Lachlan rolled his eyes as if my accusations were mere dramatics. But I knew he had killed her, even if he tried to deny it when I confronted him about it many years ago. She was the light I clung to when I questioned my sanity, but she assured me that I was nothing like my father.
Whenever she told me I was destined for greatness, it did not leave me nauseous as it had when he said it.
“You are predictable.Thatis stopping you from taking hold of your birthright and ruling. Do you truly believe anyone in this world to be unequivocallymoral? Look around you. The people you are ardently protecting have all killed before. They have lied, cheated, and sought blood for their own revenge. But what is different between their perspective and mine? At least I do not hide behind a crown of gold and pretend to be anything other than what I am.” He pointed one long, clawed finger in my direction. “But you do, and you hate me for uncovering your eyes to the world’s true nature. Life is not about good or evil because everyone has shades of darkness.”
A lightning bolt struck the ground beside Lachlan, and he watched as the cobblestone street cracked. “Enough,” Alric growled. “This ends today, Lachlan.”
The monster cocked his head, his wretched eyes burning. “On that, we can agree.”
Alric jumped forward, out of the shield, and sent a blast of white light barreling toward Lachlan. Eva attempted to move around me, but I held her back. Luka moved forward, his grip on his sword tightening. I had hoped he would have slipped back through the gates with Ciena, but he had not budged when they closed.
Lachlan met Alric’s shot with one of his own, the light and dark powers tangling as they grappled for purchase. Temporarily distracted, Eva slipped out of my hold. I cursed, lunging for her, but she was too quick.
She encompassed Lachlan in a ring of fire, breaking his concentration long enough that her father’s hit grazed his skin. He hissed, gripping the wound to staunch the flow of rancid black blood bubbling to the surface.
He trained his murderous gaze on Eva, who, to her credit, did not flinch. Instead, she raised her head up higher, looking down on him despite her shorter stature. A single flame danced in her palm as the wind picked up around us, and there was no way to discern if she was the cause or if it was her father’s doing.
Lachlan’s hands fell to his sides, spreading wide as shadows fell from his fingertips. They slithered across the ground, racing toward our feet to ensnare us in his hold. But I unfurled my own as they collided with one another.
To our left, our soldiers battled against The Horde. The street was a river of blood, running so thick that the stones underneath were barely visible anymore. The ward between us muffled their strangled cries, and I hated how I could do nothing but watch as so many of our men lost their lives at the hands of our enemies.
This was different from any other battle I had been thrust into. I was accustomed to expansive battlefields that allowed the soldiers to move freely without constraint or worry if the man behind them was an enemy or a foe. But they were fighting in such close quarters that it would be difficult to tell the difference in the heat of the moment.
Alric lunged toward Lachlan, tackling him and slamming his head into the hard ground. They groaned, rolling around with each other as they fought to regain control. Luka quickly jumped into the fray, attempting to use Lachlan’s distraction against him. He pulled Alric to his feet, grabbing a dagger from his belt before he tossed his sword to his former king.
The three stared at each other, no doubt wondering where they were supposed to go from here. I assumed Lachlan would not play fair and would use his power against the weapons Alric and Luka held in their hands, but I was wrong.
He pulled a long sword from his sheath, the metal shining even in the dim lighting. “Fine, he bit out. “We can do this your way only because watching this blade slice through your chest will be rewarding.”
And then he lunged.
The clattering of metal hitting the ground caught my attention. Lachlan had thrown his weapon on the ground, but then he reached for a small dagger concealed in his boot. Before I could call out, Lachlan gripped the handle of the blade in his hand and plunged it into Alric’s side. There was a sharp intake of breath as he looked down at the wound, staring at it for a long moment before meeting Lachlan’s gaze.
I sent a dark surge of power toward Lachlan’s chest, knocking him away from Alric and Eva. This would end today. Never again would I cower away from my gifts. If I’d only been a moment quicker, I could have prevented Alric’s injury.
Lachlan’s smile was vicious as he turned around, throwing a punch that rendered Luka unconscious. His body hit the ground with a thud, his head bouncing against the hard surface.
“No!” Eva bellowed, running forward. I saw the worry in her eyes as she glanced at her friend.
“I have him,” I said quickly, moving to Luka’s side and pulling him out. His hands hung limply at his side as I gripped him under his arms and dragged him back. The wound to his head was bleeding, but not heavily, and I could tell he was still breathing.
Eva dropped to Alric’s side, attempting to pull him out of Lachlan’s reach, but he refused to budge. He gripped her wrist, clamping down tightly and causing her to cry out. She looked at him in horror, watching his eyes dimly fade to black, glittering jewels.
He pulled her closer, turning on her with a vicious snarl. The wound on his side was bleeding heavily, but he acted as if he felt no pain as he stared down at his daughter. Eva looked between the hold on her wrist and her father’s face, her brows furrowed in scared confusion. She hadn’t noticed his other hand casually moving to the dagger still buried in his side.
“Get away from her!” I bellowed, running over too late. Alric had already pulled the small dagger free and slammed it down toward Eva’s chest. Her hands came up quickly, blocking the blow before it could land. She struggled against his hold, especially as he used his body weight to help gain purchase. Just as her arms were beginning to give out, I kicked Alric to the ground before dragging Eva away from her father. Bruises were already forming where his fingers had dug into her skin, and there was only a small nick where the knife had bit into her skin.
“What have you done?” Eva hissed, rising to her knees. Her voice trembled, arms hanging loosely by her side as she stared at her father. He stood tall and proud next to the man he had been trying to kill only moments earlier.
My gaze flipped between Eva and Lachlan, panic rising in my chest until it consumed me. If Eva’s father attacked her, she could not bring herself to harm him. It would come to a pivotal point where one of them would need to land a killing blow, and I knew it would not be her.
Her hand reached for mine on instinct, and I felt the burn of her hot skin on mine. The heat raged in her gaze, and though we were surrounded by fire, the smell of freshly burning timber filled my nostrils.
Lachlan paid us no mind, leaning down to whisper something in Alric’s ear that we could not make out. His gaze flicked between Eva and I, and she squeezed my hand tighter. I wished at that moment I could comfort her and tell her everything would be okay in the end, but the truth was that I had no idea if it would be okay. Not anymore, at least.
Because even if Eva did somehow manage the courage to strike her father down before he did the same to her, she would never recover from the damage that would do to her heart. My beautiful girl would simply be a shell, and I refused to let that happen.
Alric stepped forward, picking up Lachlan’s sword from where he’d tossed it earlier. I only had seconds to think before Alric ran toward his daughter. I pushed her back, taking her place and raising my blade to meet his. There was no flicker of the man I had known, not as he pushed off against my hold and swung around to strike once again.
