Rian put a hand on my back that I knew was meant to caution me, but my gaze stayed locked on the queen who was beginning to vibrate with her rising anger. I should have been too terrified to anger such an ancient creature. But I found I was actually rather amused that she could be so easily incited.
“You arenothing, and yet, you presume to insultme?” Aoibheal shrieked in pure outrage. “You will return to the earth long before I even think of you again,mortal!”
“We shall see about that,” I smirked before I began to draw on my magic hard and fast. The red runes at my feet all lit up in a warning that was much too late.
“Nuala, no!” Rian tried to stop me, but I had already unleashed a blast of fire magic that was far more powerful than any mortal should be able to wield. It left me dizzy, but even worse was the fiery pain of claws driving into my skull and ripping through my veins. I screamed out in pain this time as the oath circle shattered like glass with a boom that resounded deep in the earth under my feet.
I had not told Rian this part of the plan because I knew he would never agree. But in striking the first blow, I had not only brokenMionn na Síochána, but I had also taken the punishmentfor doing so upon myself.
Leaving Rian free to act against Queen Aoibheal.
“Nuala!” he gasped, kneeling with me instead of going after her as I hunched over in agony.
“Get. Her,” I gritted out, because I knew that Aoibheal would already be slinking away into another portal.
Then all I could focus on was the foreign magic that felt like it was crushing my head. I used Rian’s power to drink some of it down and lessen the pain, but it was a tidal wave that kept badgering me.
I was not sure how much time passed before I felt new hands on me. All I knew was that they were friendly ones when I was pulled against a broad chest and held tight.
“I have you,” Darragh assured me, and I realized I was crying too hard and loudly to even thank him.
And then everything went black…
Rian
The sacrifice that Nuala had made in the circle meant that Aoibheal was finally within my grasp. Everything I had fought to accomplish during the last two decades was just seconds away from fruition because of my mate…
But I could not pull away from Nuala while she was writhing and screaming in such pain.
“Get. Her,” she urged me through her clenched teeth, and still I could not bring myself to move from her side. Not until she used my power on the curse to siphon some of the pain that was tormenting her.
Darragh!I shouted down the bond, but my friend was already there and drawing Nuala into his arms.
“I have her. Get Aoibheal!” he insisted as he nodded his head toward where Aoibheal had been hit by Nuala’s shocking display of power.
I looked up and saw the queen was on her back with her thin arms curled around herself. Caelan knelt over her, looking shocked and uncertain how to help her while the other Draugr tensed in wait for his instruction.
If I did not get a hold of the situation, then my mate’s sacrifice would be for naught.
“My apologies, Your Highness,” I said before I struck out at Caelan with a blast of air magic from Darragh that threw the Draugr prince. It was not nearly hard enough to hurt him, but it would keep him winded for a moment.
The second I struck out at their prince, the Draugr all attacked, which told me that their loyalty already lay with Caelan and not their queen. But before they could manage more than a few steps, I had erected a dome of shadows over Darragh, Nuala, Aoibheal, and myself. The hissing shield certainly kept the Draugr back since they did not want to risk their magic being siphoned. But being inside a dome formed of my shadows was wildly disorienting, even for me as my power crackled over my skin. The air was ripped from my lungs, and the only reason any of us could still breathe was because Darragh was using his air magic behind me.
Aoibheal seemed to regain her senses and attempted to form a portal beneath her, but I grabbed her bony ankle and pulled her away before she could escape. She gave a wail of denial and tried to kick free of me before lashing out with fire magic so feeble I deflected without thinking. And the fact that the Queen of Ahnnaòin could not seem to mount even a small defense made me sick. How could she believe that she should be ruling our court when she was too weak to defend herself?
“You are pathetic. I am ashamed to exploit something so weak and futile,” I hissed in disgust. But there was no other choice, so I gripped her throat and got to my feet, lifting her bony bodywith me so her feet were under her. “This is your last chance to surrender your power to your heir of your own free will. Or I shall take it from you!”
“Kill him! Kill him!” she screeched, her tattered wings fluttering as feebly as a dying moth.
I looked up at Prince Caelan who stood helplessly on the other side of my shadows. All he could do was wait and watch as I did what he should have done long ago.
And hope to all the gods that I was right, and it would strengthen our failing court again rather than doom it…
“Very well,” I growled as Darragh opened a portal for the other riders to join us. “Then I shall take it.”
Ornella
I did not hesitate to follow Sage through the portal that Darragh had created for us, but the maelstrom of magic we emerged into was nearly intolerable. The air felt too heavy to breathe, and my lungs began to burn for oxygen. My head and joints ached, and I flexed my jaw when it began to feel like my ears needed to pop. I felt disoriented and like I might be sick, but I held onto Sage until I had finally acclimated enough to function.
