Coughing, Piper lifted her head, blood trickling down her temple and nose.
“Shit.” I ignored the throbbing aches in my bones. “Are you okay?”
She nodded, her head jerked to where the lightning struck. “Mummy!”
Fionna’s body lay a few yards away, her black eyes glancing around in confusion, landing on Ember. A dae’s powers were always talked about with terror and awe, but Ember had never exhibited her full strength. The fact she could tear through the magic of the most powerful objects on earth—I was starting to understand why they were so feared.
“Mummy?” Piper got to her knees, staring over at Fionna.
“Piper, no!” My voice was raw yelling over the commotion. “She needs us to chant okay?” Setting us back up, I grabbed the cauldron and stuffed the rock inside. Then I wrapped my hands over Piper’s and placed them on the vessel, my lips parting to start the chant.
Piper didn’t hesitate. Closing her eyes, she spoke each word with me. Energy drained from me faster than I could make up for it, but the strength of my niece, her warm little hands under mine, pushed me on.
Magic swirled around us, and my hair snapped at my cheeks. Voices shouted and wailed, but I blocked everything out, lifting one hand to pick up the knife Fionna had left behind. Drawing both the cauldron and the stone back to their cages would call for a sacrifice. I just hoped it wouldn’t be a life.
Slicing my wrist, I let my blood drip into the cauldron, painting the lifeless rock inside. Our words danced around it, circling us.
A hiss parted my lashes. Fionna whirled around to us, her face contorted, rage hunching her over like an animal ready to attack. “No, Druid. You will not send me back. I will rip both of you apart before you can utter your next line.” Her voice sounded nothing like my sister, or human. It rattled with power and wrath.
A small whimper escaped Piper as she continued to recite with me. I gripped her hands harder, trying to reassure her.
Fionna strode closer, magic bubbling out of her. She raised her arms and shoved magic toward us.
I could protect Piper from a lot, but even my magic couldn’t defend against Cauldron’s power. Summoning my black magic, I volleyed it at the ball heading for us. The energies cracked against each other, but my effort shredded into vapor, only denting the power coming at us.
My mouth parted, a squeak of a cry coming out as I folded myself over Piper. It would do nothing, but if we were going to die, I wanted to hold her. I shut my eyes, cradling her to my chest, the last of the chant uttered.
Lorcan, I love you.
I waited for death, for the darkness to take me. My heartbeat thumped, hearing a sizzle crackle near my head. Still alive. Still alive. My lashes flickered up.
“Nerf-herder,” I whispered, seeing what had prevented our death. A shield of magic cocooned Piper and me. The cauldron’s magic sparked against the defense and faded away.
Piper did this. She protected us. Holy crap.
I looked at her in awe. She stayed curled in my arms, her limbs trembling. My gaze shot to the black eyes who held my sister captive. Cauldron stood in shock, her eyebrows furrowed in disbelief. For a moment I saw brown eyes look back at me before they returned to black. Fionna was fighting. We had to as well.
Ember didn’t let up, her discharges of fae lightning raining around us, knocking the two figures off center. Rage roared from the two treasures, blasting magic back at Ember. Each time, bloody and broken, Em rose to her feet, doing it again. How many times could she do this before she didn’t get up again?
“Piper we have to do it again. Can you do that?” I pulled away, looking directly into her eyes. Her lids fluttered, exhaustion weighing down her tiny frame. A desperate cry rose from my throat. I hated I was demanding this child to push herself to this dangerous edge of her own power, but I could see no other way. Cathbad blood was the only way to do this.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
I realized what would have to be done.
“It’s okay, Auntie.” Piper seemed to already know what I had just comprehended.
“No.” I shook my head.
“I-I have to.” Piper picked up the knife from the ground, reaching for the black cauldron. How could I let a five-year-old slash her wrists? How could I let her bleed into a stupid pot?
Because it’s the only hope. Otherwise we all die anyway.
Blasts and screams rang in my ears, death stinking up the air. Ember cried out in agony as the face of her father tossed her body across the yard.
“I can’t…I can’t keep the bubble up.” A tear slid down Piper’s face, as though she were letting me down.
“It’s okay, sweetheart. You are being so brave and strong.”
The shield dropped, slapping my skin with magic so thick it clogged my throat. If Cauldron noticed, we were dead.
Piper choked back a sob, clutching my hand, leading it back to the vessel already drenched in her mother’s and my blood. Darkness crept in at the outskirts of my vision, my essence slipping freely along my arms. This was it. Our last chance.
Our hands melded together, the spell spilled over my tongue, my body slouching to the side and I slumped to my knees. I forced the world to disappear, giving everything I had to each syllable. Piper gripped the knife, her face crumpling as she inhaled sharply. Then she carved the knife down her arm, red liquid pouring out after the blade. Tears streamed down her face, but she never stopped chanting, getting to the end of our third chant.
“Now,” I yelled.
Piper fell over the cauldron, her blood spilling out, a huge droplet falling on the stone inside.
The sky pierced with high-pitched wails so loud they were painful, each one shredding my nerves. I could feel them echoing around in my skull.
The more pure a sacrifice, the stronger it was. Nothing was purer than a child’s, one who was willing to die to save the world. Piper was no ordinary martyr.
1. Child
2. Druid
3. Cathbad
All done from the innocence of her heart. The love for her mom.
The magic Piper put out into the atmosphere was like a missile, directed right at the stone and cauldron.
“Nooooooo!” Cauldron shrieked, falling to her knees. Stone gripped his stomach, crashing upon the ground. Their cries filled my chest, cleaving my skin.
Fionna’s face twisted with hate, black eyes daggering into me. Then I watched as they switched to brown.
“Fionna!” I scrambled to her, sinking beside her. My sister sobbed in pain, her hand pressed to her chest as she curled over onto herself. Black pits flipped to brown, then back to black, over and over. The battle inside was for the death. “Fight. Please… I won’t lose you. Fight for us!” I wept, watching her body twitch and flip as though she were possessed.
“You. Will. Die. For. This. Druid,” she hissed, black eyes drowning out the brown. “Ahhhh!” she cried, bending over farther, clutching her stomach.
“Mummy.” Piper stumbled over, barely able to walk, blood trickling from her wrists and nose. “You can do it, Mummy. I know you can.” She brushed at the loose strands of hair covering Fionna’s face. “Don’t give up.”
“Lars!” I looked over my shoulder at Ember’s cry. My friend ran to the King, kneeling next to him. “Don’t give up!” Blood and wounds covered her, her frame looking as if it were about to topple over.
I could feel people move in around us. Eli and Lorcan were close, but all I could think of were the two people I loved in the fight for their life. It was out of our hands now. Were they strong enough to fight the magic of the treasures?
A strangled cry came from Fionna’s throat, black eyes staring up at the sky, her muscles locking stiffly. Then her body went limp, slumping into the ground.
“Fionna!” I grabbed her arm, shaking her, her body flopping around. Lifeless. “No! No…please.”
“Mummy?” Piper’s whispered in fear, her chest puffing in and out shallowly. “Mummy?” Her head shook as she pressed her ear to Fionna�
��s chest. “No, Mummy. Don’t die. Please don’t die.” Sobs choked her throat, tears dripping down her face.
“Fuck! No…not you too. Lars!” Ember’s desperate plea froze my heart. We were losing both of them.
My shaking hands went to Fionna’s throat, searching for a pulse. Nothing. Dread set the word no in my head on repeat. Jared had died in front of me, along with so many others, and I had done nothing to stop it. I couldn’t let my sister. I had the power to bring people back to life. Fionna had done that to Goran. And he hated her for it. He was a shell. A zombie stuck in a body.
But desperation did not let me think past my own suffering. I had lost my parents. Friends. Companions.
“Li’l bird.” Lorcan’s voice was in my ear, his hands pulling me into him, like he had sensed what I was going to do.
“No! Let me go.” I fought him. “I have to save her. I can’t…I can’t let her die.”
“You have to.” His arms circled around me tighter. “Let her have peace. If you brought her back, she would not be Fionna. She would hate and resent you.”
“I don’t care!” I wailed, but I knew he was right. She would hate me, longing to die anyway. To bring her back and have Piper witness her mother as a zombie. She wouldn’t be the person we knew.
Piper’s sobs were silent as she laid her head on her mother’s body, holding tight to the corpse. I tried to draw Piper into me, but she shoved me away, her head jerking over her shoulder.
I followed her gaze to see Ember leaning over Lars’s frame.
“Nooooo!” Ember clutched his face. “Lars, no!”
“Darz?” Piper stood up.
“Please…” Ember’s choked, tapping her forehead to his in a desperate plea. “Dad.”
“Daddy!” Piper cried out. In unison the two girls screamed, their grief merged.
As if Ember had caused lightning to strike down, magic flamed from Lars, shoving me back into Lorcan. Colored energy burst from his torso, rocking his body with a gasp. Threads of tangible energy shot out, glowing bright gold, and sent its magic over Fionna. Silver and gold sparks clashed as energy flowed into her body. She convulsed violently, flopping and arching. A chilled inhuman scream wrenched from her, piercing the afternoon sky, coating my skin in goosebumps.
The energies sparked and crashed into each other, billowing into the air with fireworks of magic and pressure. Bones cracked under the weight, and I was shoved harder into Lorcan’s arms. The density of the air spiked in a flurry, wrenching a pained cry from my lips, as the magic lashed at my skin. Darkness curled around my vision, the compression of magic carving apart my consciousness.
A thunderous crack vibrated my lungs. With a whoosh, the energy shot past Fionna and dropped into the actual cauldron. Power burst out of the pot, heaving us back like a sonic boom, the object flying into the air. Lorcan dove over Piper and me, guarding us from the force.
At last, stillness descended around us, the only sound was from the crackling fire from burning objects nearby. I opened my eyes, looking at Piper curled in my arms. My attention shot to where the treasures lay near each other on the street.
“Mummy?” Piper wiggled away from Lorcan and me, crawling over to her mother.
Fionna lay only a few feet away. My heart in my throat, I clambered after Piper.
Brown eyes blinked at the sky. “Fionna!” I cried out. She turned to her daughter and me. Dazed, wounded, and exhausted, her lips parted in a soft smile, her hand reaching to touch Piper’s cheek.
“I knew you could do it, Mummy.” Piper wrapped her arms around Fionna.
Fionna ran her hand over Piper’s hair, holding on to her tight. “You did?”
“Of course. You’re like a superhero.”
“No, Piper. You are my superhero.” Fionna’s face crumpled and tears wracked her chest as she hugged Piper closer, her other arm grasping for me.
“So are you. You did it,” she whispered to me in awe.
“We all did it.” I wrapped my arms around them both, squeezing harder as though the hug could hold my heart together.
“Can I get in on this family hug?” A deep voice cut through the silence. Lars climbed shakily to his feet, badly injured, clothes shredded, and wobbling on his legs, but his chartreuse eyes stared down at Fionna and Piper with love.
Fionna slowly stood up, her gaze never leaving Lars. They stood staring at each other for several beats. With a sob, Fionna leaped into his arms, tears wracking her body. Lars nestled his face in her neck, picking her off her feet, a guttural sigh croaked out of his throat as his muscles relaxed into hers. They clung to each other, their expressions a mix of agony, joy, and relief.
He kissed her neck, breathing her in, before he set her back on her feet. The moment he did, Piper ran up, barreling into them, wrapping her arms around them. Lars scooped her up, quickly wiping the moisture from his eyes.
“Darz.” Piper curled around his neck, squeezing him tight. “I love you.”
An emotion I had never seen from him, flickered over Lars’s face, crumbling with such softness and deep, unconditional love.
“I love you too.” He kissed her temple. Oh my god. I was melting. “You saved me, Piper. Thank you.”
She leaned back, a proud smile on her lips.
“Actually, both my daughters did.” Lars glanced back at Ember, awe and love glowing deeper in his irises. Ember wiped her eyes, leaning into Eli. “I’m an incredibly lucky man.”
“You’re going to be.” Fionna mumbled barely loud enough for me to hear as she cozied in closer to her little family. Lars cupped her face, staring at Fionna as if she was his world before he drew her mouth to his, kissing her.
A hand wrapped around my stomach, and I turned to Lorcan. He pulled me to him, love burning in his eyes. “They okay?”
“Yeah.” I nodded, rubbing my flat belly, already sensing them. “They’re strong.”
“No shit.” He snorted, his fingers sliding up my jaw. “They’re ours.”
Chapter 32
Fionna
Lars’s mouth covered mine hungrily, hinting at what it would do to me later. The need for him, to have him inside, to claim, taste, and feel every inch of him, almost overwhelmed me. The only thing that stopped me was my daughter. I didn’t want to be parted from her for a moment.
This five-year-old was my champion. I could not believe what she’d done, how scared she must have been. But she never gave up. As a mother who barely got the chance to be one—I had only brought pain, danger, and loss. What damage had I already done to her? She was strong, determined, and stubborn, but she was still a little girl. A child who had chosen to be locked up in a dark dungeon with a baby, because she never doubted she could save him. Who ran into war because she understood she had to save us too.
Except I had not been saved.
I had died.
The cauldron had won.
I had felt death take me into darkness and nothing.
In the end, the stone had shoved my soul back in my body when it ripped the cauldron from me.
“I died,” I whispered, pulling back from Lars, my head already turning to the side in pursuit. “I was dead…”
“What’s wrong?” Lars’s brows pulled down, sensing the agitation in my body, my head jerking from side to side. He set Piper down as I moved away from them. “Fionna?”
Inside, I searched for the connection. The link I created to him, tethering his life to the earth. I felt nothing. If I died, then my magic keeping him tied to life would break.
“Goran,” I said just loud enough for Lars to hear me. Rubble, smoke, and dead bodies enveloped every inch of the village lane and courtyard, my mucky and bloody boots hiked over the obstacles.
Only a few yards away, I spotted blond hair sprouting through debris. I already knew the truth, but my stomach still plummeted to my feet.
“Goran.” I went to the dead man’s side. Lars came around the other side of him, his jaw twitching. “I am so sorry for what I did. I hope you find
peace now.”
“He has,” Lars replied softly, a slight croak in his throat.
Staring at Goran, I knew it was true. Goran’s lifeless eyes stared up into the sky like it was calling him, a slight smile set on his mouth. Serene. Content.
“I vow I will never do it to anyone else.” I lowered Goran’s lids. At one time, we hated each other; now I peered down on a face who had become an ally, if not a friend.
“FRIEND OR FOE!” Kennedy’s voice rang out. I swiveled around. My sister stood on top of the roof of a smoldering car, her hands raised as her words traveled over the field, circling around the courtyard. Dressed in black, her hair wild and blowing in the wind, blood and dirt streaked her face. Their Queen had fought right by their side. She didn’t hide behind her soldiers or inside the walls.
“Fuck,” I muttered. She looked like a goddess of war. A true Queen. Ruthless but also kind.
“The war is over. Stavros is dead.” Cheers arose from below and from our group. “Surrender now. If you continue to fight, you will sacrifice your life for nothing.”
It was the first time I truly looked around. Only allies of the Queen stood around. Almost all of Stavros’s men were in pieces scattered across the courtyard. Quite a few of the stone’s experiments were dead, and any who survived had slunk off in the commotion.
“The stone’s tie to them broke.” Lars came up to my side. “They were his prisoners as much as I was. Their loyalty died the moment the stone’s power could no longer hold them.”
“That means they are out there now.”
“Yes. More of them than you realize.” Lars’s hand came to my back, looking down at me. “But that’s for another time.”
“Stavros, the false King, is dead!” Kennedy shouted, her arms waving in the air. “Long live the Unseelie King! King Lars.”
Cheers and yells poured in all around. Kennedy turned to Lars, a smile on her lips, joyous and heartbroken. Lars might have been back on the throne, but we had lost so many in the pursuit. Probably many more than I even realized.
In my periphery, I saw Zoey and her group crouched as though in mourning over someone. I saw Cooper and West helping Cole, who was bleeding badly from a wound in his torso. Healers from the castle ran out to attend the injured.
Rise From the Embers (Lightness Saga #4) Page 39
