CHAPTER TWO HUNDRED AND THIRTY-THREE

{Dominic}

My body braced for the inevitable, but instead of searing pain, I was swallowed in a sudden cocoon of light. A shimmering dome bloomed around me, and the sphere struck it with a thunderclap, exploding into shards of raw darkness.

The force rattled my bones, but when the smoke cleared, I was still standing. My vision swam for a bit before finally steadying, and I noticed them beside me.

Lyra, her hands still glowed faintly, and her chest was rising with labored breaths. Grimhold stood beside her in his towering frame, with Kael at his flank.

The dome vanished as quickly as it appeared, and my knees trembled from relief and rage all at once.

Grimhold smirked down at me, his golden eyes glinting. “What’s this, Dominic? Letting me come all the way over here just to see you on your knees, bleeding like a stuck boar?”

A dry laugh scraped my throat, but it turned into a cough halfway out. Blood filled my mouth. I staggered, choking it back, and dropped hard onto one knee.

Lyra gasp