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Rian’s heart stopped.
A Domnua had crept up behind her and stabbed her in the back. He could feel the pain as if it was his own. Was that part of the fated mate claim one part of his brain idly wondered as he raced across the field, stabbing any Dark Fae that dashed into his path. He needed to get to Terra before the other Domnua fell upon her.
He wasn’t going to make it in time.
Screaming, Rian lifted his hands to send out a wave of magick as a Dark Fae lifted a blade over the back of Terra’s neck. At his shout, Terra looked up, her impossibly beautiful eyes locking with his.
Time seemed to slow as the blade lowered, and though Rian had already sent out a wave of protective magick, he could see it shimmering across the meadow, a second too late, when a flash of movement caught his eye. In the last moment before the blade could render its killing blow, Cormac dove between it and Terra, taking the blade for his sister.
His body landed on top of Terra just as Rian’s magick hit the rest of the Domnua surrounding her and eliminated them in one silvery explosion.
“Terra. Baby. Let me see,” Rian skidded to a halt and dropped to his knees, pushing Cormac from where his still body pinned Terra to the ground. He couldn’t care less if Cormac was dead, but his future hinged on if Terra was. When she moaned, rolling over in his arms and blinked those gorgeous eyes up at him, Rian’s stomach twisted. He might actually be sick, he realized, and swallowed back the bile that rose in his throat at the thought of how close he’d come to losing her.
“Rian. Oh,no.” Terra struggled to sit up when she saw Cormac’s body. “We have to help him. Rian, please.”
“Terra…” Rian could see the shimmer in the air around Cormac, which indicated the soul had already left his body. He knew Terra could see it as well, but still she grabbed desperately at her brother’s shoulders. “He’s gone.”
“No. Not like this. Oh no, Cormac.No. It wasn’t supposed to be like this,” Terra said, tears dripping down her face for the brother who had betrayed them both.
Who had ultimately saved her life.
And his.
When Rian shifted, he realized his hands were sticky, and his eyes widened at the blood on his hands. Terra’s blood. Panic kicked up, and fury caused him to turn and stand. They needed a moment of peace in this battle to heal Terra or Rian could truly lose his mind.
Standing, he shouted for the others, as he turned and faced the army.
“Mother Earth, oh wondrous and magickal being, I call upon your powers now to shift the balance from dark to light. The one who has endlessly nurtured you and stood for you is hurt. Will you not help her as she has helped you?” With that plea, Rian raised his hands and pulled the Earth’s magick through him and sent a wave of it across the field. Much like the magick that Terra had used in their game the other day, the grass reached up, catching the Dark Fae as they ran, and pulled them into the Earth. Their screams were the last thing Rian heard before silence fell upon the meadow.
“Well, that was effective,” Bianca commented as she skidded to a halt by his side, blood matting her blonde hair.
“She’s hurt,” Rian said, and dove for Terra to catch her before she slumped to the ground. Her body trembled in his arms, and tears coursed down her cheeks. Rian pulled her onto his lap, cradling her as she wept for her brother, worry for her injury coursing through him. “Terra, love. You’re losing a lot of blood. You need to let us heal you.”
“I … he’s gone. Cormac’s gone. And the last words I said to him were in anger,” Terra wept into her palms. Her breath came in short gasps, and, when she jerked in his arms, Rian realized she wasn’t just sobbing — she was struggling to breathe.
“Callahan. Help,” Rian looked to Callahan, who had a way with healing.
“I don’t know that I can,” Callahan said. He crouched by their side and ran his hands over Terra’s arms, closing his eyes as he did. When he opened them, Rian wanted to punch his friend in the face. It was sorrow in his eyes.
“Don’t say it,” Rian warned.
“It might be too…” Callahan trailed off as Terra bowed in Rian’s arms, losing consciousness.
“No,no. Absolutely not,” Rian cried out. Standing with Terra in his arms, he whirled in a circle, his thoughts jumbling together like cars piling up on each other in an accident.
“Claim her,” Bianca demanded, grabbing his arm so he looked down at her. “Claim her, Rian. It enhances your powers, doesn’t it?Claim her.”
“I don’t… I can’t…” Rian couldn’t think straight. He stumbled forward, the weight of Terra and the responsibility to save her growing heavy in his arms. Light caught his eye.
There, at the small gathering of trees, light danced through the leaves again. It shouldn’t be there, as the clouds had rolled in, and yet sunny rays shimmered. Rian understood at once that his mother was with them. Stumbling over to the trees with Terra in his arms, he knelt to the Earth so the warm rays could dance across her skin.
“What do I do mother?” Rian whispered.
What’s in your heart.
Rian looked down at Terra, a soul so pure and lovely that he could kick himself for ever having caused her an ounce of pain, and realized he would be nothing but an empty shell of a man without her by his side. How foolish he’d been to question for an instant the love that she offered so freely to him.
“Terra, my love. Terra, my heart. Terra, leader of Earth Fae, Goddess of my heart, I claim you a thousand times over. You, and only you, are my fated mate, and forever on, I will cherish you. Please, my love, hear my claim. Come back to me.” Rian begged, whispering the words against her cheek, and was surprised to find tears wetting his cheeks. Light flashed, so brilliant that he had to close his eyes against it, and something inside him shifted. It was a subtle click, like a lock snapping into place, and liquid golden warmth filled him. His magick crowed, and he realized he was getting the rush of amplified powers that the Fae spoke about and so closely protected. In seconds, he twisted Terra in his arms and put his hands to her back, determined to heal her wound much like she’d once healed his.
