And he had the power to kill everybody in this room.
I yelled his name just as a rush of power barreled out of the prince and crashed through the massive dining hall. It hit every kingsfae in the vicinity at once, slamming them to the floor as the other fae in the room began to scream.
I reached for my mate, trying to rein him back in, but elemental wind whipped through the hall, snuffing out every candle. The dining room plunged into darkness, and the screaming increased.
Fumbling, I staggered toward Jax. Only the barest hint of light penetrated the underside of the doors, allowing me to see faint outlines.
“Adarian!” I called through the torrent of Jax’s air element blasting through the room. “Stop! Don’t do this. They’ll only blame you more!”
“Stay down, Elowen.” His voice was so faint even though he stood only an arm length away, and I realized he’d locked me in a void to protect me.
“My prince!” I called again, but it was no use.
On a rush of wind, Jax levitated into the air, careening through the dimly lit hall as he targeted every authority figure who had sought to take me into custody.
Kingsfae grunted, some screaming in pain, others yelling that they’d been blinded or couldn’t hear. The dining hall became a cacophony of darkness, writhing figures, and unleashed elements. But Jax held his Mistvale magic at bay. He didn’t command anyone. Whether that be because he knew such an act would surely implicate him as the Dark Raider or because he knew it was fruitless given the devices the kingsfae wore in their ears, I didn’t know.
I squinted in the darkness, trying to see more.
A shuffling of feet and shifting of dark shapes pushed away from the wall. Jax’s friends shoved off the kingsfae who’d bound them, trying to get to the prince, but a huge rush of new magic from the front of the dining table abruptly flooded the entire room in a torrent of water.
I screamed when water slammed through Jax’s barrier into my shins and nearly knocked me to the floor.
Darkness.
Water.
Wind.
It was as if we’d been transported to an underground cave with rising flood waters and lashing currents. But in a moment of clarity, it hit me that the king commanded magic from more than one kingdom too, and given that Jax’s mother was from Faewood and undoubtedly had elemental magic as well, it wasn’t a surprise that the land had blessed their son with all four elements.
“Adarian, stop this now!” The king seethed as he wove his magic. Another tidal wave of water rose into the air, barely decipherable in the shadowy room.
The wave crested over the prince, swallowing Jax as he levitated in the air.
Heavy water crashed upon him, and my mate fell back to the floor. But the king didn’t stop. Water cascaded over Jax. Soaking him. Pinning him. Drowning him as well if it didn’t lift soon.
Light suddenly filled the room again, each candlewick bursting with flame. The queen’s hands lifted, magic emitting from her palms, and the flames grew higher. Behind her, Guardian Alleron cowered, his eyes wide with panic.
The strength of the royal family’s magic hit me at once. They had so muchpower.
Jax struggled against the water, and I shoved through the tide swirling around my calves, his void gone. I reached for him beneath the current holding him under. Magic rattled inside me as the prince fought against the water holding him down, but I tried to contain my instinctual reactions, knowing that diffusing this situation was the only way to salvage any peaceful resolution.
But Icouldn’tlet them hurt my mate. “Release him!” I yelled at the king.
Disoriented kingsfae staggered to their feet, still blinded given their fumbling movements as they moved toward the prince, arms out.
More magic billowed inside me. The instinct to destroy anyone who harmed my mate rose in me so swiftly that shadows unfurled from my limbs of their own accord.
I rounded on the king, magic crackling all around me. “I saidrelease him.” Sheer power vibrated through my words, and I knew my eyes were shining like emeralds as my shadows grew.
The king staggered back, disbelief etching into his face as he beheld me.
But before I could act, a rush of stone exploded from the floor, shooting through the water holding the prince down and aiming straight for the king.
Jax’s elemental magic shredded through the king’s water, and King Stagthorn ducked at the last moment. If he hadn’t, a jagged boulder would have taken his head off.
The queen shrieked, ducking to the side as well, just as a soaking-wet prince rose above the king’s water element. Air instantly billowed around him, drying him completely, and he did the same for me, drying my dress entirely.
