by JL Madore
He groaned as projectiles pelted his flesh, but straightened. “Is this truly the woman you’ve become? A vengeful brat who throws a tantrum and abuses her position when things don’t go her way?”
“My position? Do you mean as a Fate? No, you had that stripped from me. As a member of Fae Royalty? As a daughter? No, you took that too. What position do you mean, Dane?”
He wiped the blood from his nose and smiled. “You don’t want to play rough with me, little girl.”
“Who said she’s playing, asshole?” Kobi said, sauntering around the corner like he owned the place. “Hey, Lacy. What you doin’ up there, sexy girl?”
I released my hold on wind and lowered my feet to the ground. When I landed, I leaned my cheek over for him to kiss. “Just waiting for my white knights to arrive. What took you guys so long?”
Aust joined us, his chest raw with the welt of a magical burn. “Apologies, sweeting. It seems Haven is under siege.”
I nodded. “Right. And it’s time we take one of the key players off the board.”
Dane laughed. “I take it you mean me?”
“You bet your lying, whoring, double-crossing, deadbeat dad ass she does.” Kobi glanced at me and shrugged. “Too much, baby?”
I shook my head. “Nah. Just right.”
Dane rolled his eyes. “Are you two done?”
“Almost. Where was I on my mother’s injuries?” I raised my fingers as I counted them off. “Taking her choice. Physical assault. Oh, and number three, using brute force to extract her powers from her.”
“And what does that mean?”
“It means, I’ve been thinking. Castian said my mother’s powers were different but equivalent to his. He has more power than you, soooo by extension, with my mother’s powers added to my own, I should be more powerful than you, right?”
“Brains and beauty,” Kobi said.
Reign and Samuel jogged into the mix.
“Got yer back, Zo,” Samuel said, holding out a strange silver disc. “If yer able, drain his power and deposit it in this. Castian and I spelled a few of these as vessels, just in case.”
Dane frowned. Without his power to dematerialize, his cave hideaway suddenly became more like a dead end than an evil lair. “Bullshit. I’m a fucking Original.”
Reign smiled, his knuckles popping as he clenched his fists. “In five minutes, all you’ll be is a bleeding asshole.”
Dane’s attack came fast and hard.
Samuel blocked the energy surge and held the silver vessel in the palm of his free hand. “Have at it. See what yer made of.”
Lia appointed Tham to lead one group of undead warriors and Cameron the other. She failed to realize how many displaced souls the Scourge had left within the Realm of the Fair. Never had she imagined her elven brother would return with hundreds of reinforcements—but he had. The clearing was filled and vibrating with anticipation. Verily, this was their opportunity to exact revenge and find some measure of peace.
“Be of care, friends,” she said, as they readied to disperse.
A large barbarian with a battle-ax chuckled. “What’s the worst they can do, kill us? Too late for that.”
A wave of male agreement rolled across the group.
“Then go with my thanks,” she said, waving as they headed off. “The Scourge has long been the end of too many good people. It is past time for their end.”
“You okay, Lacy? Kobi asked, unscrewing the metal top and handing me his flask. He and Aust had escorted me out of Dane’s camp after we’d removed my father’s powers. Samuel left to rejoin the fight, and Reign remained behind with Dane for a little one-on-one justice.
I took a quick sip and smiled as I swallowed. “Your flask is filled with fruit punch?”
He winked and lifted a finger to his black lips. “Kool-Aid, actually. Mika makes it for the cubs, and I’m addicted. Don’t tell though. I have an image of being an edgy, dangerous guy to uphold.”
He helped me over a fallen log and pointed to the pathway ahead. Faolan jogged along beside us, Paladin jumping and nipping at her ears.
“Back to my question,” Kobi said. “How you doin’?”
I drank more and then handed it back. “I’m fine. A little drained but fine.”
“You did the right thing, neelan,” Aust said, squeezing my arm. “Those who wield their strength to harm others abuse the privilege of possessing powers.”
“I know. It still makes me sad—”
The crack of a tree splitting had the three of us ducking for cover. Samuel groaned and slid down the trunk into the brush. He sat up, rolled onto his knees, and signaled to Nash that he was all right. The native apprentice continued the magical battle. And while Abaddon fought the two wizards on the magical front, Savage went at him hard with his fists.
“He’s too powerful,” Samuel sputtered. “He’s absorbed the power of so many souls, he’s unstoppable.”
“Catch your breath,” I said, arms raised as I jogged over to join Nash.
Savage took a massive hit and tumbled end over end. His mind exploded with a bombardment of violent emotion. Images and flashes, a life remembered in a split second. Twins. Born with the gift of persuasion. Inseparable until one betrayed the other, mutilated him, brutalized him, and sold him into slavery.
I stared at Abaddon. “You are a monster.”
Savage struggled for breath on the ground. Beneath the tattoos, the scars, and the leather, I searched for the young man from the past. The man who glared back at me was nothing but the merciless warrior he’d become.
“You brutalized him for power?”
Abaddon laughed. “I needed it to discover the identity of the man who seduced our mother, who gave us this gift. I wanted to know if there were more abilities and power to be had.”
Savage struggled up to one knee, regaining his strength. He stumbled back to the ground and cursed in my mind. He’s distracting you. Fight him.
I wasn’t distracted. The images of my father in his memories shocked me, true, but also brought things into perfect clarity. “So, Dane finally got the sons he’d always wanted.”
“Son,” Abaddon corrected. “Our boy Savage, didn’t want anything to do with a father who left us to rot. So, I didn’t think he deserved the gifts the man gave us.”
Savage straightened. He’s no father of mine.
“Or mine,” I said, coming to terms with the words, even as they hung in the air. “The two of you deserve each other.”
Reaching out with my mind, I found Paladin’s energy. Hell Hounds consumed malevolent souls, and Abaddon possessed more malevolent souls inside him than anyone in all the realms.
He’s all yours, pup. Eat your fill.
Paladin’s head canted to the side. Black velvet ears cocked a moment before he barreled down the path. On a run, the Hell Hound’s fur-covered body exploded in height and mass.
On my count, I said into the minds of the Talon warriors, drop your attack on Abaddon in three, two, one.
Nash, Samuel, Savage, and I all stopped our strike of force as Paladin took Abaddon to the forest floor. The size of a small horse, he was as intimidating and fierce as his mother had been when we faced her. And there had been three of us.
I gagged as the hound tore Abaddon to shreds. Chunks of soulless sorcerer landed in heavy, wet heaps among the trees. The foul stench of rot contaminated the air and clung to the back of my throat.
Savage stared at the carnage as if he could hardly believe what he was seeing. I suppose if I were him, I’d be in shock too. It’s tough when you dedicated yourself to one purpose for a lifetime, and then it’s suddenly gone.
In a strange twist of fate, I’d lost one brother and gained another in the same moment.
Lia stared out at the field of battle. In every direction, Scourge Raiders were crumbling to the ground in rotting heaps. Her army of the dead straightened, looking confused. “Why are they dropping over?”
“Abaddon is dead, Luv,” Samuel said.
He nodded. “Aye, Luv, I watched him die myself. He’ll not bother ye again, I swear it.”
“And the raiders?”
“Abaddon held the dark contract of their lives. Without him, there’s nothing to keep them alive.”
That reality would take time to process. “And Rheagan?”
“Not sure. The others are converging on the battle between her and Castian. We’ll know soon enough where we stand on that front.” Her husband took her in his arms and smiled. “Kiss me like ye missed me, mo chridhe.”
Samuel looked tired and smelled of sweat and blood, but she had never been more content in her life.
Abaddon was dead.
Lexi took the stairs two at a time up to Jade’s suite and burst in without knocking. “Chiron told me Jade collapsed and was bleeding. What happened? Where is she?”
Rowan caught her as she raced across the sitting room and staggered back. “Slow down, Trouble.”
She gripped him by the elbows and ass-planted him on the chair. “What’s wrong, Doc?”
He looked terrible—like he’d just been hit head-on by a Mack truck. “Nothing. Just got zapped by your sister during delivery. I’ll be fine.”
“Delivery? It’s too early.”
“Too late now. We’ve got two healthy babies and one mother who healed herself back to normal. She’s in the shower, getting cleaned up. All is well.”
She looked at the two incubators glowing gold against the wall. All is well? She exhaled a heavy breath. Jade’s pregnancy had been a nightmare since the beginning but they’d all made it through. “Aww, they both have Jade’s red hair. Oh, and look at their cute little ears.”
Galan came out of the bathroom. He looked as battle-worn as any of the warriors on the Haven grounds.
“What’s up, Highborne? You look like someone nailed you in the gem-pouch. S’all good, right? Boy. Girl. Mom.”
Galan nodded and swept the burgundy mating braid behind his pointed ear. “I just told Jade the truth about the hawk and Rheagan taking possession of her mother’s body.”
She sighed. “I guess with the pregnancy over, there was no avoiding it. How’d she take it?”
“Too well.” Galan stepped over to the little boy, bundled up and starting to fuss. “She nodded and thanked me for letting her know, then asked to be left to finish cleaning up.”
That didn’t sound like Jade. “I’ll go check on her.”
Leaving the hubbies to take care of the young, she slipped into Jade’s marble mausoleum of a personal spa. “Hey Blaze, you decent?”
Nothing came back except the echo of her own voice.
After checking the shower, the walk-in closets, and the entire bathroom, she eyed the open window.
Yep. That’s more like her sister.
“And I know exactly where you’ve gone, girlfriend.”
Kobi, Aust, and I found Castian battling Rheagan, and two dozen Aina Ohtar warriors in the clearing beyond the marketplace. Unlike human fights, a battle between immortals could go on for days, or even weeks. The entire two-hundred-foot area glowed silver against the darkness of night. An iridescent sheen radiated off a privacy dome erected to keep the two of them and their destruction in, and everyone else out. Smart man.
“Can you hotwire us an entrance?” Jade asked, Flashing in beside me. “I’d like to weigh in on this.”
I eyed my cousin, fresh from the shower and looking tired. “Weren’t you pregnant two hours ago?”
“Babies born. Powers unbound. Raring to go. There, you’re all caught up.”
“Shit, Blaze,” Kobi said, eyeing her up and down. “You look damn good for just dropping two kidlets. Shouldn’t you be home so that they can suck on your boob or something?”
I punched him in the gut. “Don’t be an ass.”
Jade waved his words away. “Back to getting us inside the dome. Can you?”
Lexi Flashed in beside us. “Hey, guys. What did I miss?”
“We were discussing Jade’s breasts,” Kobi answered.
Lexi rolled her eyes and checked out the battle in progress. “Twenty against one is rude. Zo, get us inside this giant bubble to even the odds. Rheagan and I have unfinished business.”
Jade frowned. “That’s my mom’s body. You can’t kill her.”
“And she cannot be allowed to escape,” Aust said. “Castian has contained her with deliberate purpose.”
My mind spun with the random, rapid chatter of my Haven family. I thought about the issue at hand. “I’m sure I can open a small door, but Aust’s right, we’ll have to be quick. Kobi, you go in first in your demon mist. Block any attempt she makes for the opening. The rest of you, be ready. And keep Paladin out. I don’t want him attacking Aunt Abbey.”
Kobi nodded and dissolved into a swirl of black mist.
I touched the wall of the dome and let the energy tingle up my arm. My uncle’s power was like my mother’s but powerful in different ways. I matched his energy signature and created our opening. A heartbeat later, we were inside.
Castian cursed as we breached the dome. It echoed in my head at the same time it boomed in the air all around us.
“Close the door, Zo,” Lexi said.
“I’m trying.” I worked feverishly, trying to reseal the seam.
“Heads up,” Jade said, pushing further into the dome. “She knows there’s an out, and she’s coming.”
Kobi swooped away and assumed the form of his demon dragon. Catching Rheagan mid-air, he flew her up toward the concave peak.
Rheagan stiffened, arms raised. In a voice nothing like my aunt’s, she started spellcasting, emitting a dark field of magic.
Work fast, Lacy. This is . . . unpleasant.
Chaos broke out around me, and I focused on the rift.
“Let me be of aid.” Aust linked our fingers and squeezed my trembling hand. “Allow Shalana’s powers to unite.”
Aust’s calming strength and the uniting of my mother’s power was all I needed. The seam sealed before my eyes and the dome was once again whole. “Done. Put her down, Kobi.”
But he didn’t.
The dragon’s path in the air became erratic as his head thrashed back and forth. “What’s happening?” I said, heart pounding. “What’s she doing to him?”
“Nothing pleasant,” Lexi said. “How do we stop her?”
“I’ll get Kobi away from her.” I retrieved the metal disc Samuel had given me for Rheagan and raced across the clearing to my uncle.
“Here,” I said, shoving the enchanted amulet into his hand. “While she’s distracted, drain her powers and trap her in this.”
Castian threw out his arm to stop me, but my feet were already ten feet off the ground. Wind swirled beneath me like a cyclone, and I pushed myself up and up farther still. Kobi’s shrill wail tore at my insides. For a moment, I considered whether his life was worth saving Abbey’s body.
Kobi was tough. He’d proven that more than once.
I didn’t have any rescue plan in mind as I catapulted myself straight at the mid-air struggle. I collided unseen and gripped Rheagan around the waist. Yanking her away from my demon love, I directed us across the clearing so Castian could get a clear shot at his sister.
Tumbling through empty air, we plummeted before wind buffeted our descent. The hours of battling Castian had likely weakened her, but she was in no way weak.
Dark magic edged inside me like a toxic wave. “You must be Shalana’s daughter,” she said, grabbing a fistful of my hair and yanking my head back. “You have her powers. It seems your father underestimated you.”
I grunted, resisting the intrusion of evil burning my skin. “And overestimated you.”
Zo, Castian said into my mind. You need to get away from her. I won’t risk the spell draining your powers too.
Easier said than done.
I pushed on her chin, forcing distance between us. My controll
ed descent was less controlled than I hoped. Rheagan’s dark energy soured in my stomach, and though I could defend myself with physical force and magical abilities, I didn’t want to hurt Abbey’s body.
She’s immortal, Castian said. Get away from her.
Rheagan uttered something unintelligible, and I was blown backward like I’d been electrocuted. The thud of my head to the wall of the dome sent black spots into my vision.
Aust was there in a heartbeat to help me up. “Are you well, neelan?”
“Well enough,” I said, straightening and forcing my legs to hold me.
“Watch out.” Aust grabbed me and rolled, shielding me from a bolt of flame as we dropped to the grassy battleground.
I blinked up at my cousin. She and Lexi were completely letting loose on Rheagan’s warrior followers. “Jade’s on fire.”
“Literally and metaphorically,” Aust said.
He helped me up a second time, and we jogged over to help Castian. My uncle looked ill and worn.
“This is taking too long,” I said, raising my palms and calling on my mother’s strength.
“As with Dane, so it shall be—” Aust staggered, hitting the ground with one knee.
Locked in with Castian’s fight, I pushed harder and doubled my efforts. Draining Rheagan would stop Aust’s suffering. “Hang in there. It’s almost over.”
Aust twisted on the ground, and a moment later, a massive ghost tiger stood in his place. The piercing, ice-blue eyes of the beast were Aust’s without a doubt. I reached out with my newfound gift and felt his suffering.
He wasn’t a Fae immortal. Rheagan’s attack was painful and disorienting for him. She was twisting his thoughts, making Castian and I the enemy. He dropped his broad, striped head, and bared his canines.
The growl that tore from his throat sent a chill up my spine.
“Easy, Highborne. You don’t want to hurt us. Castian and I are your friends.”
“Don’t trust him,” Castian said beside me. “He’s not Aust right now, Zo. She’s got control of him.”