by Leia Stone
Liam reached up and shot an ice shard at the rider, but it went right through him.
“Shit,” he cursed.
Next, Elle emptied her clip right into his chest, causing him to tip his bone skull back and laugh, a deep and haunting sound.
Oh gods.
A small army of the scorpions charged the light dome I’d made, and I panicked. What if it didn’t hold? What did their sting do? I didn’t want to know.
“Jasper!” I screeched, and the warlock sidled next to me.
With a burst of green magic from his palm, the scorpions reared backward toward the rider. There was movement on the horse, and I looked up to see the man… float off and fly over to us, barely skimming the edge of the light barrier. A sadistic grin pulled at his paper-thin lips to reveal sharpened teeth.
“To dine on the soul of a royal would give me untold power.”
Dine on.
I wanted to vomit. Hell, no, dude.
Slowly, I unslung the bag containing the crystals from my shoulder and passed it to Liam. He hesitated, knowing what this meant, but took it.
“Let my friends go into the portal, and then you and I can fight. One on one,” I said.
The creature tipped his head back and laughed. That hollow sound made my stomach turn. “No, no, that won’t do. My children must be fed as well.” He indicated to the dozens of scorpions that scampered across the ground at his feet.
I thought he might say that. This entire time, I’d been pulling on the power inside of me, and now I felt so full with light that my skin burned. When I wasn’t sure I could hold any more light, I thrust my palms out, in a wide arc, and blasted a supernova of light at the rider and his creatures.
“Run!” I shouted to everyone else and took off into the forest without waiting to see if I’d killed him. Liam leapt in front of me, flying a few feet into the air and zipping through the trees to lead the way. I had no freaking clue where the portal was. I was just trying to escape that monster.
The high-pitched wail that cut into the night told me two things.
He was alive.
He was pissed.
“My children!” he screeched in an inhuman wail. Then, the sound of hoofbeats thundered up behind me. The majority of Liam’s men didn’t have wings, so I couldn’t just fly off and escape this guy, leaving them to die.
“It’s here!” Liam shouted. Right in front of us was a tall glimmering… mirror. Right between two trees. I’m sure it held an illusion for humans, but I saw it well and clear. Our way home.
“Go, I’ll hold him off,” I yelled, pivoting to take on the rider and his horde.
“No,” Liam growled.
“GO!” I yelled without looking behind me. “I’m right behind you.”
I didn’t stop to see if Liam went through. I was too busy shooting beams of light at the demonic ghost rider to keep him back. His scorpion horde was gone, so I was guessing I’d killed them, and it was a relief to only have one foe to worry about. When the last of Liam’s men had run past me and everyone else in our group, I turned, ready to leap into the portal when a thought struck me.
If I didn’t kill the rider, Liam and his brothers would never be able to see their mother again. The fae from Montana who I’d invited to come live in Faerie would never reach it. But if I killed the rider, The Winter King would easily be able to pass into the portal and back into Faerie.
I was stuck. I couldn’t decide what to do.
My split-second indecision was just what the rider needed. Liam had just slipped through the mirror when an ice-cold hand grabbed my right wing and yanked me backward.
Hard.
A yelp tore from my throat as I was ripped backward, landing flat on my back. I hit the ground hard, first on my ass and then my head. Knowing that this was the worst possible position to be in, I threw my legs forward, trying to kick up to my feet… when he straddled me, pinning my arms at my side beneath him.
Frigid cold consumed my body, and panic jumped into my throat.
He was solid now… like a man with skin over his bones and eyes in what were once sunken pits. The ghost thing was something he could control, apparently, which made it all the more terrifying. When he wanted to avoid being stabbed, he went into ghost form, but when he wanted to pin you down, he became a man.
Basically, my worst nightmare.
When he opened his mouth, I shuddered to see not one but three rows of teeth. They glimmered with what looked like magic. Purple iridescent light glinted off his teeth. If he bit me even once, would that take my soul? The thought was horrifying.
My fear lasted all of two seconds before it morphed into rage. I could feel the coldness creeping up my body when a flash of heat chased it away. His eyes widened, and I screamed right in his face. An explosion of buttery sunlight exited my mouth and covered his entire being. He hissed, and then the pressure of his body was gone. I clamped my mouth shut, staring in shock at the pile of ash on my stomach.
He was… gone. And standing over me was Liam with a sword in his hands and his mouth open in shock. “That party trick never gets old,” he told me.
Relief washed over me. I blew air out through my lips and took his offered hand. When I was standing, he pulled me close to him, squeezing me so tightly I couldn’t breathe for a second. “You scared me,” he whispered.
I swallowed hard. “I think I scared myself.”
“Why did you hesitate? You were right behind me?” Liam frowned, pulling me back to look in my eyes. The pale moonlight barely lit up the shadows of his face, but his eyes were smoldering.
“Your mom. I wanted you to be able to see your mom.”
His lips were on mine then, kissing me passionately before pulling away.
“I’m going to marry you one day, Lily. Just warning you,” he stated matter-of-factly.
The breath was knocked out of me at his words. “Promise?” A grin pulled at my lips as he laced his fingers through mine, and we walked into the portal together.
He simply looked sideways at me, thoughtful. “If you’d have me.”
Oh, I’d have him, I’d have the shit out of him. I just nodded. Then, he nodded, and that was that. We both knew where the other stood, and it felt right. It felt good going into the unknown of healing Faerie and waking the Queen and then dealing with the Winter King. This we could know. This we could control. One day.
The portal did spit us out right near the healing pools, and it made me sad that the black ashy surface and cracking lava desecrated this beautiful place. I would come back as soon as I could with the Queen and heal it after placing all of the crystals and waking her. No doubt, she would need a few days to orient herself to her new surroundings before she took power again and restored everything.
I’d left five of Liam’s men at the portal to guard it against his father but took only volunteers. I knew it was a dangerous job. One of them had a horn and said if his father got through, he would blow the horn in warning. I’d made them promise to run if they were overpowered, and they’d agreed.
I couldn’t handle one more death, not one more.
We walked briskly, as a group, to the edge of the light wall barrier I’d made before I left. Liam looked shocked, and I’d forgotten that he hadn’t seen it. We’d left to rescue him and we had. And now the hefty bag of crystals was over my shoulder, and things felt right. We did it. We finally did it. I thinned a portion of the wall, and we walked through town, waving to everyone who cheered and clapped at Liam’s return.
Liam and I walked into the Tree of Life home with Trissa and Elle at our backs, everyone wearing huge grins. When we kneeled before the tree, a reverent silence fell over our small group.
All twelve. We finally had all twelve, and never again would I allow them to be taken. I’d post a twenty-four-hour guard at the tree. I’d build a fucking brick wall and a steel cage around it. Never again. And every fae who wanted to come home would be allowed.
With a shaky hand, Liam handed me the crystals one
by one. As each one clicked into place, there was a collective gasp. New branches grew with pretty white and purple flowers, and the light. Oh, the light was magnificent. It filtered out into the entire room until we were all glowing.
When I held the final crystal in my hand, I gave it to Liam. “You do it.”
His eyes widened. “No. You should.”
I raised one eyebrow. “Liam, I am your Queen, and that’s an order,” I said playfully.
With a grin, he took the crystal and set it onto the disc at the base of the tree with a click.
When that final crystal clicked into place, there was a rumble in the ground. It wasn’t destructive like the other tremors of the past. This was… like a breath, like Faerie could finally breathe.
I turned back to look at Elle and Trissa. “Tell the village to prepare a feast in honor of the fallen and of a renewed Faerie.”
They both grinned and left the room.
“You’re amazing,” Liam told me, stroking my long pink hair.
Leaning over, I kissed his cheek. “I’m going to check on Kira and the Queen.”
He nodded, standing. “I’ll check on my brothers. Meet you in a few.”
With a quick hug, we parted. I grabbed a glass of water, knowing when she awoke, the Queen would want something to drink. I knew Indra had spelled her to sleep and kept her drugged, but I also knew the Queen’s energy was tied to the crystals somehow, and so she needed both to awaken: no sleeping potion in her veins and all twelve crystals. At least, that’s what I hoped. I didn’t really have a plan B if she didn‘t wake up in the next few days. Crossing the space, I slipped into the Queen’s room. When my gaze fell onto the bed, the glass slipped from my grip and shattered onto the ground.
Chapter 14
“Indra.” I placed my hands steadily at my sides so as not to spook her. “Let her go.”
My breathing was erratic as I gazed upon the former Summer elder who held a blade to the Queen’s throat. Kira lay in a crumpled pile in the corner of the room, but I stared at the steady rise and fall of her chest in relief that it was still moving. She was, hopefully, just knocked unconscious.
Indra looked up at me with venom in her eyes. Her Summer fae illusion was gone. She now held her dark witch appearance with pride. “You ruined everything for me!” she hissed, drawing the blade closer into the Queen’s neck. I held my breath as a small trickle of blood slid down her pale skin.
Indra was so focused on me that she didn’t see the Queen’s feet jerk, moving once.
She’s waking…
I had to keep Indra occupied until the Queen could wake up.
“I got all the crystals,” I told Indra. “You can have your job back, and I’ll step down, and—”
Indra pulled the blade from the Queen’s neck and pointed it at me. “Everyone loves you! They will never let me lead so long as they know a royal lives.”
There was so much hatred in her eyes. I didn’t understand it, but she had taken the blade away from the Queen’s neck, so now was my time to act. I raised my arms to blast her with light when an unseen force slammed into me, throwing me against the wall. My back hit the plaster so hard that the breath was knocked out of me as the force held me there.
“You have no idea how powerful I am, child.” She stalked toward me, wearing a slow half-cocked grin on her lips. She’d left the Queen’s side, for which I was grateful, but now she somehow had me pinned against the wall. It made me wonder about the extent of her powers and how she kept them hidden this whole time...
“I’m one of the oldest witches alive,” she preened, looking happy with herself. Movement to my right caused my heart to leap in my chest.
The Queen was waking up.
I just needed to take care of Indra, and then everything would be done. The Queen could figure out what to do with the Winter King, and everything else would be her problem.
“Did you ever feel remorse?” I tried to bait her into conversation while I attempted to tug my hand from its magical force field.
Nothing. Not even a budge. Pulling the light up into my body, I prepared for the fight of my life.
Indra laughed. “Feel bad? For what? Bringing Faerie into the safest twenty-year reign ever recorded? No wars, no deaths, no sick little halflings polluting our genes. No, I do not.”
I growled. Call my boyfriend a sick little halfling again, bitch. “No deaths? My mother died, hunting crystals for your version of Faerie that didn’t allow the halflings in it.”
She sneered, “And it won’t. After I kill you, I will dispose of them again and close every portal in this realm.”
Panic seized me at her words. Liam, his brothers. With a scream, light exploded from my body, from every pore, and she was thrown backward into the wall with a screech. The invisible hold over me left, and I suddenly fell to the ground.
No more talking. No more soft blows and avoiding killing her. Faerie, Liam, the Queen, no one would be safe so long as she lived.
I tore across the room before she could get up, shooting light from my palms. One blast hit her while another was blocked by a sickly green glow. She was making some kind of shield countermeasure. Taking in a deep breath, I prepared to hit her with everything I had. But just before I could, she burst forward, throwing me backward with a violent wind. The second my head cracked into the wall, I knew I was done for.
Everything went black.
***
I came to with Indra standing over me, a knife in her hand. I must have only been out a moment, but I still felt weak and shaky. I tried to pull for my sunlight power, but a headache sliced through my skull; I’d hit my head… hard, and I’d need a minute to regather my composure. Two blackouts in two days were too many. I wasn’t going to be able to fight her off. That realization killed me before her knife ever could.
“I never should have let you live. Although you’ve been useful, you’re—" She froze with her mouth open, and I frowned, wondering what happened when, as I watched, blood began dribbling from her lip and onto the floor. That’s when my gaze went to her chest and the sharp icicle that protruded from it. Indra crumpled to the ground, and Liam stood behind her, eyes assessing every inch of me. “Are you okay?” he asked.
I nodded but winced because it hurt. It felt like my brain was sloshing around in my head. Indra started to move, mumbling, and Liam pulled out the blade from his waist belt. “I’ve had just about enough of you.” He came down hard on her neck, severing her head from her body.
“Lily.” A weak croak came from the corner of the room.
Kira.
I tried to fully stand up, but dizziness washed over me. Liam grasped my arms, propping me up to face Kira. She was okay. Blood dripped down her forehead into her hair, but she was okay. She was pointing at the Queen’s bed. I followed her gaze to see the Queen staring at Liam, then me, then Indra, and finally Kira.
She wiggled her fingers but clearly couldn’t move her neck or the rest of her body.
“You’re awake!” I leapt up and swayed in the air, falling forward. Liam caught me before I could hit the ground.
“Cam!” Liam yelled into the house. There was a thundering of feet, and then Cam was there, taking in the scene with wide eyes.
“We need to get the Queen and Lily to the healing pool,” Liam told him.
The healing pool.
Yes.
It would give the Queen the last bit of healing she needed.
“Liam, you carry the Queen,” I told him. “Fly her high in the air, and don’t let everyone see her like this.” For some reason, I just knew that the people of Faerie gazing upon her for the first time in two decades, in this state, would not be right.
Liam was quiet for a moment but then nodded, handing me off to Cam.
“Kira, can you walk?” I looked at her, but there were two of her. My vision was so blurry.
She nodded, both of my versions of her, and then Cam had me in his arms and was crossing the house to get me outside. Liam was right beh
ind us with the Queen, my mom-aunt, draped in his arms.
“You can trust him,” I told her because I just realized she would have seen his black wings but not known who the hell he was. She just gave me a small nod, her head lolling across his chest weakly.
The second we stepped outside, Liam kicked off the ground and took for the skies. Cam walked briskly across the bridge with Kira scuffling after us while everyone stared at me with hands over their mouths.
“There was an attack,” Kira told them. “But it’s over now, and she’s going to be fine.”
The last thing I needed was some crazy rumors and panic, so I was grateful she’d said something. When we got to the wall of light I’d created by the boys’ encampment, it took every ounce of my power to thin it so we could pass through. But the second we got on the other side, a dreadful sound pierced the air.
The horn.
The horn that we’d left with Liam’s guards.
The Winter King had come.
No.
“Run!” I shouted to Cam. If the Queen and I were unable to fight and Liam couldn’t handle his father alone, then all of Faerie was screwed.
“Lily!” I heard Elle’s voice on the other side of the light barrier.
“Prepare the people to fight!” I shouted to her, and then we were out of earshot. My body slammed against Cam’s as he ran faster than humanly possible. He hadn’t shifted, but somehow, he’d pulled on his wolf’s strength and speed, and we were blazing through the thicket of trees.
My brain felt like it was sloshing against my skull, and I prayed that the healing water could fix it quickly.
“We’re here,” Cam said, bending down to set me at the water’s edge. Reaching out, I scooped a handful of water and splashed it across my face. My vision cleared immediately, and my gaze snapped to Liam, at the water’s edge, dousing the Queen with water. Lifting a handful to her mouth, he gave her a small drink. Then, my gaze traveled down to the black boots that had just entered the picture and up to the man’s face. His father stood above him with the Sword of Night in his hands.
