by Amy Sumida
“What do you mean?”
Azrael grabbed my hand and started to run, dragging me with him. He went out of the room and down the stairs.
“What's wrong?” I tried again.
“They're here,” he growled.
We raced down and down again, beneath the ground and into the stone corridors that led to magical spaces too vast to exist there. But we weren't heading to the ocean or mountains or any of the gardens we'd made. We went to the maze.
Once we stood before the woven walls, Azrael shrieked in rage. He let go of my hand and launched into the air to soar over the living walls. I followed him, knowing exactly who we'd find once we reached the center and hoping that I'd bought them enough time to form the elemental wells.
“Azrael!” I called to him. “Azrael, wait!”
He landed first, hitting the ground with a thudding impact that reverberated through the earth and air. The apple trees shuddered and fruit fell to the ground. But the faeries before him kept working—palms flat on the earth and eyes closed in concentration. Below those hands, elemental puddles were forming.
The monarchs of Faerie had come to help.
Arach had understood my hints. Thank goodness my husband is a brilliant man because all of that talk about two options and time and staying well had been so random that I wouldn't have it figured out. But somehow, Arach had decoded my ramblings and understood that I was trying to tell him to sneak into the castle through its second entrance—the rath—and attempt to make the elemental wells to anchor the magic as Cian had suggested.
High King Cian was there as well. He stepped between Azrael and the other monarchs. “We are here to help you, Azrael. Once the wells are formed, the magic won't be so wild. Please, allow them to finish.”
“Wild is another word for free,” Azrael declared, a strange calm settling over him. “And the magic doesn't want to be caged.”
Queen Breana suddenly screamed and tried to pull her hands away from the glowing green hole of swirling earth before her. But she was stuck fast and only managed to buck wildly.
“My love!” King Fionn shouted and jerked frantically, trying to reach his wife, but he was stuck as well.
King Guirmean threw his head back and cried out in agony, water rushing up from his pool to coat his forearms in shining blue light. Beside him, Queen Nora whimpered and crumpled against her husband, the tiny antennae-like fronds at her temples drooping down her cheeks. Guirmean tried valiantly to support her even as he fought and moaned in pain.
The trauma traveled along the circle of faerie royalty, every element turning on the kings and queens who ruled them. The great monarch butterfly wings of the Air Royals shivered as if wracked by wind, wing dust painting the air currents, and the Dark Royals wept under the weight of terrible emotions as their element crept up their arms with sinister determination. Fire leapt up Arach's arms and whipped at his face. Scales covered his body but they began to disintegrate into tiny particles as the air between dragon and fire went hazy.
“Arach!” I ran forward, but Azrael grabbed my wrist in an iron grip and yanked me back. “Let me go!”
“I cannot. You would burn with him, my love,” Az said gently.
“What's happening?” I demanded. “Are you doing this?”
“No, it's not me; I swear it,” Azrael vowed somberly. “I would have warned them if I'd known this was their plan. The magic has changed and doesn't want to be what it once was. It won't be tamed. Not by them.”
A memory flashed through my mind then—of Arach seen under the magic of a pair of god goggles. His essence was pure fire but at the heart of him—at the heart of every faerie—there was a brilliant white light. Faerie told me the light was pure magic. But the light that had tried to consume me, the light of the wild fey magic, was gold. Was it because the magic wasn't pure? Had the Earth tainted it? Were the elements too wild within it? Or was it a type of magical evolution? Whatever the reason, Azrael was right; this wasn't the same magic that had first arrived on Earth.
“The magic is draining them,” Cian said in horror. “It's taking their power instead of bowing to their will. Oh, sweet spirit, what do I do?”
Cian raced to Queen Bronagh and King Ruari of Earth, those closest to him, and grabbed their shoulders. Silver light descended from his palms and surged into them. A flash of light blinded me as his magic hit that of Earth and when I could see again, Cian was on the ground, unconscious.
“It's too late,” Azrael said in the grim, hollow voice of the Reaper. “They have doomed themselves.”
“No! Azrael, please, you can help them, can't you? Please! The magic listens to you.”
“The only way to save them is to unite the elements in a single well,” he said. “The well of all elements. Maybe then I could control the magic.”
“Then do it. Please, Azrael!”
“I can't do it alone. Not when I must counter what they've done.” Az met my stare gravely. “I'll need your help. You must use your sway over the elements to appeal to them and help me gather them here. They need to trust that we're doing what's best for them. Can you help me do that, Carus?”
“I...” My lips trembled as I admitted, “I don't have control over the elements anymore. My star pushed out the magic.”
Azrael's eyes flared bright and that other force stared at me. “I know. I have known from the moment of your rebellion.”
“You knew?”
“I didn't want to force you, my beloved,” he said sadly. “But now, you must choose again. Accept the magic or watch them die.”
I made a broken cry as I swung my gaze to Arach. His burning dragon stare met mine and he shook his head, even as scales lifted from his skin and burned away.
“Don't,” Arach ground out.
“I accept it,” I whispered without looking away from Arach.
Azrael suddenly yanked me against his chest, closed his wings around us, and covered my mouth with his. Magic poured into me with his breath, stroking me with his tongue and tasting me before it dove deeper. My star started to awaken but I pushed her down with sheer will and desperation. She faded into darkness. My beasts cried out and my magic shivered as the fey light shone throughout my entire being. I was betraying myself—all that I was and likely all that I was destined to become—but to save Arach, I would do that and much more.
The fey magic seeped into my cells and exploded. I screamed into Azrael's kiss, but he only held me tighter—kissed me stronger—until the tearing sensation dulled into a raw ache. I heard Arach crying out in denial, shouting my name, but it seemed to come from far away. My jaw ached from the force of the magic that shoved it open. My body went limp, then trembled violently. Muscles clenched and flesh tightened as my form wavered on the cusp of becoming something else. Then I fell into an abyss of wild magic.
My wings burst open and Azrael fell back as I was yanked into the air by the elements. Golden light coated me and I closed my eyes against the glare, but I didn't have to see to know what was happening to me. I felt my bones lighten and lengthen as feathers grew from the membranes of my wings. My hair whipped in the wind, growing wildly, and my eyes burned. I opened them with a gasp and saw the world in a new light.
On the ground, my mate stared up at me and smiled radiantly. He lifted his hands to me and I floated down to him, my wings stretched upward and my bare feet down. I alighted gently, toes rolling down to heels upon the soft grass, and took his hands. Azrael's forehead lowered to mine, his antlers bracketing my face, and we shared a moment of perfect communion. Our wings, both darkly feathered and sparkling now, lifted behind us as the magic gathered between us, arcing in ribbons of golden light. I felt as if I were made entirely of that light—a creature of the elements, uniting them with my spirit.
Azrael didn't have to guide me; the magic guided me. It helped us because it was a part of us and knew our hearts. Trust was a given when you were as entwined as us. The magic knew what we intended for it and saw that it was good. The well would an
chor the wild magic in this realm and give it a powerful foundation to cling to. No one would be able to take it from the Earth then. Yes, we would have complete control over it, but the magic knew that we would guide it and not repress it. The elemental well would be a source of strength for the magic and us—allowing Azrael and me to connect with the entire world and alter it with a single touch. A single thought. It would be a tool of power instead of one of subjugation. The wild horse doesn't have to be broken to accept a rider. Offer it respect, treat it as a partner instead of a slave, and it will carry you willingly.
A scream came from my right. I glanced over and watched as Queen Bronagh solidified from her hands up. The magic flowed over her, silencing her screams as it turned her into a statue of pale gray stone. King Ruari shouted an agonized denial and tried once more to reach for his wife but couldn't free himself from the hardened soil before him. He leaned toward her, laid his cheek on her stone one, and wept brokenly.
It was enough to spark fear in me. The me that cared about these people rose inside my chest. My stare darted to the one I loved—my dragon—and I cried out wordlessly. Arach's hands were charred and smoking. His eyes were closed in agony, his scales were gone, his skin a raw wound, and his shoulders shook.
“Arach!” I shouted.
His eyes opened and sought mine. “Don't watch this, A Thaisce,” he panted past the pain. “I love you more than fire and life. Remember that and look away.”
“Focus!” Azrael snapped and grabbed my face. “Look at me! Feel me! Feel us together. Use the power, Vervain! If you want to save him, help me!”
I focused. I closed my weeping eyes and sought the golden light inside me. It flared from my fingers, connecting me to the ground and using that cord to pull me down to my knees with Azrael. Our hands sank into the earth between us as if it were air. We bent our heads together and light churned around our hands. It swirled outward from them—a maelstrom of magic. The storm grew beneath us, spinning outward until we fell into it. I heard the roar of a dragon from somewhere above me but I was lost inside the magic.
Ribbons of light wrapped around Azrael's wrists and then mine, binding us together. His hands took mine, fingers weaving together. Ruby, emerald, citrine, sapphire, and jet—the jewel tones of the elements—bound us sacredly. The ribbons of light spun faster and faster around us, between us, and through us until they merged and shifted to gold. Together, they became stronger but also more savage. This was where the wildness came from. When unified, the elements were powerful enough to form worlds but they also lose their individual strengths. The stability of Earth is muted by the flightiness of Air, the warmth of Fire is cooled by Water, and the emotions of darkness run rampant in all. Like a man suffering from multiple personalities, the elements go wild when brought together without a purpose. Without Spirit. That insane energy creates marvelous things but it does so without sense. Its only goal is to grow.
Azrael and I gave reason to the madness. We became Spirit and united the elements, then anchored them in the Earth. The Elemental Well formed at our urging, condensing into a deep pool akin to a heart, with arteries and veins that pulsed magic throughout the planet. The ribbons of light that had bound Azrael and I together sank into our wrists, establishing a connection between us and the well—the bond of a creator and the power that comes with it. I instantly used that power to pull the magic away from the monarchs of Faerie and release their elements back to them. The separate wells that had been chaotically forming shrunk and disappeared, releasing the magic to its proper hosts.
The light around us paled into pure white as Azrael drew me into his embrace and kissed me again. With my arms wrapped around my lover, I rose from the Well of the Elements and hovered above it with him. The light of pure magic bathed us and held us aloft on its warm currents.
Azrael eased out of our kiss and whispered worshipfully, “My Goddess.”
“My God,” I said in the same tone.
“Vervain!” Arach roared.
I looked down at the man who had been my mate and smiled serenely. I loved him still but I knew that there were more important things than love. I had saved him and that was enough. Now, I could let him go. I had to focus on this new, flourishing world with Azrael. We would guide it into a glorious future and save it from destruction. But I couldn't do that if I went with Arach.
“Goodbye, Dragon,” I said gently. “I love you, but you have to go now. Look after our boys.”
I waved a hand and the Royals of Faerie tumbled through the rath, back to where they belonged. Arach roared and reached for me as he vanished into the shimmering glow. Then the rath winked out, closed for the time being; no one would come through without our permission. Its light shone briefly on the statues of a man and woman, leaning together as they knelt on the ground—their hands trapped in the earth and their cheeks touching.
Chapter Forty-Nine
I stared at my reflection in the golden mirror that hung between a pair of burning trees in my bedroom. My hand lifted and my fingers stroked the skin at my temple. I'd always wanted green eyes. Now, I had them—a perfect match to Azrael's, as were my midnight wings with their sprinkling of fairy dust. My hair trailed to the floor but refused to tangle. Instead, it shone like glass in the firelight and frothed in thick curls. The starlight stripe was gone, swallowed by darkness but I didn't miss it. My breasts and hips were larger, making my waist look smaller, and I was taller than I'd been, nearly as tall as Azrael. The old me would have hated the extra weight and height but the new me felt like an ancient goddess—fertile and lush. Powerful. Capable of anything.
“So beautiful,” Azrael murmured as he stroked the curve of my feathered wing and stepped up beside me. He took my hand and turned me to face him. “We have become who we were meant to be, Carus.”
“Yes. I understand now.” I let the shadows slip away from me, revealing my new body to my virile lover. “And I need you inside me, Azrael. I need you to fill me and summon forth life.”
With the new magic inside me, I knew that my womb was empty and hadn't quickened in years. My star hadn't destroyed my unborn sons; they had yet to be conceived. But they would be. Right now.
Azrael made a growling sound low in his throat and dropped to his knees before me. His hands swept down from my collarbone, parting my long hair and sweeping it back to reveal my breasts. He brought that possessive touch around and up, bringing my nipples to his lips. He sucked one into his mouth as he nuzzled the other, his tongue laving it into hardness as he grunted in pleasure. My eyelids went heavy as I shifted my gaze to the side, admiring our reflection in the mirror as I stroked Azrael's long hair. Two dark gods with glittering wings, one pleasuring the other. I moved my hands from Azrael's head down to his shoulders and up the feathered bones of his wings. They felt like silk and magic.
Azrael stood suddenly and scooped me up, into his arms. His clothing drifted away like smoke as he carried me across the room to the bathing pool. He stepped down into the warm water and laid me tenderly within it, to float on my wings. I spread my thighs for him and he stepped between them with the confidence of a man who knew that only he had the right to do so. Azrael sank lower, the pool deepening for us until the Faerie God's shaft was at the level of my sex.
But my husband didn't take me immediately. Instead, he bent over me to kiss me intimately, dragging his hot tongue up the seam of my sex until I quivered in need and clutched his antlers to pull him closer and grind his mouth over me wantonly. He sucked and speared me with his tongue until I trembled through a climax, my wings slapping the water. Then Azrael reared up, licking his lips and fastening his glowing stare on mine.
I set my feet on the rocks that edged the pool and stretched my arms above me to brace myself against the stones of the waterfall. The warm water rushed over my hands, the element calling to the magic inside me, and I sighed in delight. Azrael drew his gaze down my body possessively as he swept his hands up, over my belly to my heavy breasts. He massaged them, flicking m
y nipples into hardness, then grabbed them tightly as his cock split my sex and worked its way into my sheath.
The Faerie God slid deep.
The water remained still despite the wild slams of my lover's hips. It soothed our skin and held me aloft for his claiming. Azrael's sex, larger than it was before, stretched channel deliciously and every thrust pounded his pelvis onto my bud of pleasure, sending tingles through my body. My core rippled eagerly—drawing him deeper and milking his essence from him. The Faerie God would fill my belly with his sons and once they were born, we would conceive more and more. We would fill this castle with our strong, fey children and send them out to rule the world in our name.
“Set your beast free, my love,” I cried. “Mate me like a forest king.”
Azrael's hands moved to my hips and yanked me onto his piercing cock. I cried out in ecstasy and spread my legs wider, finding purchase on rocks closer to my waist. My sex blossomed like a flower for his savage spear and gushed with desire for the horned god who claimed me. Azrael's wings lifted high and his head bent to thrash his antlers through the air in an aggressive display of masculinity. Guttural sounds seeped past his bared teeth.
