by Linsey Hall
Closer up, I realized it wasn’t her. Not the queen. Another.
Where was she? This one had to be protecting her. I raced closer.
Three Unseelie leapt out from behind a rock, joining the first. All four had eyes glowing with manic light. At least two of them looked to be enchanted, while the others might’ve been acting of their own accord.
The difficulty of figuring out who was on her side and who wasn’t made frustration devour me. I hated that I might hurt one who was unwilling, but so many more would die if I didn’t stop her.
I hated difficult decisions.
I charged, stashing my sword in the ether and calling on my bow and arrow. It was in my hands when the first pain hit.
I doubled over, feeling like I’d been stabbed in the stomach by the queen’s magic. Gasping, I tried to straighten.
“Mari!” Tarron’s worried voice penetrated the haze of pain.
“I’m fine!” The words tore from me. “Keep going!”
Finally, I managed to force myself to stand, a nearly overwhelming compulsion to join the queen surging through me.
No.
I straightened and raised my bow, focusing so hard on the weapon that it became my world. It had to be my world right now.
I aimed at the Unseelie who was farthest away and sent an arrow right through his neck. Tarron was slicing the head off another, and Aeri had crushed a skull with her mace. Wally and Burn tag teamed the fourth one, claws and fangs flying.
Where was she?
Panic raced through me.
This was the final showdown.
It had to be. I couldn’t let her make it to the Seelie realm—not with the flame.
Screw it.
I called upon my wings and took to the sky. I needed the higher vantage point to find her. Fast. The heat singed my skin.
“From the left, Mari!” Aeri shrieked.
I didn’t hesitate or even look—I just darted to the right as fast as I could, skin and wings burning from the proximity to the clouds. I was so close that it felt like I was actually on fire.
I prayed I wasn’t.
Tarron would hit me with a jet of water if I was, right? I had to be fine. Though fine was really relative in these circumstances.
I darted through the air, avoiding the flaming clouds and trying to spot the queen through the haze of heat.
Finally, I saw her. Regal and elegant in her sleek black dress with an updo that was horribly perfect, she was standing in front of a huge jet of flame that shot from deep within the earth. She held a crystal ball in her hands, directing it toward the flame. The crystal pulsed, absorbing the fire from the mountain.
Shit.
I dived for her, wind tearing at my hair as I pushed myself to the breaking point. The ground rose up to meet me at a horrifying pace. I was an airplane about to crash.
I slammed into the queen, sending her flying backward. The flaming globe flew out of her hands, rolling away. I tumbled with her, the two of us going head over heels as we bounced over the hard ground.
Her black hair flew around her head, and midnight eyes met mine. She shrieked, her claws going for my face. I ducked, calling a dagger from the ether. I gripped it tight and tried to slam it into her ribs.
At the last minute, my hand stilled.
I thrust it forward, but it wouldn’t move.
She clawed my face, nails raking. Pain and frustration roared within me. I tried to stab her—tried to thrust the blade forward so it would pierce her stomach.
My arm wouldn’t move.
“You can’t hurt me,” she hissed. “My magic prevents it.”
The stupid potion she’d hit me with.
I tried to knee her in the stomach, to see if a weaponless attack would work.
My leg froze.
Shit.
She clawed at my neck. Pain flared. Blood welled. Her strong hand yanked me to her.
“Come with me, daughter.” Her words pulled at me, dragging at the magic within my bones. It was so desperate to obey her. Connor’s charm suppressed it, but I could still feel it trying to roar to the surface.
A slender dagger slammed into her shoulder, appearing out of nowhere and shocking me out of my trance. She shrieked, her eyes going wide.
Someone had nailed her.
I scrambled back.
Tarron or Aeri hadn’t been hit by her damned potion, so their daggers could hit her.
My muscles burned as I fought her grip, trying desperately to get away. I couldn't let her transport out of here with me in her grip, and I definitely didn’t want to get in the way of a killing blow.
“You bitch,” I hissed, and I did not mean it as a compliment this time.
Finally, I managed to break her grasp and crawl away, scrambling over the ground.
In all my life, I’d never hated anything as much as I hated this cowardly retreat. Given the circumstances, it was the only thing I could possibly do, but I wanted to be the one fighting.
I lurched to my feet and spun around, catching sight of Tarron shooting an enormous bolt of fire at the queen.
She yanked the dagger out of her shoulder and threw it aside, then thrust out her hand and diverted the fireball right at Tarron.
He lunged away, taking a hit to his wing but staying on his feet.
Shit.
So that’s where I’d got that power. My ability to absorb and redirect magic had come directly from her, just like my sense of premonition.
Yet she used it differently.
I needed to learn to do that. My powers were still settling into me. Still morphing. I’d delight in finding a way to use them against her.
Aeri threw another dagger and hit her in the chest. The queen staggered, gasping. Her enraged eyes met Aeri’s, and she thrust out her hand.
“No!” I screamed, not knowing what she was going to throw at Aeri.
I lunged in between them, taking the hit straight on. I barely had time to brace myself. The magic crashed into me, a sonic boom that made my insides shake. I directed it back at her. The magic plowed through the air, slamming into her chest and throwing her backward.
She landed right next to the glowing ball of Eternal Flame.
Through bleary eyes, I saw her grab it. She still hadn’t removed the dagger from her chest, but her eyes were bright with energy and life.
Aeri’s blow had not been a killing one.
I dragged myself to my feet, trying to stagger toward her. To stop her.
But she disappeared, the orange ball of fire clutched in her hand.
No.
I dropped to my knees, pain and horror overtaking me.
15
I knelt on the hard stone, flames blazing around me as I processed what had just happened.
“She got the Eternal Fire.” The words whispered were so quiet I could barely hear them.
I looked up, a huge empty space opening inside my chest.
Aeri ran toward me from a distance, but Tarron was closer. Standing right near me. He strode toward me, his brow set.
Terror like I’d never known gripped me. It felt like I was on trial with the punishment to be immediately served after—and I’d just been sentenced to death.
But it wasn’t my death.
It was Tarron’s.
I staggered upright. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s not done yet.” His firm tone—so confident and sure—buoyed me slightly in the horror of what could come to pass.
I sucked in a deep breath.
Freaking out wasn’t my style.
Being crippled by fear wasn’t my style.
Extenuating circumstances or not, I just wasn’t here for this. That wasn’t me.
Another steady breath returned half of my brain. Or at least, that’s what it felt like. I stared at Tarron, thoughts racing through my mind. Plans.
We had to kill her with the blade. It was the only way. Her death would serve just as well.
No. It wouldn’t. When the blade released it
s massive burst of energy, it would kill the nearest Fae royal.
Him.
No matter what, if this blade were used, he and the Unseelie queen would die. They were two halves of a whole—Seelie and Unseelie. The royals from both sides.
Not an option.
“We have to get to your realm. Kill her before she releases the fire,” I said.
He nodded sharply. “I’ll alert the Court Guard.”
I turned and ran toward the blade that the queen had thrown to the side. When I bent to pick it up, I spotted the telltale sign of black Unseelie blood.
“Got you, you bitch.” A dark smile crept across my face as I grabbed it.
“Her blood?” Aeri asked.
“Yeah. I’ll get the antidote, then I’ll be able to attack her.” I wanted to be the one who took her out.
“What is Tarron doing?” Aeri frowned at him behind me.
I turned, spotting him leaning over one of the blasts of Eternal Flame, holding his dagger into the fire.
I stalked toward him. “What are you doing?”
“Preparing.”
“For your death?” Fear and rage collided within me. Both feelings so frantic, so amorphous, that I couldn’t control them.
“Or hers.”
My heart tore in two. “It’s both of yours. If one Fae royal is killed with this, the other one dies. Two halves of the coin—Seelie and Unseelie.”
“I know.” His voice was calm. Not afraid. Not stressed. Not angry.
My lips thinned as I growled at him. I didn’t even want to think that it was a possibility.
And yet he was preparing for it.
“Let’s go.” He shook the dagger a bit to try to cool it. “We need to get to P & P.”
I nodded, hoping that Connor would have the potion ready to go. We had almost no time to spare, but with the queen injured, there would hopefully be just enough to get me the antidote so I could actually be part of the fight instead of a bystander.
Not only did I want to be the one to take her out…I had a feeling that I would have to be. There was something about our magic, about our bond. It would have to be me.
Aeri joined Tarron and me.
He pulled a transport charm from his pocket and looked at us. “Ready?”
I nodded, resolute.
He tossed the charm to the ground, and a silver cloud exploded upward. He gripped my hand, and we stepped in. The ether sucked me in, spinning in a whirlwind.
A moment later, we stepped out on the sidewalk in front of P & P. It was midday now, and finally, it hit me exactly how tired I was. The pep-up potion was starting to wear off, and I was almost woozy from exhaustion. The temperature change had to have something to do with it. It’d been hot as blazes at Mount Chimaera, and it was far cooler here.
I stepped toward the door, entering a scene of chaos inside P & P. Paper bags sat on every surface, and the air was thick with the savory scent of pasties. Connor bustled around, filling bags with pasties fresh from a tray, while Claire piled the bags into big boxes. She was dressed in her all-black fight wear with her hair pulled back, and she was moving as fast as a sprite.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
Connor looked up. “Packing for the fighters.”
“The ones in my realm?” Tarron asked.
“The same. With a battle about to start, there isn't exactly a ton of time for food prep in the Seelie Court.”
“True enough, but how did you know the battle would happen?”
Connor shrugged, his black shirt covered in flour. “Didn’t. But it can’t help to be prepared.”
“Not to mention that prep work for the battle has exhausted everyone,” Claire said. “They’ll need to eat whether we’re fighting or not.” Her brows dropped. “Hang on a second… Is the battle going to happen? Do you have confirmation?”
“I’m afraid so,” Tarron said. “I’ve already alerted the Court Guard. They’re moving the infirm, young, and elderly to the sky platform.”
I turned to him. “Sky platform?”
“It’s a huge platform high in the sky, enchanted with fairy lights to float over the town. It was the best way to get the non-fighters away from anything that could burn.”
“You’ve been busy.” Respect swelled within me. He’d only been out of my sight for a few minutes here and there, yet he had somehow managed to get that done? He’d delegated it, but still… I was impressed.
“It won’t work forever. The fire will devour the whole realm—the platform, too, if we let it burn long enough. But it will buy us time.”
Aeri looked up from where she’d started filling boxes. “Better to lose buildings than people.”
“Hopefully we won’t lose either,” Tarron said.
I could tell from his tone that he didn’t really believe that. We’d tried repeatedly to stop the queen, and she’d been faster and stronger than us each time.
Shaking away the negative thoughts, I turned to Connor and held out the bloody sword. “I have her blood. Is there any chance that potion is ready? I can’t hurt her as long as I’m under its influences.”
Connor’s eyes brightened. “Yes. I just have to mix it in with the one you already took.”
I handed over the blade, and he disappeared into the back of the shop. Tension tightened my muscles as I helped Claire pack up the rest of the boxes. Tarron pitched in, too, and it was done in no time.
Connor joined us a few moments later, a small vial in his hand. My eyes went immediately to it, and I reached out. He handed it over.
“Thank you so much.” I swigged it back as he nodded, shuddering at the disgusting taste of sour rot.
Drinking the queen’s blood—even a little bit—made me want to gag.
No choice though.
I finished it and looked up. “Well, that was disgusting.”
“Do you feel any better?” Tarron asked.
I tilted my head, trying to decide. Then I doubled over in pain, the potion finally getting to me. Gasping, I went to my knees. Tarron knelt beside me, concern creasing his face as he helped support me, his strong arms around my shoulders and waist.
“What’s wrong?” he demanded of Connor, concern thick in his voice.
“The poison is leaving her body.”
“Will it be over soon?” Tarron asked.
Through the buzzing in my head, I heard Connor answer, “It should be.”
The pain faded a moment later. My skin felt clammy, and I looked down at my hand. It was covered in tiny pinpricks of black that had seeped out of my pores.
“Ew.”
“You can get cleaned up in the bathroom,” Connor said. “There are some towels under the sink.”
Shakily, I rose with Tarron’s help. I did feel better, despite the weakness. It was as if an extra weight had been removed from my shoulders. Her influence was gone.
“I’ll be quick.”
Tarron followed me to the bathroom, conjuring clothes along the way. He handed them to me.
“Thank you.” I took the bundle of clothes, then disappeared inside the bathroom. “It’s like having a walking closet with you.”
“Any time.”
Quick as I could, I stripped out of my dirty clothes and shoved them in the waste bin, then retrieved a towel from under the sink and dampened it. I wiped myself off as best I could, removing the poison from my skin. I’d kill for a shower, but there was definitely no time.
Finished, I tossed the towel in the bin, then pulled out the trash bag and tied it up so no one would come in contact with the poison that had leached out of me. It was probably inert by now, but still… I wouldn’t wish the queen’s influence on my worst enemy.
I dressed in the clothes and boots Tarron had conjured—identical to all my other ones, thank fates—and returned to the people waiting in the bar.
“Ready to go?” Tarron asked.
“Ready.”
“First, another pep-up potion.” Connor held up three little vials. “How ma
ny have you had recently?”
“Two.”
He nodded. “Three should be fine. But no more.”
“Thank you.” I took the magical equivalent of an energy drink from him and swigged it back.
Strength surged through my muscles and alertness through my mind. Tarron and Aeri looked healthier as well.
Two Seelie Fae walked into the shop, their skin luminous and their pale hair pulled back into braids that would be perfect for fighting. Each wore leather armor and slinky chain mail that gleamed in the light.
“That’s our ride,” Claire said.
Connor hurried behind the counter and grabbed his potions sack.
“You’re coming, too?” I asked.
“Wouldn’t dream of missing the fight.”
“You could burn to death in a fiery blaze of Eternal Fire, you know.”
He just shrugged. “If it’s my time, it’s my time. Wouldn’t miss a fight when a friend needs me.”
My eyes prickled hotly, and I turned, managing to croak out a quick, “Thanks.”
If I survived this, I owed all my friends. Big time.
Though I had a feeling they wouldn’t accept it. It wasn’t really a payback situation. They did it because they wanted to, and no other reason.
The Fae picked up the boxes of food, and Connor and Claire followed them from the house.
“Let’s go.” Tarron reached for my hand, then for Aeri’s.
We each gripped his hand, and he transported us to the Seelie realm using his specific brand of transportation magic. The three of us spun through space, and the ether spit us out at the edge of town, right underneath an enormous floating platform.
I looked up, craning my neck. “Whoa.”
Millions of fairy lights glittered beneath the platform, gleaming bright and golden. Somehow they managed to support it a hundred feet above the ground.
“Mordaca! You’re here!” Cass’s voice sounded from the right.
I turned to see her loping toward me, Del and Nix at her side. A few yards behind them, Aiden, Roarke, and Ares stood. They were the Origin, the Warden of the Underworld, and Vampire royalty, in that order. Each was hooked up with one of the FireSouls, and even they had come to fight.
“So this thing is going down, huh?” Cass said as she stopped in front of me.