“Right. What do you want, Danu?”
A smile showcased crooked brown teeth. “You know what I want.”
“And we’ve established that’s not happening. There is such a thing called compromise if you want to try it.”
“You are no queen, Evie. No matter how much you pretend.”
“And you could go quietly into that good earth and stay there and yet, here we are.”
“Is this your final answer?” Danu’s eyes glittered with the thrill of taking me down.
“Didn’t realize we were on Jeopardy, but yes. That’s my final answer. You and everyone still standing here can fuck right off.”
Rowan huffed a laugh.
“Then let us dance, Pretender Queen.”
The earth bucked underneath our feet, tossing us into the air like chess pieces during an earthquake. Beside me, Neit curse and rose through the air, his ability to fly a distinct advantage on this playing field.
There was so much magic mingling in the air I had no idea who held what kind of power level. Shifters and mages behind me swelled with power seconds before leaping over me and straight into the fray. Magical attacks came from every direction. Mom and Dad were somewhere around. I knew so because agentle gust of wind caught me and set me back onto my feet when the ground started moving.
Danu, that sneaky bitch, had sunk back into the ground. I’d managed to repel her from beneath the earth before, but I felt like I did my best work aboveground. Getting her to resurface might be tricky, since she was right at home in the dark, creepy crawly nethers of the world.
I spotted Rowan’s chestnut colored hair, along with Ethan’s silver streaked temples. Caelan’s familiar roar sounded somewhere to my right. A hand at my elbow made me spin. Pax stood at my side. “I will protect you.”
His words made me chuckle. “Thanks, but I don’t think you fully understand what I am. Look for our court. Moira is out there somewhere. Help her or any of the others. I’m fine on my own.”
Pax didn’t love that answer, but he nodded instead and leapt away. With one final look at the raging battle, I allowed myself to sink deep into the heart of the earth as I sought to drain the being poisoning it.
With everything happening above, I couldn’t afford to send only my consciousness below. My body was too vulnerable to be left unattended. The feeling was strange. Thousands of pounds of dirt and rock pushed against me on all sides, and I had to remember to keep a small pocket of fresh air surrounding me. If I lost it, I wouldn’t die, but it might be a distraction I couldn’t afford.
I followed Danu’s presence through the earth. She laughed as I chased her, and after a while, I realized the old bitch was trying to lure me away from the others. Unwilling to allow her to do so, I rose, my focus on the people who chose to stand with Danu.
At my command, vines tore through the surface spearing any fae unlucky enough to be in their path. Careful to avoid any of the shifters, I coaxed and wove poison tipped barbs throughthose fae—a touch of poison here, a cut there, a drop there—and ever so slowly, the fae began to succumb, allowing our side to go in and finish them off.
I noted every fae who saw the tide turning and disappeared, and from my father’s glowing eyed scrutiny, so did he.
The other Lords were a whirlwind on the battlefield, teeth and claws and fury. I did my best to help them when I saw fae coming for their vulnerable spots, and even when her people were dying, Danu still did not come.
I had two last resort weapons in my arsenal—one far crueler than the other. The bond between me and Rowan stayed strong and steady. He was here somewhere in the fray, fighting for me and our people. But we weren’t completely victorious. Fallen shifters lay on the ground, some too late to save.
Tears of fury burned at the backs of my eyes, and once I saw the fae’s numbers dwindling enough to where they became easy pickings for the shifters, I closed my eyes and focused on Danu, finding her watching like a spider. I sent magic underneath her, ensuring she was distracted, and punched power underneath her, so ferocious it sent her physical form erupting from the ground like a geyser.
I yanked her from the air with a poison-tipped vine, delighting in the chokeduuurksound she made as I pulled her to me. When she was inches away, wrapped in vines and unable to move her limbs, I smiled.
“And so the spider becomes the prey.”
Blood slipped from Danu’s lips, her teeth pulling back from her lips in a grimace. She tried to speak but couldn’t. I loosened the vines just a hair, hoping she’d cry uncle. But the bitch spat, “Everyone you love will die.”
I was officially over it. I was over the fae, over the people who continually pressed me because they weren’t worried about the consequences, and over looking over my shoulder every time Istepped foot off my land. As much as I hated to do it, there was only one way to get Danu to stop.
Flinging away my doubts, I reached for the heart of her power, her connection to each of the realms, enabling her to freely traverse through them.
Her eyes widened as she realized what I was about to do. Power ripped from her. She flung herself away from my barbed vines, blood spraying as she ripped herself free. Danu fell to the ground, slamming her hands against the earth.
Terrible twisted thorned limbs burst from the ground, viscous poison worse than anything I’d ever created dripping from their barbed edges and headed straight for each of the Lords.
No.
