“You ready?”
Elena blew out a breath, then nodded, and together we stepped into the alley, ready to end it, one way or another.
The strip was empty, but a commotion at the other end of Hodge caught our attention. More fighting, fae blades clashing, magic lighting up the wintry mist.
“It’s Jael!” I said, quickening my pace. He was fighting alongside two women—one I recognized as his sister, Kallayna. The other looked just like them, but slightly older. Not so much by physical age, the way a human might, but by stature. By wisdom.
She was, I realized in an instant, their mother. Queen Sheyah.
Whether they’d asked for her help or she’d simply arrived, I didn’t care. What mattered now was that she knew how to swing a sword, and she and her children made a formidable force against the tangle of fae enemies gathered before them.
Not waiting for an invite, Elena and I shifted into wolf form, leaping into the battle, taking down two Darkwinter Knights before anyone had even realized what’d happened.
The Queen swung a blade like a seasoned warrior, icing two soldiers in one shot, then pivoting to catch another in the chest. Her blade melted through their armor, eating down to the bone like acid.
I’d never seen anyone fight so ferociously. So calmly. I wondered how many battles she’d fought.
Together with the fae on our side, Elena and I continued to tear through the enemy, dodging their weapons, spilling their blood.
And then, backing away from the melee, a defector. A traitor to his own blood. A fucking coward wearing the uniform of a general, turning tail and trying to make his escape.
“Go,” Sheyah ordered, taking down another soldier, and Elena and I were off at a good clip.
I reached him first, launching myself onto his back and slamming him to the concrete. He struggled to reach his weapon, and just as his fist tightened around the pommel, I sank my wolf fangs into his forearm, his scream of agony washing over me like a symphony.
Elena bit his shoulder, but despite his cowardice, Orendiel was not easy prey. He fought hard and scrappy, beating us back with his boot, with a rock he’d picked up, with anything he could.
He managed to get to his feet, once again reaching for the deadly blade at his side.
But Elena was having none of it. She shifted back into her human form, the sudden appearance of her nude, powerful body distracting Orendiel just long enough for us to get the upper hand.
Elena grinned at him. As if I could read my sister’s mind, I locked my jaws around his ankle, biting until I heard the bone snap. Just before he dropped in agony, she swiped his sword.
Orendiel hit the ground, blood pouring from his wounds.
I pinned his legs with my massive form, and without hesitation, Elena shoved the fae blade into his throat.
“That’s for my brother, asshole.”
Certain he was no longer a threat, I shifted back into my human form, and together my sister and I loomed over the body as his skin melted away, the magic of the sword eating straight through. He writhed in agony, and I watched him burn, knowing full well the pain of that particular wound.
I couldn’t say I was sorry.
After several long moments, Orendiel finally stilled, his eyes dimming, the white mist of his breath disappearing into the night.
I felt nothing but relief.
We made our way back toward Queen Sheyah, Jael, and Kallayna, who were fending off the last of the soldiers. Several lay dead at our feet, and Elena and I—still nude from the shift—stripped off some of their clothing, quickly covering ourselves.
We rejoined the fight just in time to watch Kallayna behead the last fae standing.
In the momentary calm that followed, the five of us stood silent, almost reverent, taking in the scene. Fae corpses littered Hodge Street, blood pooling and running in rivulets down the pavement.
“Thank you, your Highness,” I finally managed, breaking the silence and offering a slight bow of gratitude. “I don’t know how you came to join us here, but I’m beyond grateful.”
“The Council has rotted from the inside,” she said, her voice laced with a sorrow that surprised me. I did not take her for an emotional woman, but she sounded truly regretful. “It was not supposed to be this way. I am here to right that wrong.”
I bowed again, then introduced my sister to the Queen and Kallayna.
