“You make a fair point. Which is why I am offering you a parlay,” the male said, his tone filling with something that gave me pause.

This was why I had come, and finally, we were getting to the heart of what he wanted.

“Your mate’s life, or the lives of all your soldiers here. Choose.”

Ice shattered through my veins as my blood went cold. Assyria too, blanched, those big burgundy eyes immediately brimming with tears.

His trade was not what I expected it to be in the slightest, and I had no idea how to proceed.

Giving my life for hers, sure, I could have gotten myself out of that handily. Readily, with chains on my wrists too. That was what I expected of the Angels. Slice off the head of the snake to win.

This wasn’t it. Not even close.

But I couldn’t falter, not now. “Are you serious? That’s it? I am the greatest general in the history of Ravasz, and I pity your commander for having to lead such an idiot. I’ll give you another chance to come up with a better offer, since this was so pitiful.”

“If it’s so awful, why don’t you take advantage of it?” he asked.

I gritted my teeth. He had to know more than he let on.

“Banand and Zurronar are alive. They were being held where I was, and they said that others had been captured too. That’s how they knew about me in the first place. I assume those males told them about your conscription plans too,” Assyria said in a rush. She must have been reading my thoughts.

Shock raced through me. Yet another twist to add to the events of the day. “Of course that’s what happened,” I grumbled, trying desperately to think of a solution, a way out of this. If the knife wasn’t pressed against Assyria’s neck…

She was too far away for me to use my shadows to free her, and with the line of Angels between us, and the desperation of this group, I didn’t trust that knocking Zaph away would truly save her life. The zealots would each leap at an opportunity to slice into her and deliver a killing blow.

“You realize if I choose my mate, and these fifty thousand males die, I will raise them all and slaughter you anyway?” I forced a condescending laugh.

Zaph offered me one in return. “I am not that stupid.” With his free hand, he produced two silver stakes from his pocket and waved them around. Cackles rose from the Angels around him. “Once you agree to the bargain, I will force you to your knees and hammer these through your hands.”

He yanked Assyria flush against his chest as if he were anticipating my immediate retaliation for the addition to his bargain. Yet instead of fury, calm acceptance settled across my shoulders.

Kiira’s vision would come to pass; Zaph’s time to die wasn’t today.

But he would die. Slowly. Painfully. I’d carve my name and Assyria’s into his flesh before I peeled it from his bones. Then, I’d snatch those out too, one by one, until he was as spineless as he had always acted. His heart would give out long before I stopped slaking my thirst for blood on his body.

Assyria’s burgundy eyes met mine, shining and sad.“I know how much these soldiers mean to you, Rokath. How much they mean to the safety of all the Demons. You never wanted me to begin with. You only tolerated me because I wore you down. You can recover and fight soon enough after they kill me. Just please get it over with. And if you can, make it quick. Burn my body so I can be with my sister in another life. Find love in another life.”

The sorrow and defeat in her voice ripped my soul in two. What she didn’t know, because I’d been unable to tell her, was that the moment I realized she was missing was the moment I realized exactly how much I wanted her. Needed her. Craved her. Loved her. How I felt when I tried to tell her before was nothing compared to the depth of my devotion to her now.

“I will not let you die,” I growled in her mind.

“I’m not worth fifty thousand males, Rokath. I know how much is at stake.”

Those words gutted me.

“Little imposter, you are worth a hundred thousand, a million, lives to me. There is no number big enough for me to trade for your life. You are mine, to claim, to hold, to protect. To love. Because, Assyria, I fucking love you. Love that you smell like a garden even after days without bathing. Love how you care for Grem and Zeec. Love the way you scream my name, my real name, as you shatter. Love how you push back on my horseshit, burn me with all the fire you have to offer. I should have been better to you before. Should have been good to you all along. Because you deserve it. The Fates knew what they were doing when they brought us together. You are perfect for me in every way. I’m sorry I didn’t force you to listen to me when I wanted to tell you before.”

Tears cascaded down her cheeks, and her lower lip trembled.

“I want you. I need you. I love you. You will not die today.”

A storm of emotions swept through her and down our bond. She believed she was cursed by the Reaper to have everyone she loved killed in some way. So when she said those four words I’d been dying to hear, they struck me like a bolt of lightning. “I love you too, Rokath.”

These fifty thousand males had fought well, and I knew there was no way to save them both. I’d done everything I could to wind Zaph up in hopes he’d make a mistake. Ten years was a long time to think a plan like this through, and he had, in fact, thought of everything. That understanding didn’t slake the guilt settling in my gut.

Swallowing down all the emotion that had worked its way up my throat, I said, “I choose her.”

An audible gasp ripped from the throats of the Parancsok. Zaph cackled like he’d been suddenly named Zahal of the Angel army. “The deal is done. Step forward, Halálhívó.”

I didn’t look at my officers as I left them. I couldn’t, not when I needed to ensure our victory came to pass. I had to trust Kiira’s vision; I had to trust the Weaver’s path. Besides Assyria, it was all I had left.

The Angels jumped them immediately, pinning them to the ground while I ascended the stage. Zaph threw Assyria away, and I wanted to leap out and catch her, but two Angels snatched her before I could. They held knives to her before I could blink.

As chaos unfolding behind me, I knelt at the feet of Zaph, the fucking insect continuing to buzz around my life, and flattened my palms on the wood. Glee shone in his eyes as he bent down, the first stake poised over the tendons in my hand. I gritted my teeth and braced for the pain, trying to shove up a barrier around my mind to save Assyria from it.

“Don’t you fucking dare,” she snapped in my mind. “Look at me.”

I lifted my head, our gazes colliding with the force of an earthquake.

“We’re in this together. Let me share the pain,” she pleaded, a line forming between her brows.

Her words speared straight to a soft part of me that I’d hidden so deep I wasn’t sure it would ever see the light again. “You have no idea what that means to me.”

“After this is over, you’ll tell me,” she said, conviction threading her tone.

Agony ripped up my arm as the stake drove into my hand. I clenched my jaw, refusing to show him a single flicker of change in my being. Zaph sniggered, then pinned the other one without so much as letting me suck in another breath. The shadow swirling in my chest leeched of color and halted all their movement.

Still, I kept my attention on Assyria’s devious burgundy eyes. I could endure this for her.

I’d do anything for her.

Including giving up what I’d worked so hard to build.

The screams started then as the Angels moved on the Demons. Zaph hadn’t even given me the decency of watching my brave soldiers die for my decision. It was the least I could do.

“I will watch for you,” Assyria said, and then, I was looking through her eyes.