I stepped out of the way, which angered him further. “Come on, Alric,” I muttered. “Do not make me do this.” But the man did not stop. He kept coming at me with an unhinged fury that showed no sign of stopping. My saving grace was that I had successfully drawn his attention away from Eva, even if that high was short-lived, as I realized I had only put her in Lachlan’s instead.
Alric’s skin was clammy, the eerie pallor from blood loss and exhaustion. Crimson stained the front of his armor, steadily flowing in a constant stream due to his continuous movement; the wound had no chance to close.
I heard a faint crackling noise behind me—something I quickly dismissed—we were surrounded by a smattering of fires and wreckage. But, seeing as he met me blow for blow, I could not risk taking my eyes off Alric.
But then, a sense of dread trickled down my spine, and I took the chance to look in Eva’s direction.
She stood facing Lachlan, the two of them locked in a standoff, neither moving. Her hands were spread wide, fingers alight with vibrant flames. Though there was no wind, her hair whipped around her as if she faced a raging storm.
As her eyes met mine, I knew she had shut herself off from every emotion thundering through her mind. A sense of detachment in her gaze sparked my anxiety to greater heights. Her words from earlier played on repeat, the ones where she tried to tell me to save myself and let her sacrifice herself for her people and kingdom.
It had broken my heart that she saw this as the only option. She’d grown so much over the past month, working through her insurmountable grief and crippling sadness. We allowed ourselves to plan, to dream of the future. At the same time, we both knew if it came down to her giving her life to secure her kingdom's future, she would do so without question.
As I’d been lost in my thoughts, the pommel of Alric’s sword connected with the back of my head, and I crumpled onto the ground. My vision swarmed, the fires alarmingly bright and shapes blurry as I tried to take in my surroundings. I reached back, my fingers touching something hot and slick.
Alric’s form stood above me, blade in his hand as he looked down on me. I waited for the blow to come, for him to land a final blow that would send me to the heavens, but it never came. He simply stared, his body not moving in the slightest.
I turned to my right, wondering if I was incapacitated more than I believed. Eva hovered in the air, her hands spread and her head tipped to the sky. Her body was aflame, bright fire licking every inch of her skin. She was almost unrecognizable, especially in my current state. Dark tendrils shot toward her, but none made it through the barrier of air she had created in front of her.
Though I could not see Lachlan’s face, I heard his frustration with every grunt and howl which left his lips. He was not used to his magic being rendered useless, and his anger was likely to only grow with each strike blocked.
The heat from Eva’s form reached me, the blaze reaching scorching levels. She was pushing herself too hard, especially given how untested this new power was. It tended to consume her, aiming for total annihilation, and I knew she was giving in to it.
Before I could attempt to reach her, blinding flame exploded from her body. The only things I could hear before darkness overtook me were screams of absolute anguish.
Chapter47
Eva
Ihad always known I would do whatever was needed to win this war and ensure Aethion continued to thrive. I just had not known it would be this. Matthew had thought he could stop me, but I had no intention of letting that happen, even as I grappled with the emotions warring in my mind. I wanted to see my kingdom survive, but I did not want to let my mate go.
Everything in my life had happened to lead me to this crucial moment, the one where I would be able to avenge every single death, every wrong decision, and every pang of guilt I carried over my three hundred years. If I was sacrificed in the process, I would gladly pay the price if those left behind were saved.
But Matthew had not known I had been experimenting with these new powers since we came home.
I had approached Ciena, telling her everything I could about how the flames overthrew every other instinct in my body. They had always been my more prominent element, coming to me with little thought most of the time, but this was something different. Although I could still feel them, every other element remained dormant except for that fiery rage.
Apparently, she and Arabella had similar issues when they were children. Given their half-fae, half-witch parentage, their powers were innately tied to their emotions, causing their guardians more grief than they had bargained for. Ciena had coached me, showing me how to hone my anger and turn it into something useful without letting it destroy me.
Above all, I needed to let go of my need for constant control, and trust myself to know my limits.
And now, as I hovered in the air above Lachlan, I had the confidence to know I could annihilate him and everything he stood for. But the one thing I could not do was look at Matthew because if I saw fear on his face, I would crumble.
I barely noted Ciena standing on the parapet, her hands outstretched as her lips moved quickly. As much as I would have loved to have her down with me, we could not risk Lachlan realizing Arabella’s sister was within his reach, so she and I had planned this encounter meticulously.
Flames clung to my body like skin until Ibecamea raging inferno. I no longer belonged to myself, instead allowing my power to consume me. There was, I learned, a fine line I needed to walk to make it out of this alive, but I was not concerned about that.
If I protected those in need, that was all I cared about.
Lachlan cursed as every single attempt to crack my shields was thwarted. His anger intensified, which I expected; I had wanted this—for him to become reckless and act without thinking.
Ciena kept an impenetrable ward around me, allowing my powers to flourish to their full potential before I unleashed them on the man in front of me.
The beauty of this?
He would never see it coming.
“You little bitch,” he spat. His black eyes glimmered with hints of my amber glow, reminding me of embers. “I will hang you from the palace gates when I am done carving your body up. After that, you will be nothing more than a feast for the crows.”
