“Ian,” I said, grabbing him with both hands. “Thank you. I couldn’t have done this without you.”
“Don’t,” he said. “Don’t thank me. Just win.”
Asher was by my side then, the wind whipping at his dark hair, a wild, determined look in his eyes. He held out a hand to Ian. And Ian took it without hesitation.
“Let’s do this,” Asher said.
And together, we ran into the fray.
My beautiful, diaphanous dress blew in the wind. I kicked off my heels and fixed my sword to one of the straps of my dress. I would try to fight using my powers first. I’d only use my sword if I needed to. If it came down to life—or death.
All around me, I watched angels throwing fireballs, blowing wind, casting those force fields that Devin had once used against Asher. My blood began to simmer and then to rise to a boil, and I knew, though I hated to admit it, that Astaroth was right—I could control my powers, but when I felt out of control, it was out of my hands. The blackening clouds above us opened up, and rain began to pour down.
“Careful, Skye,” Asher called.
Through the rain, I could make out Devin and Raven fighting, side by side. A Rebel’s fireball zinged toward Raven’s face—but Devin pulled her out of harm’s way at the last minute. So he really is fighting on his own terms, I thought happily. Ian had taken my sword from me and was fighting off Guardians. I turned around and saw Asher going head-to-head with Ardith. It broke my heart, but I lobbed a ball of fire in her direction. She ducked, and Asher looked at me, fierce and proud.
The battle raged on. I don’t know how long it lasted. We might have been there for hours, or it could have been days. The beach thinned out. But I managed to keep my powers under control. The waves churned, lapped angrily against the shore. The rain turned to hail, pelting down hard.
“Traitor!”
I spun around at the voice, but it wasn’t meant for me. Gideon was crouched on the black sand, panting. Devin stood above him, his sword raised above his head. Behind him was Raven. Her hair whipped in the wind and she gazed at him gratefully.
“Don’t you touch her.” Devin’s voice was low and dangerous.
Gideon’s face, which had once been so open and friendly to me, was twisted in a sneer.
“How easily you turn your back on your supposed side! First the Order, and now you’re fighting against us? Does honor mean nothing to you? Is loyalty just an empty word?” He pushed his glasses up on his nose.
“No.” Devin’s voice was scary calm. “It meant too much to me, for too long. It ruled my life. But now, all of this is meaningless. The Order, the Rebellion. The Rogues. At the end of the day, what does any of it mean? They’re all just empty words for something I don’t believe in anymore.” He tensed, about to strike. “I just know I have to fight for the only people who have ever cared about me.” His eyes found Raven’s. And then mine.
Gideon looked unsure. He opened his mouth and paused. The two of them stood there, and for a minute I wondered if Gideon was about to come fight with us. But before he could speak, a dark figure hurtled itself at Devin.
Ardith took him from behind, her arms wrapped tightly around his chest and a sword at his neck.
“Stop!” Raven screamed. Gideon scrambled to his feet and held her back. She struggled frantically against him.
“Never hesitate when it comes to love,” Ardith spat. “Never stop fighting for a second.”
“Ardith!” Asher yelled, appearing beside me. He held an arm aloft, a cluster of embers burning and smoldering in his cupped palm. “Don’t you dare hurt him. Put the sword down and join us.”
Ardith glared at him, tightening her grip on Devin. The fallen Guardian and former Rebel looked strangely serene—at peace, almost. Was I hallucinating, or was Asher trying to save him?
“Surrender!” Ardith cried. “I’ll kill him—I’ll do it! And if you don’t, it just goes to show you how meaningless your words are.”
“Don’t do it,” Devin said, his voice barely rising above the wind. “The rules, the sides—none of it matters, anymore. You were right, Asher. You were right all along.”
“No!” Asher and I cried at the same time. The embers whizzed from his hand—but Ardith ducked, and they missed her by a hair.
“It does matter!” I yelled. A fog, thick and heavy and white, was beginning to descend on the beach. I tried beating it back, but it was the work of many Rebels’ powers combined. Instead, it surged forward. I could hardly see what was happening. “Keep fighting, Devin! We’re going to win! You and Raven will be free to be together. You just have to believe that this is going to end well.”
Ian drew up beside me, panting. “What’s going on?”
Through the fog, I could just make out Devin’s face, Ardith’s arms circled tightly around his chest. The sword’s blade glinted at his throat.
Devin looked between me and Asher. But I was done trying to figure out what all of it meant. I had a fight to win.
“Give me my sword,” I said to Ian. He placed it in my hands. My heart was pounding. I had to trust that love would guide my aim. Like it had for me throughout my whole life. Astaroth was wrong. Love would make me strong this time.
And so, I raised my sword above my head and threw it into the mist with all my strength—aiming straight at where I could just see Ardith’s silhouette. The sword disappeared into the mist.
Ian gripped my arm. “Where’s Asher?” I whipped around to see him hurl himself into the mist at Ardith at the same time. Straight at where I’d thrown my sword. And then the mist was so thick I couldn’t see anything anymore.
A strange silence settled across the beach. I was aware of Ian standing at my side, saying something that I couldn’t hear. There was a scream, and then a sob. A vague understanding dawned on me. I had hit someone. The world bottomed out from under me as I realized it. But who?
As if in a dream, I began to move. I tripped on something and fell to my knees. Panic tore at me blindly, but it was only the hem of my dress, dirty and soaked, that had gotten tangled beneath my feet. I stood up. I kept moving, collecting the folds of the beautiful dress in my arms to keep from stumbling again. And then my feet hit something solid.
Feet, I realized. Those are feet.
The fog drew out with the tide, and now that I could see again, dread descended on me.
Asher was kneeling on the sand. He looked up at me, helplessly.
Lying on the ground at my feet, his blood seeping out around him, was Devin.
Raven let out a strangled cry and fell to the ground. Sheets of blond hair came loose from her bun and covered her face.
I killed him. The panicked thought tore through me. But then I looked closer. His eyes fluttered open, his chest rose and fell with shallow breaths. My sword was nowhere to be seen. Instead, a deep slice of blood arced across his chest. From a sword, it seemed, that had been held to his neck—but had missed its mark. No, I realized. I didn’t do this. Ardith did.
Devin’s breath came in short gasps. He met my eyes sadly.
“Over there,” Asher said somberly. And I followed his gaze. Ardith lay several feet away—where the force of my sword had thrown her back. Her eyes were closed, her mouth still. The sand around her was a deepening red.
A choking sob forced its way from my throat as Asher ran to me, and I dropped to my knees. Devin’s breathing was weak. He looked up into my eyes, and I was struck, again and again, by how deep they could pierce me. I grasped his hands in mine.