by Jaymin Eve
Nothing to sneeze at, but a little healing would be a nice bonus.
Moving closer to Jacob, I wanted to take his hands, but he had them pressed to the ground. Our bond was still shut off with a solid wall, and I was slowly losing my mind at the loss.
Don't leave me.
I spent a moment begging and smacking against the mental wall between us, needing to be where he was. If he was in pain, I wanted to share it with him. He didn’t have to do this alone.
This helplessness was my worst nightmare
"I have to check on our babies," Jessa said, jerking me from my misery. "Can you keep an eye on Braxton? I don't like him being vulnerable with no one watching his back."
"I'll guard them," Mischa said with force. “Just make sure the kids are okay.”
“Me too,” I added. “With my life.”
Jacob growled at my feet, a legit dragon rumble of sound that rocked the ground.
Ignoring him, I waved Jessa on: "Check your babies. And hopefully we’ll find someone to update us on what’s happening."
She nodded, before she pressed a kiss to Braxton’s brow. He rumbled as well, and I wondered if we were about to have dragon-men instead of supes again. I'd take anything at this point.
After Jessa left, we talked to the nearby townsfolk, but most of them had no idea what was happening.
“The stronger supes are at the barrier,” a witch told me, her dark face streaked with tears. “My mate is there, and I can’t pick up much through our bond.”
“We’ll make sure they’re safe,” I told her. “Best to go home and stay inside.”
She sucked in a deep breath, nodding. Her head hung low as she walked away, and my chest grew tight. I’d better keep my word, no matter what happened. Our people had to stay safe.
When Jessa sprinted back, Mischa went right to her. "Are they okay?" she asked, her hands trembling so hard she had to press them together.
"Perfectly okay," Jessa replied. "They're with both sets of grandparents."
The relief on Mischa’s face was enough to crack the hardest of hearts.
"Did you find out anything?” I asked her, hoping she’d had more luck than us.
Jessa was raging, her eyes almost shimmering in the mid-day light as she took on a wolfy vibe. “It’s as we expected. The president has his elite army and special forces outside our barrier, demanding full control of Stratford, all of our money, and sovereignty over supernaturals."
Grace shook her head. "Humans can't take us on, not even with an army of specially trained soldiers."
Jessa swallowed. "He used stolen power to incapacitate the barrier, which is slowly going to hurt all supernaturals. We’re all connected through our leaders…”
“And Louis,” Tee bit out, still recharging. “His energy is a strong element in the barrier.”
Our eyes turned to the five powerful supes, incapacitated on the ground.
“Once he breaks the barrier,” Louis bit out, surprising us, “he will be able to control the Compasses.”
My head jerked to Jacob, and I gasped at the black streaks racing across his skin, like his veins were filled with poison. "Is it killing them?"
This was why Jacob had cut me off. The pain must be…
I took off.
Fuck. This.
I was not letting that bastard kill my mate. I'd only just found him, and I wanted my damn lifetime of happiness. I was ready. I'd been waiting for twenty plus years to actually be happy.
No one was stopping that dream.
"Justice!"
They were screaming my name, but I didn't care. I drew on the jeweled energy simmering in my veins, and the air around me lit up in a ruby display of power, reminding me of Jacob’s nickname for me.
A silent scream died in my throat.
More of the residents were running in the streets now, and I would have blended in if it wasn't for the red glow around me. The jeweled crown was no doubt back on my head, the one that appeared when my magic was at full force—I was shedding the last of the human version of Justice. The last of that orphaned, beaten, raped, vulnerable human I'd been to become the princess I should have always been.
Supes whispered as I raced faster, everyone wanting to know who I was. Most of them would have seen “Justice” around, but they didn't know this side of me.
When the barrier came into sight, it looked normal, with no evidence on this side that we were under attack. Off to the west was a large gathering of Stratford’s elite, just as the witch had told me.
They weren't connected to the barrier like the Compasses, but they were linked enough to know that bad shit was heading this way, and I admired their bravery in facing it head on.
Reaching through my bond once more to Jacob, I was relieved to find that the wall between us was still there, strong and solid. He was alive and that was all that mattered.
I understood why he'd blocked me out; if the attack on the barrier was hurting … killing them, then his instinct was to save me. What he should have taken into account, though, was that if he died, then so would I, because I wasn’t living through this shitty life without my true mate.
Nope. Refused. Couldn't make me.
It was time to ensure that didn’t happen. Time to put this new power to work.
A dozen or so supes gasped as I slammed into the barrier—fully expecting it to reject me but was too pissed to stop. To my surprise I sailed right through it, coming out the other side to what could only be described as disorder and confusion. Humans were everywhere, dressed in an array of fatigues—most of them camo, with some in black, and a few in blue and red. I was guessing different forces or special units.
Almost as one, they all focused on me … the soul supernatural to emerge from the shielded area. Bullets rained toward me in an instant, and since I was expecting an attack, my ruby shield was in place, deflecting them like they were nothing more than annoying stones.
"Where is President Caine?" I shouted, projecting my voice.
More bullets, and this time I returned fire, using the shield to send them right back into the crowds. Shouts and screams sounded as men and women were hit.
I felt no guilt, just anger. They were attacking me, and I had the right to defend myself.
"I'm giving you to the count of five to produce the president," I called again. "Or I'm going to search for him through all of your corpses."
Silence. No more bullets. No answer.
One … two … three…
Before I got to four, he stepped out in front of his people, thirty yards from where I was.
"Justice," he said, his voice amplified by a microphone. "So nice to see you again. You realize you just broke my treaty by attacking and killing soldiers."
Ignoring him, I let more of my power seep out. I wasn't at full strength, still tapped out from fighting the dragon, but I’d give it all I had. The president clearly hadn’t expected that any of us could face off against him and his stolen power; the attack on the shield to control the leaders was clever, but he’d underestimated the other supernaturals.
He’d underestimated me.
"Your dragon is dead," I told him.
The president laughed. "He served his purpose. I got my talisman." He patted his neck, all proud and peacock-like. "I can hold my own against you creatures, and I can command you."
This was why he was so confident. More than the shield, he had this talisman.
Command us. The repercussions of him being able to control us was too much for my tired brain to truly comprehend. I wasn't even going to try to understand, even if my instincts were telling me that if he touched me, I would lose my free will.
Luckily, he wasn’t going to get close enough to try.
"You will die today," I said without inflection. "You think you understand what you've done, that you've equipped yourself justly for this task, but you’re so wrong."
His expression wavered minutely like I'd hit a nerve, but it was too late for him to back down. T
his entire shit show was his doing, and I was sure he’d promised these people magic and money beyond their wildest dreams.
"Magic always comes with a price, especially dark magic, and you're about to pay yours."
Leaning down, I closed my eyes, sending power through the ground. Bullets crashed into my shield relentlessly, but I had enough strength to keep it from falling, if only for the few minutes it took me to find gems in this world.
They were there, buried deep—gems that were connected to Faerie. Energy filled me with light and power, everything humming as the ley line between the worlds rebuilt strength. In that moment I was connected to it all, two worlds, two sides of my being. Compass and Princess. Fey and human. Warrior and victim. Everything swirled inside as the building blocks of my life settled into place, forming the true being that I was. I’d thought I’d accepted all sides of myself, but I hadn’t quite been there.
Maybe my growth would never stop, but for now I hoped I had enough to do what I needed to ensure the safety of all my people.
I lifted my head, and as I met the president's eyes, I winked. His face fell just before he clutched at the talisman around his neck, scrambling to get it in his hand and use it.
He was too late to stop the blast of ruby magic that came from deep in my newly expanded soul.
Screams rang out, and following that, explosions sounded across the land. Grenades and bullets were useless against the creeping tide of ruby, though. This spell was not one I should know, and yet it was etched into my soul. The spell that stole me from my family all those years ago.
The spell that formed the cities of gems.
Ruby dust, seemingly innocent, was rolling in about two feet above the land. At first it looked like an innocent dust storm, but as it gathered momentum, drawing more of the gems from below, it got thicker and more insidious. A veritable wave of red crashing down on the heads of the humans.
Humans who were about to learn what it felt like to be encased in stone—the president last, so he could watch his people suffer.
When the first tide of red encased a tall soldier whole, to leave behind a solid red statue, the screams grew even louder. President Caine finally figured out his stolen magic, shooting me with his talisman. It actually stung as it sliced through my shield, unlike the bullets, but it wasn’t enough to stop the stones.
The president and I were both wielding ancient energy, as old as the land of Faerie itself, and this would be a test of who was the strongest. Seeing that his magic had hit, he struck out at me again, over and over, my blood flowing free as I urged the power on.
More humans vanished, their cries silenced, until all that was left was me and the man who’d started this all.
I was covered in deep cuts. My entire body screamed at me, but the sense of satisfaction I felt at stopping the army kept me moving.
"You lost, Caine!" I shouted, stumbling forward but managing to keep my feet. "You lost to me. A woman."
Fucker was definitely a misogynist. He would hate to be bested by someone he considered inferior.
There was almost nothing left of my energy, but I had enough to urge the last of my jewels toward him. It encased his legs and arms first, but wouldn't cover the talisman around his neck.
“I just wanted to change the world,” he choked out, the truth of how much he’d believed in his cause there in those wide eyes. “I needed more resources and power.”
The rubies pushed higher, climbing over his head until there was just one spot on his chest with the talisman visible.
I cut off the spell as the silence was completed.
The spell had been my strongest move, and I’d sent it into the world knowing it might kill me.
My knees buckled and I hit the ground hard, head ringing despite the lack of any other noise.
Justice!
Jacob was shouting in my head again, and I knew that meant something, but I was too far gone to know what that something was. I saved you, I whispered back. My family.
And then my heart stopped beating.
39
Jacob Compass
The barrier dropped mere moments before Justice faded from my head. I was shifted in my half dragon form, sprinting like my life depended on it.
Because it did.
Logically, I understood that Justice had fallen saving us, and that if I couldn’t feel her, she was either under a spell or…
There were no other possibilities I would consider.
I'm coming, Ruby. Hold on for me.
No response. Not even a flicker along our bond, and with each second of silence, the fear inside of me grew.
Hundreds of Stratford residents lingered around the barrier, preparing for an attack. They gasped as I sprinted past, having never seen me in my hybrid dragon state before.
If Justice wasn't okay, it would probably be the only way they saw me.
This was my beast’s compromise so that we had a greater range of movement to help Justice if needed. We must protect her.
When I burst through the barrier, I skidded to a halt on the other side, my breathing harsh. What the fuck…?
Everything was red, the way it had been in Faerie when the curse covered the jeweled lands. I couldn't see how far back it went, but I saw enough to know that at least a mile was now ruby.
Moving hurriedly, I searched for Justice, trying to feel her through our bond.
"What happened here?" Louis was beside me, having just popped through the barrier, followed by the others.
"Justice must have spelled them with the same ruby curse that covered her lands.”
That was what drained her, the reason I couldn’t feel her through our bond. A spell like that would have taken an exponential level of power.
“I’ll help you search,” was all he said.
We moved forward in the eerie silence, just the footsteps of my pack behind us.
The longer we searched, the more frustrated I grew, until my dragon was roaring in my head. A flicker of power from about twenty feet away drew me forward, and I only paused when Louis barked out, "Don't touch it! That's the talisman that caused the barrier to become infected. It's been frozen, in a manner, even if the rubies don't cover it."
I looked closer at the red figure with the visible pendant.
"President Caine," I rumbled. "Bastard met his match in my mate—"
"Justice!" Grace's scream cut me off and I spun to find her crouched beside another blob of ruby. I got to her side in seconds to find Justice perfectly entombed in rubies, her face lifeless and serene beneath the red.
Unlike the humans, I could see her face perfectly, like the gems wanted to leave a shrine behind.
Grace's face was swollen and tearful when she lifted her head and met my eyes. "What happened to her?"
Only her face was visible, so it was impossible to tell why Justice had been taken over by her own spell. “I don’t know. I blocked her out as soon as the shield and our power fell under attack. I was protecting her from the pain, and the possibility we might lose our fight.”
But in doing so I hadn’t felt what was happening when she took on the humans.
"It's like Snow White," Mischa said, and I whipped around to her.
"What do you mean?” I snapped. “What is Snow White?"
She swallowed, looking devastated. "It's a fairytale. She was poisoned and they encased her in a glass tomb. She stayed in a living death for a long time."
"Did she die?"
I wished I could take the question back, because I refused to even accept it as a possibility, but at the same time, I needed to know.
Mischa shook her head. "No, she didn't. The prince woke her with a kiss. True love's kiss."
Jessa snorted. "We don't live in that sort of fairy tale. How do they wake them in the dark ones?"
Mischa looked devastated. "Probably with sex. Or someone else’s death."
Shaking my head, I turned away. Human fairy tales were not going to help us here. I had to use my fucking brain
and figure it out. Justice was relying on me.
"I can't feel Justice at all," Grace said, her trembling hands still on the ruby. "I don't know if she's dead or alive."
Her voice bordered on hysterical now; Tyson was hovering close by to catch her if she lost it.
Unable to sit still any longer, I lifted my mate into my arms. Despite the weight of the stone, I would carry her for the rest of my life if that was what it took.
I started to walk, having not a clue where I was heading, but with a desperate need to get away from the place of destruction that lay before me. It was not okay that she’d sacrificed herself for everyone. She’d said she saved us, but I should have been there to help her.
By trying to protect her, I'd damned her to face off against the president and all of his army alone.
Fly.
The dragon was urging me to shift completely and fly with her. I didn't understand why we needed to do that, but the dragon instinct was an ancient one built on original magic, and I trusted him.
Placing Justice gently on the ground, I stepped away from her, shifting in an instant. This time when I looked upon my mate, the ruby encasing her had transformed into a plethora of colors, many beyond what the fey eye could see, fragmenting in glorious rainbow arcs.
I’d never seen anything as beautiful. Or as devastating.
My claws wrapped around the jewel, taking a second to find a comfortable hold, and then with a roar and burst of flames, I was soaring up into the blue sky above. The way I was feeling now, the weather should be storming to match the darkness inside of me. But instead it was mocking me with perfect weather.
What now? I asked the dragon. I was just the co-pilot, while he did the bulk of the work.
We go home.
Home? As in Stratford?
If the aim was to get to Stratford, then the dragon's GPS was broken. We were heading straight up, the sun in our eyes, and the breeze chasing along our spiked body.
Not our home. Hers.