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Dev, he's not here.
Hold on, babygirl. He's in the funfair somewhere, I can feel him.
So could I; my skin crawled with oily awareness, my senses stinging like I'd inhaled the acidic sharpness of nail polish remover. He was here; I just didn't knowwhere.
My magic was already seeping out of my grasp, the heat leaving my fingertips and my hair drifting back to my shoulders. Shit, that was supposed to be the first devastating blow I dealt him. I was supposed to hit him, he was supposed to go on a villainous rant, and then I'd jam fire down his throat to weaken him.
I turned, my heart beating fast at the rows of dead-eyed corpses penning me in. I just hoped my mates made it out of the hall of mirrors okay.
"Why aren't you attacking me?" I asked the undead, trying and failing to control my panic.
I honestly wasn't expecting a response.
But every zombie opened its rotting mouth and intoned,"We are legion."
"Allllllright," I breathed, backing up. "Well, good luck with all that legion business. I'm just gonna … go find my father—I mean abuser."
Cold crawled up my spine. Their eye sockets were empty, but I could have sworn theywatchedme as I retreated a step, then another.
There was a tiny path of space around the fun house; the only way out.
Tell me you've found the crown,I said to Dev, swivelling my head to stare at everything around myself, watching for any sign of movement.
We will,Dev replied, which wasn't a glowing reassurance.
I'm surrounded by fucking zombies, Garrik. I need a little better than ‘we will.’
Joseph sensed something; he'll find it.
He went off alone?I demanded, my breathing racing.
"Shit," I breathed, cold drenching down my spine. I needed my magic back, but Earth was a total nightmare. I wanted to go home. I wanted my castle and my suite, wanted to crawl into my big, plush bed and wake up from this dark dream.
Panic sharpened my anxiety but dulled my senses. My instincts blared with warning, but like a total idiot I thought the warning was for Joseph—until a body slammed into me from behind and I was suddenly airborne.
I should have closed my eyes, but rushing wind forced my eyelids apart so I saw every terrifying second of the forced flight. I was propelled through the air, but instead of slamming into one of the booths, the wind carried me and whoever had grabbed me upward.3
"Are you insane?" I shrieked when I saw what we were racing towards—the biggest rollercoaster. It flashed bright red and gold, the creepy jangly music from the hall of mirrors blaring to life right as we landed in the metal car at the top of the tallest peak.
"Not insane, just tired of you being a nuisance," Eidolon's chilling voice replied.
Great. I was alone at the top of a rollercoaster with the monster I was trying to kill.
I turned slowly, tryingsofucking hard not to look down. But it was impossible not to see Orchid Vale stretched out beyond him, the sun low on the horizon and painting the thatched-roof houses orange and red.
"You're tired ofme?"I demanded with a choked laugh, looking him dead in the eyes. "I'm tired of you trying to maim, manipulate, torture, andkill me.And don't give me any bullshit about not trying to kill me; you sent Jacko to do your handiwork. He's dead, by the way."
"Pity," he replied with zero sadness. His scaly green face was the stuff of nightmares, but I refused to look away. If only pushing him off the rollercoaster would kill him; I'd have done it without a second thought.
I gave a hard yank on my mate bonds, and stifled a gasp when power poured into me from all directions, the ember of Dev's soul in my core thrumming like a possessed vibrator.4
The second the power was within my grasp, I coiled black fire around Eidolon’s throat, searing through his skin to the mess of venom and evil within. He should have been mangled and bloody from the amount of times I already stabbed him, but there wasn't a blemish on his skin.
"Again?" he sighed, his eyes dull. "Really?"
I used my temporary grip on my power to fan the flames even hotter, sparks of deadly blue mixing with the black of royalty, of my family, my mates.
"Really,"I agreed, vicious and low.
