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“I’m hoping whatever we find hidden in this star court gives us an edge.” Ari smirked. “If not, I say we do it the old-fashioned way. Take off his head.”
Davorin steppedover a line he could not see. Down the shore, at four different points, he’d stepped into a prison, marked by Niklas’s elixirs, specially made to lock in his blood. All we had to do was keep him here and keep the borders strong.
I kept watch on his every step, leading him toward the center and away from the edges. “Now, Calista!”
Calista’s hands shook violently as she fumbled with the silver chain in her pocket. Attached to the end was the glassy, silver ring. A ring of fate with the power to open a doorway of shadows and summon folk through like a beacon.
A risk, but the seidr in Calista was powerful and connected to the ring in ways not even Malin did. The only trouble was, to open her power to the ring, strong enough to summon a bleeding army, Calista stepped into this fight without the guards of Niklas’s elixirs.
She was exposed to Davorin’s darkness, and soon enough he’d know it.
I gripped my blade as Davorin sprinted for us. My stomach burned in acid. He was getting too close. From the trees, Ari emerged, bloody, sword in hand. Stieg, Bo, and Cuyler were on his heels. Overhead, Rune flew for us. At the far reaches of the shore on one side, Niklas burst through the trees, at the other was Junius.
“Now!” Niklas shouted.
“Calista!” I screamed. Davorin was aiming forher. “Do it now!”
The chain slipped through her trembling fingers. She shrieked and dropped to her knees. Sand flung madly as she dug around, trying to get her grip. It was too late. Davorin gripped her hair and the darkness of his glamour slithered to her mouth.
He was going to possess her.
The world seemed to slow. A desperate plea came to my mind, a plea for the land to help her. Glamour burned. Fatigue gathered. Sand dampened as a puddle formed around Davorin’s feet, sinking him lower into the beach. A weak attempt, and my exhaustion likely wasn’t translating well with the land. Until the puddle shaped into tide pools.
Ari, a hundred paces back, had stopped his pursuit. No doubt seeing my struggle, he’d used his own call. I blinked through emotion and pressed my hands to the sand again. A burst of power surged up my arms. A true, unseen connection glimmered across the sand.
This was what the feather was meant to do. Two hearts, bound by honor and love, could create true acts of fate with an entire realm.
Davorin cursed when the growing pools took him to his thighs. In a long, desperate grab he gripped Calista’s tunic and yanked her into the water with him.
“No!” I lifted my sword. I fought to reach her, but I wasn’t swift enough.
Davorin’s glamour slid over Calista’s skin. So much all at once, I considered we’d chosen wrong by pulling Niklas’s wards from her blood.
He sneered. “Ah, now I know where I’ve tasted this power before.”
The blue of her eyes darkened to storm cloud gray. Her lips colored. Dammit, no! I’d promised he wouldn’t take her. Now he was likely killing her.
Until Calista cried out.
Her arms flung out to her sides, and a violent flare of hazy light tossed Davorin back. Calista was hunched, hugging her middle, head dipped, muttering—or possibly singing—words I couldn’t hear. Her eyes were clenched tightly, and wind swirled her wild hair around her face.
The shock of power blasted a ripple over the shore. I was toppled to the side. Ari, and the others at his back.
Davorin had been thrown a few paces nearer the water, destroying our marked prison as he went.
He coughed and slowly lifted on to his hands and knees; blood dripped from his mouth. Over his shoulder, he looked to where Calista had ceased muttering. Where the flash of her hidden power faded.
He struggled to his feet, sword heavy in one hand, and that cruel smile returned. “I’ve tasted you before, you know. Only for a moment before your mother got in my way. I took her instead.”
Calista shivered and lifted her eyes to Davorin. He took another step closer.
“It would’ve been poetic if the queen had slaughtered her own heir.” He laughed, more deranged than before. “I vowed to end House Ode. All these turns how did I not know I’d missed one?”
My body ached, but I reached for my blade, ready to stand between them. Davorin roared his hatred. He made a move to rush at Calista again, but a rough cough slid from his throat. He fell forward.
Ari stood over Davorin. Blood clung to his cheeks, his lips, the gold of his eyes blazed in a bit of his own madness. The new sword dripped in dark blood. Davorin clutched his side, gasping, as he stumbled back into the gentle surf.
He pulled away a hand, blood soaked his fingertips.
