“Sorry to interrupt,” He murmurs, “it’s time for your friends to leave.”
I nod, the ache in my chest instantly returning at the thought of them going home.
“We’ll visit again soon,” Talia says as she stands. “Or maybe you can come back to us for a little while. We’ll have a sleepover.”
“I’ll bring the mint choc chip!” Ezra grins, bouncing like an excited puppy.
I feel the tears fill my eyes. “I’d love that.”
They move in, wrapping their arms around me in another three-way hug, holding me like I’m something sacred as our heads touch together.
“I love you both so much,” I whisper as the tears fall.
“We love you, Daisy Duke,” Ezra says softly, his voice catching.
“Laters, queen bitch,” Talia says, blowing me a kiss.
A few moments later,and they’re gone, Aran included. The room that was so filled with joy and love just moments ago is now empty, and the silence feels like it has swallowed me whole. For the first time in what feels like forever, I’m all alone.
I finishthe rest of my tea and move towards the bathroom. I hadn’t even realised I was still in this dress—the one I’d been immortalised in until I’d zoned back in and had seen the black fabric pooled around me. The second I realised, it felt like it was suffocating me. I need it off. I need to wash away the last twenty-four hours from my skin.
I step into the quiet bathroom, basking in the peace and quiet, and strip the gown from my body, leaving it in a heap on the obsidian tiled floor. I step beneath the warm flow of water and brace my hands on the cool stone wall. Steam rises around me in thick coils. I close my eyes, and for a moment, I just allow myself to breathe. Everything I’ve endured in the last twenty-four hours whirls around my head, and before I can understand what’s happening, the world shifts. Heat rushes up my spine, and my head feels blurry. The sound of running water fades, and my hands are no longer against the cool stone.
I open my eyes, and it’s like I’m having an out-of-body experience. Except, the body isn’t mine. The world around me is in flames. I’m standing in armour darker than night, obsidian etched with red runes glowing like embers. My silver hair is whipping behind me in a violent wind, stained with streaks of blood. My face is spattered with it too—demon blood, fae blood—I can’t tell whose is whose. All I can hear is the sound of voices chanting.
Ashborn. Ashborn. Ashborn.
Thousands of soldiers stand behind me, all chanting that name. My name. The sword in my grip is engulfed in white flame, so bright it burns the colour from the world around me. Upon my head, a blazing wreath of fire is wrapped in spirals of molten gold to resemble a crown. I blink, and I’m suddenly no longer looking at myself, but out of my eyes. Before me, the battlefield smoulders. A massive beast lies dead at my feet, smoke rising from its split-open chest. All around are corpses, some demon, some fae, and other things I don’t even recognise. And there, standing directly in front of me, is a large, fae warrior. His eyes burn violet, his ash coloured hair stuck to his skin, drenched in blood. One hand clutches at his ribs, right where a blade has pierced through. He sneers at me, canines longer than any I’ve ever seen.
“This is not over, Ashborn Queen,” he growls. “They sent me to destroy you. I may not have won, but they will.”
The vision shatters, causing me to stumble backwards. My palms grasp at air as I struggle to find my footing. I turn, slamming my back against the wall as I gasp for breath, the steam suffocating as I fight for oxygen. My heart is racing like I’ve just come off the battlefield for real. My body trembles, my skin freezing despite the warm water. The fear won’t leave, it’s deep in my bones. It felt so real.
“Daisy?”
His voice cuts through the haze. I turn my head, breath still catching in my throat. Korithax stands just outside the shower, eyes wide, concern carved into every sharp line of his face.
“What is it?” He asks, already moving to be by my side.
“I just had… I don’t know. A vision?” I whisper. “A battlefield. Dasmyrin had just won a battle against a huge fae man. He was bleeding out, and he used his dying words to tell me something.”
“What. What did he say?”
“This is not over, Ashborn. They sent me to destroy you. I may not have won… but they will.” I whisper, repeating his words as my heart thunders.
Korithax’s brow tightens as he steps fully into the room, scanning me, like he’s making sure I’m whole and safe.
“The gates to other universes were sealed long before I was even born,” he says, his voice low. “There were whispers that the fae had grown greedy. That they wanted more than their realm, that they wanted all of ours too. Every ruler in every realm joined together to close the borders.” He moves to me, stroking my hair out of my face. “No one should be able to cross over again, Daisy.”
I grip my arms, water pouring over the pair of us. “But what if they already did? What if the ‘they’ that sent him—what if that’s the Divine Six?”
Korithax lets out a slow, cold breath. “It sounds like something they’d do. Manipulate someone else to do their dirty work. Someone they could cut ties with. Someone who’d be impossible to trace.” I watch as his jaw pulses. “Universe travel is nearly impossible. It takes catastrophic power. God-tier magic.”
“But there were fae in the realms we visited. What if they want blood?”
Korithax shakes his head. “They are the offspring of when the fae were welcomed here. They are not out to harm you, Daisy. They are more our creatures than theirs.”
I shiver against the feeling of dread taking over my body. “This is too much. I don’t even feel like I can breathe.”
