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“Do not attack him again,” Maebh ordered.
But the Sluagh was not pacified. He paced like a tiger in a cage. All Six were just as agitated, their gazes intent on their future queen, sweat dappling their skin as though the small shafts of sunlight were as hot as an oven.
Nova launched into his arms, trembling.
“I’m fine,” he whispered, stroking her hair.
The leader of the Six ignored Leaf with implacable stoicism. Leaf’s jaw clenched. He collectedReckoningand again had a moment of hopelessness. “What the fuck is going on with you and the Sluagh?”
Maebh’s lips parted, and she squeezed her eyes shut, convulsing slightly as though stopping herself from vomiting. When her eyes opened again, she answered Leaf. “They’re protecting their new queen.”
Leaf’s gaze whipped to the battlefield. “Willow?”
“I read about this in the ancient lore. Her wave of power was the challenge, an instinctive call to arms. Every ounce of being in my body wanted to rip her apart. If it weren’t for my daughter standing by her side, she’d bedeadby now.”
The vehemence in her voice sent shivers skating down Leaf’s spine.
Our wolf queen is mighty.Bodin’s lips curved wickedly, and Leaf swore pride washed over his handsome features.
Leaf’s gaze slid to Varen, the Six’s seer, and everything made sense. These mysterious, private Guardians had either meddled with missions or offered help at the strangest of times. They never explained their motives and rarely came when the Prime called.
Varen said,“The moment of her conception caused a stir within the Well. She was both blessed and cursed at once. A gift of both worlds, a true queen of the between and of all.”
“The prophecy,” the Prime gasped, understanding coming over her haggard features. “It’s not about Clarke, but her daughter. Rush was cursed at the time—they’re the ones who told me how to do it.”
A mournful smile touched Legion’s lips. “We have waited eons for one who sees in the dark, just as us. One who is neither a dream nor a nightmare. She is our skin.”
Maebh’s eyes darted back and forth. “How long have you planned my ruin?”
“By murdering our Seventh,” Legion replied, “you sealed your doom. You bargained with the Well for us, but we bargained for her. Everything afterward, including this”—he gestured at the glowing blue drop beneath his eye—“was for her.”
Fox chuckled, his tail lashing. “There cannot be two in one place. We knew you’d have the will to rein in the compulsion to kill her—with the right ammunition.” His smile died. “But you’d have destroyed her as a child, so we sent her away.”
“To grow fierce,” grumbled Spike from the shadows.
“And strong,” added Legion.
“To wait until you withered,” Emrys drawled.
“Or to be unmade,” Bodin smirked.
Even as the dawn weakened them, they smiled triumphantly at their old queen. Leaf had the sense they were toying with her, just as Emrys had played with the demogorgon. And he feared this game wasn’t over.
Betrayal flashed across Maebh’s features, followed swiftly by dismay and fear. She knew she was weakened… the Sluagh had orchestrated events for this precise moment—the blood they’d fed Shade and Indigo, the way Maebh turned Bones into the demogorgon afterward, inevitably creating the taint and her lack of mana. She had to steal from the Prime, but that wouldn’t last. Stolen mana was finite and would not replenish from the Cosmic Well.
The Six had orchestrated everything.Fuck.
How many fae would die, all so they could claim their new queen?
ChapterForty-Nine
Leaf fought off more undead breaking past the demogorgon’s barrier.
The Sluagh cared nothing about fae lives, nothing about humans. They only wanted a queen who didn’t control them like Maebh did—a true mate.
More of the frenzied surged. No one stood by idly. No more talking. Aleksandra, Maebh, and any Unseelie brave enough left to stand by their queen. Even the Six plucked the frenzied from their bodies like pests.
When the horde grew thick, Leaf released a blast of raw power from his dwindling resources. At this point, he didn’t care. He wanted them gone. He needed this to be over. He was tired of fighting. Tired of this never-ending cycle of death and life.
