored the King. He ignored the soldiers closing in. He reached for the handle of the blade, but as his fingers brushed the black glass, a shock of dark energy repelled him, burning his palm.
"It's soul-locked," Sarah gasped, falling to her knees beside them. She grabbed Faith's wrist, checking her pulse. It was thready, jumping randomly. "Killian, look at her veins. The poison is spreading."
Faint, black lines were spidering out from the wound, crawling up Faith's neck and down her arm. Every time a line moved, Faith let out a small, broken sob that cut through Killian deeper than any sword ever could.
Fix it, Sarah,Killian commanded. His voice was low, vibrating with a desperate power. "Use your science. Use the journals. Just fix her."
"I really wish I could," Sarah whispered, tears blurring her vision. This isn't biology, Killian. This is ancient magic. The Void eats the light. There is only one thing in this world strong enough to wash away a Void stain.
"Tell me," Killian snapped, his grip on Faith tightening as her head fell back against his arm.
"The Source," Sarah said. The birthplace of the first White Wolf. The legendary spring in the Whispering Peaks. It's the only place where the earth's raw energy can purge the shadow from a Catalyst's soul.
Killian looked up. The arena was in total chaos. Leo was holding back a line of guards, his sword clashing against silver steel. The palace was literally falling apart as the unstable Lunar Grid above them began to leak raw, jagged electricity.
"We have to go," Killian said. He didn't ask. He didn't negotiate.
He stood up, lifting Faith into his arms as if she weighed nothing. The black smoke from her wound was staining his expensive suit, but he didn't care. He looked at the King, and for the first time, Valerius actually looked unsettled.
You're leaving? the King mocked. "You'd abandon your packs? Your wealth? Your name? For a dying Dud?"
Killian didn't even stop walking. I'm not an Alpha anymore, Valerius. I'm a man who is going to save his mate. And when I come back, I'm going to tear your throne out of the floor.
With a final, desperate burst of energy, Faith's hand reached up and gripped Killian's collar. Her eyes flickered open, glowing a dim, sickly silver.
"Killian…." she breathed, her voice a mere ghost of itself. The Grid….it's….waking everyone up….
She was right. Even as she was dying, the "Pulse" she had triggered was still moving. Far away, in the trenches and the slums, people who had never shifted were suddenly feeling their bones crack and reform. The revolution had started, and she wouldn't be there to see it.
"Don't talk," Killian whispered, kissing her forehead. Just hold on. I'm taking you home.
He looked at Leo and Sarah. "Get to the transport. We leave the city tonight. If anyone stands in our way….kill them."
As they fought their way toward the exit, Faith felt the darkness of the blade pulling her under. The last thing she saw was the silver moon turning a dark, bruised purple, a silent witness to the war that was just beginning.