I can already see black wings unfurling behind Dawn as she does, chaotic and ugly and twisting up in thorny-looking, see-through tendrils that are tinted green and dark gray.
Nothing like the pure black flames of a dark fae’s wings.
“Tanner, what’s going on?” Eva’s eyes fill with worry for me as she tries to run forward, but she’s yanked back easily by the chaos princess behind her.
I can already see the rest of Dawn’s true form as her human shape melts away.
She’s taller, with long, red hair that’s turning black midway down. Slick, blackened armor that looks like it has been resting in a bog for a hundred years.
Her eyes are like black holes, turning up at a sharp angle, and her cruel smile makes my body recoil.
There’s nothing left of the polite, smiling woman I remember.
Chaos technology is really something.
I muster my remaining strength now that the soldiers around me are realizing they should have taken the chance to try and kill me when they could.
“Let go of her!” I shout at the top of my lungs, and a blast of dark energy cuts through the men around me, sending them toppling onto the floor. In an instant, I’m bolting toward Eva, even the sight of her giving me just a little more strength as draw my wand from my back.
I don’t care if my heart stops due to this suppressor. I’ll defend my soul bond until my death.
Suddenly, a twisted black shape appears in Dawn’s hand, and she points it at Eva.
I skid to a halt, stopping in my tracks.
“Ah, ah, ah. I wouldn’t do that if I were you…” She grins at me malevolently.
Suddenly, I hear Ray’s office behind me open, but I don’t take my eyes off Eva as another shape appears at the edge of my peripheral vision.
“Nice timing, Jessetra.” I hear a voice that sounds like Ray but much deeper, much eviler.
A moment later, I hear slow, deliberate clapping as the chaos prince, once Qualtechnics’s CTO, walks up to stand beside his cohort.
“You jumped the gun a little, didn’t you, Kainz?” She glares at him in annoyance. “You were supposed to wait to strike when I had the beacon with me.”
“Ray?” Eva stares wide-eyed as Ray melts away into a similar form as his partner. Only, his hair is gray, and he doesn’t have wings either.
But his eyes are soulless and black, the same hatred and disgust for all things in them.
“All this work. All this waiting. It’s finally going to pay off,” Kainz says, standing beside his partner. “You have no clue how difficult it was assuming human forms. Pretending to work, pretending to be in a relationship.”
“It was worse than torture,” Jessetra exclaims, rolling her eyes.
“‘How was your day, honey?’ ‘What would you like to do today, sweetie?’ Utter human nonsense,” Kainz says. Though, as he does, he puts an arm around Jessetra.
“Get your fucking hand off me,” she says with sheer hatred in her voice, and Kainz steps back.
“Sorry. Habit.”
Because chaos fae can’t form bonds, it only makes sense that these two actually hate each other deeply. I’m just surprised they were able to hide it so well for so long.
Chaos is nothing if not determined.
“Are you okay, Tanner?” Eva asks, ignoring their bickering.
Around me, the swarm of chaos soldiers are waiting as if unsure whether to pounce on me now but certainly fearing the fact that I was able to pull my wand out in spite of the suppressor.
“I’m okay. I’m fine.” I reassure her. No matter what, I don’t want her to be afraid.
“Shut up, shut up, shut up!” Jessetra screams. I can see the energy in her wand flicker as it powers, and the soldiers step back, deferring naturally to the highest-ranking fae in the room.
“I’m the one you want. Leave her alone,” I say, pointing my wand forward. I know I have just enough energy for one shot. That’s it.
“You?” Jessetra raises an eyebrow at me mockingly. “You were good for awakening her. That’s all. I care not for the chaos general’s plans, though I won’t cry over your grave; that’s for certain.” She leans over Eva, breathing in deeply like a creep. “Mmm, more than enough magic for both of us once you’re out of the way.”
I lock eyes with her, letting her see that no matter how powerless I may seem to her, I’m still more powerful than anyone who has given up their bonds.
“You don’t have a chance against me,” I retort.
She throws her head back and laughs. “Oh, I’m going to enjoy this. I’m no soldier, but even I know how many chaos agents you have killed. And I, Jessetra, will be the one to defeat you.”
The dark energy in her wand glows even brighter, like a black hole forming at the tip of it, allowing no other light beyond it.
I raise my wand, ready to shoot her and take her shot so that Eva has a chance to get away.
Suddenly, Eva’s fist shoots up, punching Jessetra’s elbow upward. Her shot flies wildly, hitting the back of the basement with an explosion. Men go flying amongst the rubble, but Eva merely uses the distraction to jump away from Jessetra.
Then she raises her hands, glaring angrily at Jessetra and Kainz.
The two chaos fae have only a moment to stare in shock before a blast of freezing shards flies at them, knocking them back.
I bolt for Eva. Behind her, two chaos soldiers are on her tail, ready to pounce, and I fire my wand at them, obliterating them both just as we reach each other.
I wrap my arms around her, ducking her beneath a shot from someone’s wand, and with another wave of her hand, a piercing wall of ice flashes out from her feet, connecting with several more soldiers.
“Get them! Glory and riches for whoever brings me that beacon!” Jessetra shouts furiously.
“Your powers,” I can’t help but exclaim in wonder. “How are you—”
“I don’t know,” she says, looking at the blue glow surrounding her hands and then back up at me. “I just knew I wanted to protect you.”
I don’t even have time to react to how sweet that is because more soldiers are already rallying, charging toward us.
I draw more of my energy into my wand, but it flickers, my very soul almost sapped by the suppressor.
My body almost gives out, and I slump to one knee.
Eva’s eyes go wide with concern, but I wave her away.
“I’m fine,” I exclaim.
“You’re not fine!” Eva makes a fist, then extends her fingers out with a flick. A dozen icicles shoot out like flying knives, impaling and maiming several more chaos fae. There’s one left, and I point and fire, decimating the last.
“You’re not fine, Tanner,” she says, sending another wave of ice to keep them back as she talks to me. “You’re stressed. You’re tired. You’re clearly hobbled by that thing on your hand. But it’s okay. I’m here to support you. We’ll handle this together. Handle everything together from now on.”
She wraps an arm around me, helping me to my feet. Just her touch fills my soul, strengthens our bond.
“Eva, I’m so sorry for everything,” I say. “I shouldn’t have done that to Bill, and I—”
“I was an ass too,” she says. “Can you forgive me?”
“There’s nothing to forgive,” I say, confused.
“Yes, there is. I should have been more patient. I would have been, but—” She pauses to take out another wave of men. “Can you guys just chill for a second?”
They all stop, completely frozen, and Eva grins at me.
“I think I like this fae thing,” she says. She raises her hand, and a giant wall of ice shoots up from the ground and into the ceiling, completely enclosing us in a circle of ice.
Some of the men, frozen in it, are struggling to break free, while the others waiting beyond it are just watching in confusion.
“Are you okay?” she asks, supporting me around the waist.
“I am,” I say. “Eva. We can stay here. Whatever
you want.”
“Or go to your world, whatever you want,” she says. “I missed you. Dammit, it wasn’t half a day and I missed you.”
I let out a sigh. “I missed you so much too.”
I can see her bond in my mind’s eyes, powerful and ice blue, entwined with my black bonds, woven together so intricately I can barely tell where they begin and end.
We are stubborn people. And independent. But when we bond, when we love, we don’t know how to hold back.
“What should we do now?” She looks at me. “There are so many of them.”
“Yes, and a full-power chaos princess is hard enough to deal with, let alone when she’s paired with a prince and a lot of other soldiers.”
She nods, worried. “I’ll do whatever you want.”
I let out a breath of resignation. “You should fight your way out of here. Save yourself.”
She glares at me. “Tanner. I’m your soul bond. I’ll die fighting before I leave you here alone.” Her gaze is fierce. “You’re not the only one who can do stupid things when you want to protect someone.”
I laugh because what else can I do? Suddenly, I feel just a bit stronger, enough to stand more on my own, and I pull her into my arms.
No matter what happens, I want to hold her.
“I love you so much, soul bond.”
“Me too,” she says. “Wherever we are. Wherever we go. Whatever happens, I’m lucky to have met you.”
Around us, I can hear cracking sounds as the ice is starting to slowly give way. Chaos is coming for us.
We’ll fight them together, but I don’t know if we’ll win.
I’m suppressed, and she isn’t at full power.
So as I feel the ice wall begin to fall around us, I lean in to cup her face and give her one last kiss.
A blast of blue and black energy shoots out from us, and I hear screams of chaos and the sounds of many bodies being thrown back.
Suddenly, we’re rising into the air, still kissing, and I realize Eva’s wings are out and mine as well.
Her lips go cool as her entire body becomes decorated with crystalline ice, appearing as beautiful sky-blue armor.
The energy around is still pulsing, warning everyone to stay away from us with every beat of our hearts.
I wrap my hand in her hair and kiss her more deeply, and her hand comes up to cover my wrist. Something ice cold stings for a moment before the bracelet falls off, useless.
Slowly, she lowers us back to the ground, then turns with me to face our opponents.
Most of the lesser chaos agents are on the ground, frozen to ice chunks or knocked out by darkness.
I’m still not sure exactly what happened, but I know that with Eva by my side and that suppressor gone, I have never felt stronger.
“A perfect bond,” Jessetra spits. “You didn’t tell me their bond was perfect.”
“It wasn’t,” Kainz says, looking as panicked as Jessetra is furious. “They were fighting. I swear. Besides, a perfect bond is supposed to be impossible.”
I suppose it’s simply that Eva and I were willing to die for each other rather than leave our love. And that kind of love makes us powerful.
But I’m not going to tell the chaos fae that.
“I’m not sure quite how to do this, but you tried to kill my soul bond so I’m definitely going to end you.” Eva raises her hand, and her wand appears immediately.
It’s blue and glowing, shaped like a scepter with a bright white orb of glowing ice at the end.
“Wait, please.” Kainz steps forward, attempting a placating smile. As a lower-level fae, I’m sure he’s done plenty of sniveling before.
It won’t save him now.
“This is all a big misunderstanding,” he says, looking so reasonable now that he’s staring death in the face. “I promise. If you let me—”
I raise my wand, and a beam of pure dark energy shoots through him, turning him instantly into a shadow and then nothing at all.
Just a wisp of black smoke and the echo of a scream indicate that he ever existed.
I wanted to save Eva the trouble of killing him.
Jessetra scoffs in disgust. “Pathetic fool. Couldn’t even die without sniveling for his life first.” Her eyes go wide, her free hand tensing, and her wings grow larger and larger. “No matter. I can still take you two stupid lovebirds, with or without him.”
Honestly, I’m a bit impressed by her strength. She would have made a powerful opponent one on one.
Together, though, Eva and I are unstoppable.
“Should we do this together?” Eva leans over to ask me. Her eyes glow bright blue, so full of magic it’s like the very air moves around her and undulates with blue energy.
“Let’s,” I reply, raising my wand with her.
“Fuck love,” Jessetra says defiantly, raising her wand as it powers up.
Together, the blasts from our wands shoot out, effortlessly enveloping the dark energy from her wand. Then, as they meet, an explosion of magic sends a shockwave rolling past us, echoing off the walls of the basement in a nearly deafening roar. Beams of light fly past us, then slowly dwindle until the basement is quiet once more.
Only an inky black splotch on the ground remains.
“Good-bye, Dawn and Ray,” I exclaim, putting my wand behind me.
“Good riddance,” Eva says, doing the same and looking surprised when her wand just disappears.
“It’s inside your magic,” I say. “It’ll come again when you need it.”
“I did it. I’m a full fairy,” she says, looking up at me as her armor and wings slowly begin to retreat back into her human form.
“You. Are. Amazing,” I say, unable to resist pulling her into my arms and holding her close.
She nuzzles into my shoulder, and I place kisses on her forehead, her hair, her cheeks before she looks up at me.
My princess. My life. My soul bond.
My everything.
I lean in to kiss her just as the elevator dings again.
I raise my head just in time to see Ian, in human form, storming into the basement, looking around wildly, his wand in his hand.
Only Ian could have his wand out and no other signs of being a fairy.
He sighs in visible relief as he locks eyes with me and sees that Eva is in my arms.
Behind him, Flynn strides out, shaking his head with his hand on his forehead, looking utterly embarrassed.
“I told him you didn’t need backup,” Flynn says, giving us an apologetic smile.
“I felt your distress,” Ian says, his white hair standing on end in all directions, his handsome face confused. “Through our bond.”
“It was rough there for a moment, but luckily, my soul bond is an ice fae,” I say.
Eva steps out to wave at them shyly, and Ian stares at her for a minute before returning the wave, albeit awkwardly.
“Late again,” he says, slumping slightly as he puts his wand back. He walks over, extending a hand to Eva.
She shakes it, and he pulls her in for a hug.
“Thank you for helping my friend,” he says before quickly releasing her.
“Nice job, ice fae,” Flynn says, giving her a thumbs-up. “You saved the commander of darkness.”
“Brett is going to have a fit,” I say. “Her wings are bigger and—”
“Who is going to have a fit?”
My eyes go wide as Brett steps out of the elevator where he must have been leaning against the wall, biding his time while Ian panicked.
His arm is around Avery, though neither of them is in true form.
“This overprotective idiot here was worried,” Brett says, glancing to the side. He looks up at Eva suspiciously. “Are her wings really bigger?”
Avery lets out a laugh, throwing an arm around Brett’s waist. “All right, before we get into any measuring contests, let’s all just get the hell home.”
I look at Eva. “Do you think it’s okay to just leave the basement like this?”
I glance around at the scorch marks everywhere, breathe in the lingering stench of chaos.
Eva frowns. “I mean, no one comes down here, so…”
“I got this,” Ian says, transforming into true form as he steps forward. Instantly, his long, blazing white hair flows over his shoulders, and he’s wearing glowing white robes. His wings shoot up as he raises his hands, looking ethereally beautiful.
“Close your eyes,” he says gently, and we all do as a bright flash fills the room like a noonday sun is shining, so bright I can almost see through my own eyelids.
“Done,” he says cheerfully, brushing off his hands as he turns back into his human form.
The basement is clean, no marks or stench. No sign of the fight or of bodies.
He just eradicated everything.
All of us stare at each other open-mouthed as Ian hums to himself, practically skipping his way back to the elevator.
“God, he’s scary,” Flynn says, looking over at me and Eva.
The rest of us just laugh and pile into the elevator.
I just can’t wait to be home, safe and sound, with my soul bond.
29
Eva
I’m a fairy.
I’m actually a powerful fairy, and when I needed my magic, it came through to help me save my soul bond.
Looking back over my time with Tanner, from that first moment in the bar to that night jogging to all the time at Qualtechnics, I can see how everything led up to this moment.
Sitting in my apartment, quietly holding Tanner.
The other fae went back to their place, but I just wanted to be alone with my man.
He’s leaning back, tired, running his hands through his short hair, which is still damp after the shower.
Though the fight didn’t leave us much time to talk, I know we’re okay now, that we both feel bad about our spat and are willing to be better.
When we were facing death together, any worries about jobs or anything other than watching out for each other sort of seemed insignificant.
And it still does now.
There are so many things in life we can’t control. How things go at the company we work at. What kind of parents we’re born to. What kind of world we live in.
But there are things we can choose, like who we want to be with, what we value over everything else…
Defended By Darkness: Wings, Wands and Soul Bonds Book 2 Page 18