I snatched a broken seashell from the shallow waves then cut it into my palm, wincing as I did. Blood dripped into the water, and I chanted the spell that Lyr had taught me.
They’d be here, soon. The Knights of Acre would call every knight from every court, every institute, to fight them.
At least, I freaking hoped so.
While I waited for Lyr and his knights to arrive, I waded back into the water, then dipped my head under the surface. I closed my eyes, my spirit melding with the ocean.
When I exhaled, it radiated out from my body in crystalline streams, cooling the water. With my rising desperation, this burst of magic felt more intense, streaming down to the crevasse. As I stepped out of the water, I saw shimmering ice rippling out from my body. Icy rain fell from the air, cooling the island, and frost formed on the rocks. A few chunks of ice floated in the waves.
“Aenor.” Lyr’s voice boomed behind me, and I whirled.
Right after that burst of ice magic was a hell of a time for him to arrive. It would look a lot like what he’d been afraid of this whole time.
And yet… he had no binding collar with him.
He stared at me, shadows darkening the air around him. A portal yawned open behind him, and the other knights began crawling from it.
“What are you doing?” His voice was cold as the rain.
My fingers twitched, my magic humming over my body. “They’re here. The Fomorians. They’re real. Salem set them free when he saved his sister, and they’re going to burn the world down. I need your help to kill them. We need every knight you can summon.”
I stared as Melisande crept from the portal, her orange wings returned to her body. “What the hells is going on?”
“They’re real. The Fomorians,” I said. “If you don’t believe me, take a look at what’s crawling out from under the waves. You need to summon all the knights. All of them from around the world.”
Lyr narrowed his eyes at me. “You weren’t able to kill Salem.”
Gods, I didn’t have time for disapproval. Anyway… “I wasn’t. So we’ve covered that, and let’s move on.”
His gaze shot over my shoulder, eyes widening. I whirled to see three Fomorians rising from the waves, heads blazing with fire.
When I turned, I saw Lyr unsheathe his sword. He cursed under his breath, and I heard the other knights suck in their breaths.
At least we were all on the same page now.
I looked back at the Fomorians. Only three of them so far, and I could probably take them from here. Seawater gleamed over their gnarled bodies, but it quickly evaporated in the air. The sight of them sent cold shards of rage right through me, and I let my magic build in my chest. It rushed up my spine, and when I flung out my arms, blades of ice shot out from my fingertips. They pierced each one of the monsters in their hearts.
Gwydion took a step closer to me. “Bloody hell.”
I held out my hand in the dry air. “Can you feel it? Can you feel the air heating around us?”
Lyr rushed forward, crashing into the waves, diving under for a moment. When he turned back to us, his eyes had gone black. “I see dozens of them crawling from the crack. Aenor is right. I think we’ll be facing an army of them soon.”
The other knights stood on the rocks, swords ready, eyes alert.
Lyr’s gaze pierced me for a moment, then he rushed from the water, heading back to the portal. He stood over it, his body gleaming with gold, hair whipping around his head as he chanted above it.
That was just like him, wasn’t it? Just starting to do something without explaining what he was doing. But once I heard him chanting a spell and saw the World Key glowing at his neck, I understood he was summoning the other knights.
Hot waves lapped at my feet.
When the next wave of Fomorians emerged from the water, we were ready. We crossed into the heating waters to fight them, their bodies burning as we met them. The setting sun washed us all in crimson light, and blood spilled in the water. I moved in a whirlwind of cold speed, my sword cutting through hot flesh. As I killed them, a hissing sound rose around us, like drops of water on hot rocks.
But even as we fought them, the Fomorians were speaking to us as they rose from the sea. “We are the ancient ones,” they croaked. “The forgotten ones… We are the buried. We will punish you…” And then the words that sent a stab of guilt shooting through my chest: “Salem set us free.”
Salem. The word now was a blade of ice in my heart.
A glance behind me showed me that Lyr was already bringing more knights into the fray, armor gleaming in the hot sun. And around them, the trees and grass were withering, blackening. Already, the island’s grass had browned. Nausea rose in my gut. This had only just begun, and already the life was wilting around us.
Screams curdled my blood, and I whirled, blade ready. Fomorians were starting to burn some of the knights. My mouth went dry, and I drove my icy sword into another attacker.
Salem set us free…
I could have stopped this. My damn soulmate was the one to unleash it.
We are the forgotten ones…
From the corner of my eye, I winced at the sight of Melisande, her wings blazing with flames. She was trying to run into the water to douse them, but another Fomorian gripped her by the hair. Burning Fomorians surrounded her, and she screamed.
Around us, the knights and the ancient fire fae were clashing, bodies burning. The air smelled of seared flesh.
This was a scene from hell.
From Salem’s cave.
I moved farther into the hot salt water, determination sliding through me.
We wouldn’t win this with swords, would we?
I had to go down there, into the hot water. I had to go down to the mouth of the beast and use all my magic to seal it up with ice.
Fighting off the burning Fomorians around me, I rushed deeper into the hot sea.
Then I dove.
The water felt scalding against my body, but I used my magic to try to cool myself down.
Did Salem feel bad, I wondered? Or did he have what he wanted, and he’d moved on? A tumble in the grass with his mate, then he’d moved on to his real destiny.
Icy anger buzzed through my body. I dodged between the Fomorians in the water, heading for the hot crevasse.
My heart had shattered into pieces, and anger spilled through my body like dark ink. At least wrath gave me clarity.
A broken heart left you so cold.
I could use the cold right now.
The chasm was a wide, gaping wound now, like a slash in a pregnant belly. And the Fomorians spilled out of it. Molten heat was ripping open the ocean floor. I fought through the blistering water, heading right for the crevasse. As I swam, I let my magic build in my body, stronger and stronger, until I felt powerful as the divine combustion of a star.
At the bottom, where fire had ripped the seafloor open, I gripped the hot rocks. I felt my fingers burning.
Salem left me here.
I couldn’t even remember if that thought was rational anymore. I only knew that it broke me open and hollowed me out, like an empty oyster shell.
The sea glass glittered on the rocks beneath me, and I swam for it. Snatching it up, I carved it deep into my arm. One more sacrifice to the god of the sea…
My blood spilled through the water.
“God of the rivers and sea, grant me the strength to seal the crack. Grant me the strength to stop the Fomorians.”
In the hollows of my mind, the sea god spoke in a whisper: I’ll need more than blood… The dark waters sucked up the blood greedily, a vortex whirling around me, hungry for more sacrifice.
Alarm bells rang in my mind, but that seemed like a problem for another time.
I gathered all my cold rage and let it build in my chest to a wild pitch, an explosive force of power.
Then, when I felt my body was about to burst at the seams with magic, I flung back my arms. I unleashed the full force of it. The icy power
of the sea exploded out of me, rumbling over the ocean floor in an atomic blast of cold. The vibrations trembled through the rocks, through my bones.
Ice spread out from my body, freezing the Fomorians in place. Their limbs contorted, fingers bent. The flames on their heads snuffed out in the dark water, eyes bulging with horror. Then, one by one, their bodies fractured into tiny pieces of ice.
I loosed a breath, then looked down at the seafloor below me. The fissure filled with gleaming ice. It spread out, sealing the Fomorians in. As it covered the red glow, cold shadows swallowed up the world around me.
In the dark and the cold, I floated.
Above me, the battle raged, but there were no more Fomorians getting out. The knights had to kill only those who’d escaped.
Darkness pooled around me, and I felt a bone-deep chill. I couldn’t leave here, could I? I’d be here for good, keeping the crevasse shut. Through the water, I felt the battle growing quieter. I thought the knights were regaining control now.
My hair wafted around me, and the sea grew quiet. Above me, the sunlight grew dimmer. Salem had left me, and I felt like I was falling through the darkness. It was like someone had distilled the essence of a million lonely Sunday evenings, drowned me with it.
I looked up at the surface of the sea, flickering red with the flames of the Fomorians. It looked like the flames were dying out now, the knights winning the battle.
Thorns twisted around the inside of my chest. This was what I’d done to Shahar, wasn’t it?
All those years ago, Mama had gotten me drunk when it was time to drown Shahar. But she always had a clear head. She always knew exactly what she was doing.
What was so off about me that I couldn’t be trusted? She used to say that I could wither plants with the looks I gave when a temper struck me, and I could poison the mood in a room. I made people nervous.
I never knew if I was supposed to be strong like Mama, or sweet like the lithe, smiling river fae. The pleasant ones who laughed and danced and sang at court.
I just had this gnawing feeling, deep in the hollows of my mind, that I’d never been quite right.
Above the crevasse, I traced my fingertips over the large swath of ice.
With a shock of surprise, I realized I’d felt right with Salem. Maybe because he was more twisted than I was—no judgment from him. And even as he made my heart race, he made my thoughts quiet. At times, he drew my attention so sharply that the chaos calmed. He’d taught me how to channel my magic so it didn’t overwhelm me.
At least, until I’d come at him with the sea glass, and he’d left in the boiling sea.
I stared at the world of ice beneath me.
Wasn’t I enough now? I’d closed the chasm with ice. I’d stopped the attack. I’d fixed it.
So maybe I wasn’t quite right, and maybe I made people nervous, but I got the job done in the end.
I just had to stay here, forever, and everything could be fine.
I looked through the murky water at the empty driftwood cage, its door hanging open like a gaping jaw. As the sound of the Fomorians faded, the only noise was the creaking of the door.
I’d finally gotten the silence I craved. I’d gotten the job done.
But webs of frost spread over my heart.
39
Salem
My wings lifted me into the air above the sea. Gripping Shahar tightly to me, I glanced down at the sea. Shahar was still flailing, shrieking.
But all I could think was—maybe I didn’t care if the world burned. But I cared if Aenor did.
This was supposed to be my moment of victory. I’d saved Shahar, and I was on my way to achieving my destiny. We’d become gods again.
As I left Aenor behind, a jagged ache hollowed out my chest. Whatever came next, I had to believe Aenor would survive. I’d given her the immense sea power back—protection against whatever she faced.
Maybe Lyr didn’t have faith in her powers, but I did.
And yet, as my wings carried us into the air, fear spilled through my blood.
I laid my sister down on an island’s grassy shore. She’d gone limp again, eyes closed. Our gleaming magic twined together, shimmering with silver on the mist.
I should feel whole again, reunited with my twin.
This was my great moment of victory. The first part of my destiny achieved.
This was a moment of jubilation. Red light crawled over the sky, soaking my skin in ruddy rays. The goddess Anat—my mother—heralded my triumph.
Next, we’d ascend to the heavens, Shahar and I. Just as I’d wanted for eons, I’d be leaving this earth for good—this place of torment.
People thought Gehenna was hell. My little fire pit. And, of course, it was. But the truth was that all of this was hell. Here, on the ground, cruelty reigned.
I brushed my sister’s silver hair out of her face. “Shahar.”
Her eyes looked dull as worn rocks.
A flicker of panic sparked in my mind. Was her mind gone for good?
I cupped her face, and her eyes sharpened—pale blue streaked with coral. Those colors had lived in my mind since the dawn of time.
Her silver hair floated around her head like she was still underwater. At last, she focused on me.
My chest unclenched a little. She was here, with me, my twin. She slid one of her hands over mine, staring into my eyes. “Salem.” Her voice cracked.
“It took me a long time to find you. I didn’t know you were still alive.”
Her eyes flicked to the sky, and she stared at the setting sun. That was where we belonged. Away from here.
I only had a few days left—a deadline etched in stone. Would Anat help us rise to the heavens now, or did I still have some task I needed to complete?
“Salem,” she said again, her gaze locked on me, now sharp and keen as the morning star. “What’s wrong with you?”
What was wrong with me? I’d just dredged her up from the bottom of the ocean, screaming and flailing. I’d saved her. I was fine. “What are you talking about? Everything is going according to plan. We’re going to return to the heavens.”
“So what’s wrong with you?” she repeated. “Why do you look like you want to jump off a cliff?”
My sister and I were never ones for small talk. But I would have preferred it right now—a bit of “what have you been doing in the past one hundred years,” or “let me catch you up on my century in the watery sea hell,” or “how about this sun we’re getting?” Instead, she was reading my soul and forcing me to confront it. A habit of hers. And already, my mind was on Aenor. The water lapping at the shore now felt hot, steam curling off it.
What if I’d left my mate to die?
It wasn’t really a thrilling moment of triumph when you felt like your ribs were piercing your heart.
This wasn’t a victory. This was bones scattered over a battlefield, crushed into the dirt. This was falling from the heavens, my soul ripped from my body.
All wrong.
“I have to go, Shahar.” I pulled away from her. “I’ll find you again.”
Shahar’s silver-blue magic beamed around her body now. “Fix whatever it is. I’m going to find my cats.” She spoke to me in the language of the gods, and her voice reverberated in my mind. Hardly a whisper.
Did she realize that all of her cats had died over a hundred years ago? I’d have to catch her up on that later when the sea wasn’t boiling my soulmate alive.
My wings lifted me into the evening sky, and my body cast a shadow over the water as I flew. The sea wind whipped over my body. I flew back to where I had left Aenor, my heart pounding against my ribs like a war drum.
My destiny was in the heavens, the celestial realm. But before I left—I needed Aenor to be safe.
My soul commanded it.
When I swept over the island where I’d left her, I found a battle raging. Smoke curled into the air, some of the knights burning with flames. Lyr was among them, moving in a maelstrom of dark magic. But the
knights seemed to be winning the battle.
One of them threw something at me—a spear. Idiot.
I arced out of the way. The scent of burned flesh curled into the air. A red banner of fear unfurled in me. It smelled like Gehenna.
Now, my blood roared in my ears. Frantically, I searched the battle for signs of Aenor, for her blue hair gleaming among all the rabble. I didn’t see her among them, and dread swept over me like dark smoke.
Had I left her to die?
Over my thundering pulse, I tried to think clearly. I would have felt it. If she’d died, I would have felt the last ember of light go out in my chest. I was sure of it.
In my panic, I’d nearly forgotten the enchantment. I could find her, of course, wherever she went. Fear made people stupid, didn’t it? What a useless emotion.
Swooping through the air, I let my magic boom around me. She’d hear it, wherever she was. She’d know I was coming for her.
In my mind’s eye, I saw her then, trapped beneath the icy water—a tomb of cold. I felt her loneliness carving through me. Then the sharp tug of my bond to her. It was like a cord pulled me to her through the air.
I angled my wings, diving fast for the water. Just before I hit the surface, I let my wings fade away. The velocity of my flight propelled me fast through the cool water.
Her magic skimmed over my skin. She was chilling the waters even now.
It took me a few moments before I saw her beautiful glow, the pearly green and blue that lured me closer. My siren, drawing me in. At the seafloor, she floated by herself just above a large swath of ice.
Her body pulled me closer like the moon pulled the tide.
Her eyes were on me. Not angry, just curious. Her magic beamed around her.
As I reached her, her brow furrowed. “I can’t leave here.”
Her morgen’s voice carried through the water. I had no such skill. I mouthed, “Why?”
“I have to seal the opening to the Fomorian world.” A few bubbles escaped her mouth.
A voice knelled around us, the somber, alien tone of a god. More than blood…
I glanced down at Aenor’s bleeding arm. She’d made a sacrifice, but it wasn’t enough. That was the thing with gods. It was never enough.
Fallen King (Court of the Sea Fae Trilogy Book 2) Page 20