by Scott, Helen
“It’s okay,” he soothed, seeming to understand that I needed to keep a lid on my emotions or they would hand the battle to the Lady.
I pushed to my feet and caught a wide-eyed look from Nimue, one that said there was no way I should have been able to get up from that blast, one that said I was supposed to be dead now. She hadn’t counted on the fact that my mates would do anything to save me, even bleed themselves dry, and I was fairly sure that, judging from the color of Darius’s skin, bleeding him close to dry was exactly what I had done.
“Can you go and help defend Lily and Elizabeth?” I inquired. I wanted him out of firing range, and there were those water creatures slowly making their way over to us, their limbs sloshing on the ground as they moved.
Darius gave me a hard look for a moment, and I thought he was going to deny me, but then he just nodded and jogged away. Relief was high in my chest as I watched the three of them—Henrick, Rhys, and Darius—set up a perimeter around Elizabeth and Lily as the monsters crowded closer.
I can’t keep this up much longer, Merlin warned, sounding pained.
Surprise flickered through me, but then when I looked at him, I realized that the onslaught he was withstanding was enough to destroy anyone else. I guess I had just expected more since he was supposed to be stronger than the Lady.
Can you give me a clear shot to the Lady? I asked, projecting my thoughts to Raven as I began running in their direction.
Within moments, all the water creatures were being drawn to one side or the other of the battlefield, and I was incoming like a bullet. I called my creatures to me and let them know that they needed to give everything they had. They all joined me, galloping at my sides or flying overhead, and for some reason I’d never felt freer than I did in that moment, but I knew with one mistake that freedom could be taken from me.
Merlin, for some reason, picked that moment to force himself to his feet and begin his own attack once more. The closer I got to the Lady, the more her radiance blinded me, and the more I felt like I should cower before her. It was easy to see why the Cavalry had chosen to side with her, the dominance and light she exuded would call to anyone if they didn’t know any better.
I’d felt her cold light before though, and I knew there was nothing benevolent about it.
I pulled on all the power I could, reaching as far into each of my mates as possible, even finding my thin connections to Elizabeth and Lily and pulling on their power, and through them the Cavalry and the Reapers. I kept going until I felt sick and bloated with it, but I needed to be sure I had enough, because I knew I wouldn’t get another chance, the amount of power this was going to take was more than I’d ever used in one go before.
In my mind, I conjured the shape, texture, light, and shadow, everything I needed for a good illusion, and focused it into one thing, the thing that had called to me from the very beginning of this battle, the thing that had lent me the strength to hold the Lady while I waited for Merlin to show up.
The moon.
It was both shadow and light, forever reflecting the sun but not generating its own glow. Whatever had happened to the Sires, I knew that it had had something to do with the second moon, and as I dug deep into the well of my power, I could feel theirs mingled with my own. Every type of power in the supernatural community was inside me in that moment. It honestly felt like I could do anything, but the only thing I wanted was for this to end.
I hurled my own lightning bolts of magic at Nimue, hoping to distract her while I perfected the illusion in my mind, until I could bring it into being. Merlin lunged at her when she glared at me, using her distraction to his advantage, and that was when my dragon chose to unleash its flames.
Dragon fire was unlike anything else on Earth—if it could even be considered as being from Earth—and when it struck Nimue, and as a result of his charge, Merlin, they both screamed in agony. It truly hurt them, not just a little bit either. Swoop after swoop brought lash after lash of fiery breath down on them as they struggled on the ground to both trap and simultaneously get away from each other.
Merlin’s eyes locked with mine and I knew it was now or never. I threw the power I’d been building within me out and circled it around the two of them, ensnaring them forever, or until they burned to death, within the orb. The stone, water, fire, and air all worked together, sealed with the magic from the Sires and the knights, as well as my own mates. Shadow and light moved over the surface as it grew, expanding until I either got it into space or let it crush us.
As soon as the Lady’s power was contained, the water monsters crashed to the ground, harmless, before returning to the water they were once more. I pulled heavily on my last reserves of magic and conjured a wind the likes of which none of us had ever seen before. With the help of my dragon and eagle, we pushed the orb into the sky, higher and higher until I felt it release into the area beyond our atmosphere, where gravity held no sway. My dragon followed, nudging it beyond the edge of our atmosphere and closer to the moon itself, so that it wasn’t in danger of crashing back to Earth.
Now, the two of them could fight for eternity if they wanted—if they survived that long—and never hurt anyone else, or our world, again. The energy drained from me as I finally let go, and let nature, or space, or whatever, take over. The moon prison was sealed in a way it would never break, as there were too many pieces to it. This wasn’t simply one or two people’s powers. It was everyone’s—the Knights, mine, Elizabeth’s, Lily’s, my mates, and even what was left of the Sires and their powers all rolled into one.
I slid to the ground as though I couldn’t support myself anymore. My mates staggered over to me, clearly exhausted from fighting and distracting an enemy they couldn’t kill. We all looked like hell, with mud and blood smeared all over, although I couldn’t remember getting hurt to the point of bleeding, but I had fallen enough that it was easily possible.
Panting and dirty, we huddled together on the ground while the Cavalry and the Reapers went to check on their mates. Relief echoed through the bonds with my mates, which shone just as sure and strong in my mind’s eye as ever.
“We did it,” Barclay muttered, shock having frozen his features.
“We did. No one is ever getting them out of that, if they are even alive in there,” I replied.
“How can you be sure?” Gideon asked, looking more worse for wear than the others, which was probably my fault since I’d needed his power the most—his had been the flour in the cake batter of destruction I’d made.
“It would need the exact same combination of powers to get it open again. Not just us, but the Cavalry, Reapers, and Sires too. What do you think the likelihood of that is?”
“Zero, because the Sires are dead,” Barclay replied.
“Exactly. I’m the only one who was channeling their power, and now it’s gone. I can’t feel it anymore. Nothing is ever going to get those two out and they can fight in there until they die,” I explained, sounding tired even to my own ears.
“If the dragon fire didn’t kill them first,” Gid added.
“That stuff was wicked,” Raven chimed in. “I don’t even know how that happened. How did a creature woven from shadow and light—”
“What is fire if not light?” I whispered huskily, breaking him off before he could get on a tangent that I didn’t have the power to argue with.
“Come on, let’s get back to the house. It’s going to be a long walk without any vehicles,” Darius suggested, his hand cupping my shoulder, filling me with warmth.
“You need to feed as soon as you can,” I replied, reaching back to cup his pale face. “Can’t have you dying on me now, not when we’ve got the rest of our lives ahead of us.”
“We all need to, love, you included,” he muttered. His eyes found mine, though, and his voice changed from tired to sure and strong. “I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you, or with them,” he teased, chuckling until he quietened when he brought his lips down on mine, and behind me, I sw
ore I heard another neigh.
But my thoughts were robbed from me as I groaned at the decadence of the kiss, one I had been worried I would never feel again. Thoughts of the council, the pursangs, and salsangs raced through my head, along with questions about what it meant to be the only remaining Descendant, but those could all wait.
As I shared kiss after kiss with each of my mates, I knew that we would figure out whatever came our way. Nothing and no one could stop us and the love we had for each other.
We truly were untouchable—even if we were, currently, without a ride home.
Epilogue
Darius
“All right, you sons of bitches,” Marcella growled, smashing the doors to the council chamber wide open mere seconds before she strode through. “It’s time for things to change.”
As I watched the councilors scowl her way, she called on more of her power and gathered her animals to her. A dragon swarmed into the room, followed by the wolverine, black bear and hellcat. Finally, and the pièce de résistance, the unicorn came charging forth. This one was unlike the others—it was tangible. The beast would even let us stroke it—we hadn’t dared find out if it was female or male, just left it alone.
The beast had taken to cuddling up at the side of Marcella’s bed on a night, like an overgrown puppy, and I wasn’t about to complain because while it looked beautiful and delicate, it was fucking nasty.
Barclay had been gored twice in his wolf form because the creature hadn’t realized it was Marcella’s mate. It had been amusing to see the wolf yelp before Barclay had shifted back into his human skin, glowering at the horned beast like he was thinking of ways to take the creature on. Anyone who didn’t think a unicorn could have a mean streak, hadn’t met Marcella’s, and Barclay would have to be a fucking idiot if he thought he could best this particular bitch of a beast.
The night of the battle, the creature had run around the maelstrom, its body forged of light and shadow like the dragon as it entered the fray. The second it had rammed into the Lady, however, it had born a form of its own, and now, we had a unicorn as a pet. Go figure.
“Darius?” Julian Addams demanded—Lily’s pompous ass brother and the Enforcer of the LeFauvre line. “What is the meaning of this? Control your mate!”
I grinned at him as I folded my arms across my chest. “It would serve you well to listen to her.”
As the body of men who were too powerful, had held that power for too long and had allowed it to bloat them, squabbled like rowdy kids in the playground, Marcella flickered a glance at Gideon. He nodded, preparing himself for her to use his runes, and as his left arm glowed like it had a bulb in it, Marcella called on the wind and swept the councilors into its gust. Naturally, they went flying, torn from their seats, they were tossed across the room, barreling into the walls of the council chamber.
All while we stayed standing by the door.
She disconnected the wind and the silence in the room was borderline eerie.
“What on Earth?” a councilor rasped from the floor.
“Earth… that’s a good question,” she murmured, and this time, Gideon’s left arm glowed as soil began to fill the quadrant of the chamber the councilors had been dumped in. It was like a wall had been built, one that cemented them in place and allowed the container she’d made to fill with dirt until they were pushed against its confines, gasping for air.
As they gaped at her, suspended in her magic, oxygen evading them, she declared, “Things are going to change whether you like it or not. And if you don’t like it, and if you work against me, then I’ll gladly show you some more of my magic tricks. I have plenty more in my arsenal.”
That day, thousands of years ago, after I’d been left to die on a battlefield in France, a war I’d fought in that was of these men’s making, Merlin had come to me, enticed me with power, giving me a deal with the devil that I’d never regretted. I’d worked for him, sure, worked to his path, but I’d had my own machinations in play.
Never, however, had I ever thought I’d be able to bring the council to its knees as Marcella planned.
She wanted brotherhoods to be a thing of the past, for the training Academies of Westbrook and Eastbrook to be closed down, and to make some kind of database for all pursangs to enable Ancients like myself to find their blood mates.
Those were just the tip of the iceberg of her to-do list, and it didn’t take into account the mess that had been made with the presence of two satellites changing everything for Earth. As the only Sire remaining, she had a responsibility that couldn’t be denied, and I was proud, no, fucking honored to stand at her side. As were the rest of her mates.
Hell, she had the backing of the Reapers and the Cavalry too, so whether or not the council liked it, shit was going to change, and I was looking forward to the rest of the ride.
I might have, back at the beginning, questioned my misfortune in being bound to a mate who was connected to five other males, but now? Now I realized that no one man would have survived what we’d endured to get to this point. Without each of our powers, we’d never have made it. Marcella would never have lived to see things through—not without us on hand, each of us bringing something to the table.
Fate had a funny way of working, and I’d laugh to the end of time over its machinations all while I was bound to the most powerful woman in the world… a woman who I adored and who adored me in return.
It was, I realized, a glorious time to be alive.
And for an Ancient?
There was no greater compliment.
Authors’ Note
Helen and Serena both want to thank you for reading the Salsang Chronicles. They really hope you've loved every second of it!
Be sure to watch out for more projects from the duo.
Their next release will be a bully, RH romance titled THE SEX TAPE.
Stay tuned for more info!
Also by Serena Akeroyd
I’d love to see you in my Diva reader’s group where you can find out all the gossip on new releases as and when they happen. You can join here: www.facebook.com/groups/SerenaAkeroydsDivas. Or, you can always PM or email me. I love to hear from you guys: [email protected].
Until I see you there or you write me an email or PM, here are more of my books for you to read…
The Professor
The Caelum Academy
Seven Wishes
Eight Souls
Nine Lives
HawkRidge High
Dare You To Love Me
Naughty Nookie
Sinfully Theirs
Sinfully Mastered
The Gods Are Back In Town
Hotter than Hades
The Sun Revolves Around Apollo
Five Points, Hell’s Kitchen
A Screwed Duet
Screw You
Screw Me
Filthy Feckers
Filthy Hot (COMING SOON)
FourWinds
Queen of the Vamps
Kingdom of Veronia
Perry & Her Princes
Her Highness, Princess Perry
Long Live Queen Perry
QUINTESSENCE
Charmed by Them
Healed by Them
Worshipped by Them
Protected by Them
Loved by Them
QUINTESSENCE: The Sequels
Sawyer
Andrei
Kurt
Sean
Anchor Pride Series
Claimed by Caden
McKinnon’s Mate
The Corsakis
Three’s Never A Crowd
Old Enough to Know Better
The Federation
A Menage Made on Madison
La Belle sans La Bete Series
Menage Material
A Thoroughly Modern Menage
Forever Theirs
Secrets & Lies
The TriAlpha Chronicles
Origin
Trinity
Triskele
Triad
Triumph
Trierna
TriAlpha
Los Lobos
The Raw Touch
The Salsang Chronicles (written with Helen Scott)
Stained Egos
Stained Hearts
Stained Minds
Stained Bonds
Stained Souls
Also by Helen Scott
Don’t forget to check out Helen’s other series.
Salsang Chronicles
Stained Egos
Stained Hearts
Stained Minds
Stained Bonds
Stained Souls
The Wild Hunt
Daughter of the Hunt
Challenger of the Hunt (Coming soon!)
Four Worlds
Wounding Atlantis
Finding Hyperborea
Embracing Agartha (Coming soon!)
Cerberus
Daughter of Persephone
Daughter of Hades
Queen of the Underworld
Wardens of Midnight
Woman of Midnight (A Wardens of Midnight Novella)
Sanctuary at Midnight
Snow at Midnight
A Siren Legacy
The Banshee (A Siren Legacy Novella)
The Oracle (A Siren Legacy Novella)
The Siren’s Son
The Siren’s Eyes
The Siren’s Code
The Siren’s Heart
Fury’s Valentine (A Siren Legacy Novella)
