“The winners of the Faerie Games are only allowed to leave the Otherworld for the realm of the exiled fae,” he said. “The realm of Ember.”
Julian tensed. “The prison world,” he said.
“Yes.” Prince Devyn smiled again. “You can always choose to go to Ember—every fae can. But I don’t recommend it. Ember is a barbaric realm full of flying, vicious, powerful beasts. Plus, it’s a one-way ticket. No fae sent there has ever returned. So you’ll remain here, in the Otherworld, if you know what’s good for you.”
Horror froze my bones. “You tricked me,” I said.
“You should have asked me to be more specific.”
Juno cleared her throat, and all eyes went to her. I’d somehow forgotten she was there amidst all the chaos. “This is the business of the fae—not of the gods,” she said. “It’s time I take my leave. Good luck, and I’ll see you next year.”
The colorful peacock feathers of her throne surrounded her, and then, she and the golden orbs were gone.
But not without giving me an idea.
A breeze circled around me, and the wand’s crystals pulsed in time with my quickening heartbeat. Unable to look at Prince Devyn for any longer, I turned to the one person in the room with more power than him.
Empress Sorcha. She stood there primly in her white dress woven with gold threads, as calm and composed as ever.
“You’re the Empress,” I said. “The most powerful fae in the Otherworld. You can change the law, or create a new one. Just like Juno did for the Faerie Games.”
She tilted her head and studied me with her strange light eyes. “What, exactly, do you want me to change it to?” she asked, and hope bloomed in my chest.
Is she considering it?
If she were, I had the best chance of getting what I wanted by not asking too much of her. And all I needed was to get back home. Once there, I could work with the Nephilim army to devise a plan to free the half-bloods, and maybe discover a cure for the plague.
That was it.
That was my way out.
“The plague has overtaken everything outside of the capital city,” I said, and from her solemn expression, she knew it, too. “It’s ruthless, and you can’t stop it. But we have powerful supernaturals on Avalon. They might be able to find a cure.”
Prince Devyn scoffed. “The fae are more powerful than any supernatural on Avalon,” he said. “How can the supernaturals there cure the plague when we can’t?”
“We can’t know unless we try.” I turned my attention back to the Empress. “I want you to change the law so if a chosen champion not from the Otherworld wins the Faerie Games, they—and their soulmate—are allowed to return to their home realm. Once I’m home, I’ll ask my people to help the Otherworld. I promise.”
She nodded, and then looked to Prince Devyn. “It’s an interesting proposition, although of course a blood oath will be required to seal the deal,” she said. “Given your gift, what are your thoughts on the matter?”
“If she returns to Avalon now, her people will not help us,” he said. “No blood oath can force them to do that. The future will likely be best—for all of us—if she remains here for now.”
The Empress nodded, took a deep breath, and then looked back at me. “You’re staying here,” she said simply. “And if any citizen of the Otherworld attempts to help you leave, they’ll be sent straight to Ember.”
“No.” Rage swirled inside me, and the wind around me quickened. Thunder boomed so loudly that the ground shook.
The wand’s crystals glowed, and a bolt of lightning surged through me. It shot through the top crystal and struck the roof and blasted it to pieces.
With my fae magic, I used my free hand to create a dome around me and Julian. The fallout crashed into it, but the dome held strong.
I held onto my lightning, spreading it out to create an electrical force field around the temple.
Any guards that tried to enter would fry.
Sorcha, Prince Devyn, and Princess Ciera had also created domes to protect themselves. Dust filled the air, and chunks of the roof covered the floor. But all three were unharmed.
We all stared each other down, and they held their hands out, ready to strike with their magic.
Julian pulled a sword and a shield from the ether. But we couldn’t attack, and we both knew it. Because even if we took down the Empress, Prince Devyn, and Princess Ciera, there were still all the other fae in the citadel to contend with.
Julian and I were powerful. We could certainly try to attack the hundreds—perhaps thousands—of fae civilians who would rise against us for killing their Empress.
But that would be mass murder.
I couldn’t live with that. And even though Julian was the chosen champion of the god of war, I knew he couldn’t, either.
There had to be another way.
“We might have to stay here,” Julian murmured. “At least for now, until we figure out something else.”
“No,” I said, and I pushed more magic into the wand, feeding off its power. “It’s time for Plan B.”
Lightning flashed through the sky. Rain poured down in huge droplets. The wind intensified, so dust and rose petals blew in a tornado with the two of us in the center. The dust was so thick that I could barely see through the surrounding wind.
“What’s plan B?” he asked, screaming to be heard above the storm.
“Creating my own portal to Avalon.”
I didn’t wait for his response. I just called on all three parts of my magic and pulled at it harder than I ever had before. I dug for it so much that it felt like I was drilling a hole through my core. Blue, violet, and silver magic leaked out of the wand’s crystals, but I held on to as much of it as I could.
It was too soon to release the magic. To create a portal strong enough to transport Julian and me out of this realm, I needed more.
Electricity crackled in the wind rushing around us. The power was building. I could feel it.
But then, balls of pink magic struck the outer walls. Princess Ciera. One of her balls of magic pushed through the wind and came inches away from hitting me.
I couldn’t hold onto the growing storm, gather every bit of my magic to create a portal, and fight her at the same time. But Julian was on it, and he threw his magic at her attacks, perfectly blocking them.
Bright green magic flashed across the room—Prince Devyn’s magic—and Princess Ciera’s attacks stopped.
Julian screamed my name, but I blocked him out. I needed to focus.
To teleport, witches pictured the spot where they were trying to land.
Creating a portal had to be similar.
So I pictured Avalon in my mind. I brought myself back to my warm bedroom in the castle, and the nights I spent there with a book in hand and the fireplace blazing. The lush mountains and lakes, the training grounds where I’d learned to sword fight, the classrooms where I’d tried and failed to use my magic. Relaxed lunches in the dining hall with Torrence and our friends, and quiet dinners with my mom and dad in their quarters.
They’d always believed in me, even when I didn’t believe in myself.
They were right to believe in me. Because now, I was going to use my magic to get home.
I dug deeper, pulling magic out of the marrow of my bones. Wet droplets formed on my brow and ran down my cheeks—sweat. The wand’s crystals blinked like strobe lights, and my magic tore at me, clawing me apart from the inside.
I can’t hold it any longer.
My electricity surged out and tore through my palms, burning up my arms in scalding, agonizing pain. Dark smoke swirled around me. The sickening smell of cooked flesh filled my nose, and I arched back and screamed.
Then, I smiled.
Because a pinprick of swirling, sparkling violet light had appeared about ten feet overhead, and was slowly growing outward.
The portal.
I laughed through my screams, raised my arms, and held up the wand to pull down the light. The portal inched c
loser, and I fought through the burning agony searing up my arms, unwilling to give up when I was so close to getting home.
Suddenly, something hard and heavy smashed into the wand. The unexpected blow knocked the wand out of my hand, and it clattered to the floor. The portal raced back up, compressed into itself, and popped out of existence.
Pain exploded in my palms. Daggers, through the centers of each of them.
I gasped, lowered my arms, and looked at where the daggers had come from.
Julian’s ice-blue eyes stared numbly back at me.
Betrayal slammed into my chest, and I couldn’t breathe.
“Why?” I asked, but someone wrapped their arms around me from behind, and a pleasant tingling floated through my veins. I mumbled Julian’s name, but he didn’t move to help me. I was floating, falling. Weights pulled down on my eyelids, and keeping them open was impossible.
Julian’s guilt-stricken face was the last thing I saw before slumping back and sinking down into oblivion.
54
Lavinia
I stirred a pot of mutton stew in the kitchen of the castle, watching out the window as Fallon practiced her magic on the land at the top of the steep cliffs.
Lilith’s daughter’s long black hair blew in the wind. She faced a lineup of ten black-winged fae, raised her hands, and shot red lightning at each of them.
They were down in seconds. The waves at the bottom of the cliff crashed into the rocks, rejoicing in Fallon’s power.
But none of the fae were charred.
Fallon stood there staring at them, balls of red magic sparking in her hands. Her dark hair whipped around her face. Clouds rolled in and covered the sun. The ocean waves crashed angrily against the jagged bottoms of the cliffs.
I continued stirring the stew, knowing what would happen next. The same thing as always.
The first fae she’d struck down twitched. Slowly, it pushed itself up off the ground, moaning and staring at Fallon with its cloudy, empty eyes. It made no move to attack. It simply waited, ready to obey her commands.
Fallon raised her hands up to the sky and screamed.
The sky rumbled. Then, a single bolt of red lighting shot down and struck the black-winged fae in the chest. Red electricity danced across the fae’s body, and it fell to the ground once more.
Unburned.
Fallon screamed again and shot a bolt of red lightning from her palms at a nearby rock.
The rock disintegrated on the spot.
Soon, all ten fae pushed themselves up off the ground. They remained in formation, ready for Fallon’s command.
Because we’d created the plague, the black-winged fae served us. They guarded the castle and never attacked us, no matter how much we experimented on them.
But we couldn’t kill them, either. At least, not yet.
It was problematic. Lilith wouldn’t be happy until all of the fae were turned to dust. Poisoned fae included.
But Fallon would be able to do it soon. Because with each fae poisoned with her blood, their magic became a part of her, and her power grew stronger. Once all the fae in the Otherworld were drained of their magic, she’d be strong enough to exterminate their race once and for all. Then, we could return to Earth and rejoin Lilith in claiming the planet for the demons and their supporters.
For now, it was dreary castles, poisoned fae, clothes that were all but rags, and mutton stew. A small price to pay for the glorious future to come.
A future where witches like me—witches with demon blood in our veins—no longer had to hide from the supernaturals that hunted us.
I couldn’t wait for it.
Suddenly, a familiar buzz sounded behind me, and I stopped stirring the stew.
I spun around and glared at the golden orb in the center of the kitchen.
Why was it there? I’d banished the orbs from the castle after getting rid of the Earth Angel’s spoiled, whiny daughter. The constant footage of the Faerie Games distracted Fallon too much from her training. And the Games were long past over, anyway.
I couldn’t wait to tell Lilith that we’d not only succeeded in exterminating the fae, but that I’d personally seen to the death of the daughter of our greatest enemy.
Perhaps it would earn me land and a noble title once Earth was ours.
A hologram flickered to life in the orb, and the live broadcast began.
I cursed and dropped the wooden spoon onto the floor next to my feet.
“Fallon!” I screamed through the window. “Come quick!”
Fallon turned around and snarled. She was a beautiful girl, when her face wasn’t all twisted like that. “I almost have it,” she said, and a gust of wind blew through the field. Tree leaves rustled in its wake. “I just need a better hold on the lightning.”
She called another red bolt from the sky and split the nearest tree in half.
The insides of the trunk were charred pitch black.
I grabbed the orb and jumped through the window. Something clattered to the floor behind me—the pot of stew. I’d have to deal with the mess later.
I quickly reached Fallon and tossed the orb so it floated in front of us. “The brat’s alive,” I said. “I don’t know how, but she’s alive.”
Electricity surged up Fallon’s arms, and I prepared to cast a barrier spell around myself for protection if she did something drastic. “Impossible,” she said. “You made sure the Minotaur killed her. We saw her die.”
“We did.” I stood still and watched the Earth Angel’s daughter present a crystal wand to a giant, dark-skinned god in shiny armor.
The god inspected the wand. “This is the Holy Wand that belonged to the First Queen of the Otherworld, Gloriana,” he said, and he handed the wand back to Selena.
Her smug, arrogant soulmate stood beside her. A dark shadow flashed at the tips of his wings, gone in less than a second.
A different color?
But I couldn’t worry about him now. So I pulled my eyes away from him, rage boiling within me as I watched Selena’s exchange with Juno.
“I’m going to return to Avalon, and Julian’s coming with me,” Selena said. “Therefore, we each require a token to take us there.”
Fallon raised her arms and shot electricity at the orb.
Instead of casting the boundary spell around myself, I threw it forward to surround the orb.
Her electricity knocked down the barrier, but it didn’t touch the orb.
She growled and gathered more electricity in her hands.
“Don’t be impulsive,” I warned her. “We need information. That orb’s the way to get it.”
She huffed and shot her electricity at one of the black-winged fae still standing patiently ahead of us. Then she took a deep breath, and we watched the rest of the broadcast in silence.
Juno took her leave, and the orb disappeared.
“We should march on the citadel,” Fallon said. “We’ve been in this wretched realm for long enough. It’s time to fight.”
“Your power is impressive,” I said. “But the citadel is full of thousands of gifted fae and chosen champions who’ve won the Faerie Games. You can’t risk yourself against them. You’re too important in this war. Especially since it won’t be long until the plague does its job and takes care of them for us.”
“Will it?” she asked. “You thought you killed the girl, but you failed. How do you know the plague you created won’t fail, too?”
I sucked in a sharp breath, and it took all my effort not to ram the knife strapped to my side through her heart. Not like the knife would do much harm. Demons could only be killed with holy weapons.
“My plague will not fail,” I said. “Plus, if you try to kill the remaining fae yourself, you won’t absorb the remnants of their magic. And the fae in the citadel have the strongest magic of them all. You want that, right?”
“Of course I do.”
“Then we must be patient,” I said. “You’re strong, but so is Selena. And we don’t yet know what she
’s capable of doing with that wand.”
“What if she can do what I can’t?” Fallon asked, and thunder boomed overhead. “What if she can kill the poisoned fae?”
Then we’ll have a huge problem on our hands.
“Then we’ll devise a new plan,” I said instead. “But we’ve built a strong fortress protected by an indestructible army. Right now, our defense is our best offense.”
Fallon’s eyes glowed red, and she took out her anger on more of the poisoned fae. “And once I’ve gathered enough power to destroy them all?” she asked.
“Then we’ll find Selena, kill her, and present her head to Lilith on a silver platter.”
What happened to Selena when she tried creating the portal? What’s Julian hiding? Will they reunite with Torrence, Reed, Sage, and Thomas? And most importantly, will they be able to stop the plague and fight Fallon’s growing power?
Find out in the FINAL book in The Faerie Games series, The Faerie Plague, coming early summer 2020!
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Are you new to the Dark World universe?
Then you’ll want to check out the two other series’ set in this world—The Vampire Wish and The Angel Trials. These series’ are about the Queen of Cups and the Queen of Swords. Read on to learn more about them! (You may have to turn the page to see the covers and descriptions.)
Annika never thought of herself as weak—until vampires murdered her parents and kidnapped her to their hidden kingdom of the Vale.
As a brand new blood slave, Annika must survive her dangerous new circumstances—or face death from the wolves prowling the Vale’s enchanted walls. But sparks fly when she meets the vampire prince Jacen. She hates the idea of falling for the enemy, but her connection with the mysterious prince could be the key to her freedom.
The Faerie Wand (Dark World: The Faerie Games Book 4) Page 23
