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Ivy ignored him and waved a hand toward the other silver-haired man, who I guessed was Ashton’s brother. “Fine. Guards, release him. Let him run away.”
The guards’ grips slackened obediently, though their faces looked so horrified at the sight of Nerissa and Preston, I wasn’t sure if they would have lost their captive anyway. Unfortunately, despite my father’s desperate pleas, his brother shook his head stubbornly, refusing to leave him behind. Refusing to save his own life.
Nerissa’s voice came out in a hoarse whisper, grating on the ears. “Destroy everyone?”
Preston’s skeletal face formed what I imagined was meant to be a smile. “Perfect. We’ve come forourrevenge against the Silverfrosts.”
They fell upon the woman first—the one I now realized was Ivy Stormclaw, my father’s would-be bride—devouring her so quickly, she hardly had a chance to scream. Their bony, rotting hands snatched at her with strength she couldn’t fend off. Their awful, gnashing teeth bit into her skin. Gagging, I had to cover my eyes, had to scream to try to block out the sound of tearing flesh.
When I dared to open them again, tears streaming down my face, nothing remained of Ivy—nothing but bones picked clean. Preston and Nerissa’s skin looked more whole, parts of theirskeletons covered completely by healthy flesh, as if by feeding upon a living creature, their undead forms gained back some of their previous life.
Before I could see what my father or the other fae did, the vision fell away, and I opened my eyes to meet Preston’s bloody ones. It took every ounce of strength to fight the nausea crawling through my mouth and not lean over and vomit right there.
“Of course we want to see Silverfrost destroyed,” Preston murmured, his rotten breath consuming me. “We died at their hands decades ago, all because they and Willowbark made a bloody alliance to destroy Ravenheart, to try to wipe us from the map. My sister and I were nobles in our kingdom. We fought proudly for our people, and we died defending them. Then we moldered away in the underworld, forced to pay for what the gods deemed as sinful lives. We’d always taken what we wanted, never worried about killing when it suited our needs. Apparently, that sends a soul to eternal punishment at the hands of demons. Butrevenge...revenge against your father freed us from the underworld, and revenge and the chance to taste life—half-lives that we are left with here—thatis what keeps us fighting. Nightly, we collect the creatures that escape and store them in our fortress dungeon. Now that they see they can also taste life through immortal and mortal flesh, they are easy to win to our side. They are our own invincible army that, thanks to you, we can grow infinitely larger by flinging open the underworld entrance wide open at last. We can wipe out this whole damn kingdom. And the Silverfrost line will not only cease to exist, but will also be forgotten forever. And all the while? We will feed on as many of the living as we want and relish the way you grant us more life.”
Clutching me by the neck, half-choking me, half-dragging me, Preston pressed further down the hallway as he continued. “The woman who helped let us out was a Stormclaw, a noblefamily that was distantly related to the Silverfrosts through marriage. She thought she was entitled to be joined with them again in another marriage.” He laughed darkly. “Instead, she gave us our new name. It was easy enough for Nerissa and me to take the demons who escaped with us that first night to the Stormclaw residence and feed on any remaining souls who lived there. Their tragic end allowed us to step in as the new Stormclaws, supposed saviors of Silverfrost who easily subdued the escaped demons. The people of this landbeggedus to rule them. And Garrick, the only member of his family to survive the battle against the creatures in the castle, was so quick to pledge a blood oath to us in honor of his dead loved ones.”
I couldn’t even scream insults at him, not when my throat was constricting, my lungs burning. I dragged my feet to no avail. No one in the ballroom knew what was happening. And if no one could save me from Preston, who would save Silverfrost from the underworld? Who would stop him and Nerissa from forcing me to use my blood to fling the entrance open forever, and then destroy me so it could never be shut again?
Snow and wind roared around us to no effect. What could my magic do against a soul that was already dead?
There was a sudden halt to the distant strains of music still echoing from the ballroom. Screams broke out, forcing Preston to freeze. His grip didn’t strengthen on me, giving me just enough air to survive, but it didn’t lessen either. I clawed at his hands in vain, gasping on scraps of air as the corners of my vision filled with threatening black spots.
At first, I thought those spots had grown, that I was losing consciousness despite the air I fought to heave into my lungs. But as I blinked, the darkness grew clearer, moving as if it were alive. Billowing thunderclouds spiraled out from the ballroom and down the corridor, whispering through the air while flickering tongues of lightning sparked within them. The hairson the back of my neck rose. It was unlike magic I’d ever seen before, and certainly not of Silverfrost.
Forked lightning lashed out toward Preston, and somehow, despite his hold on me, it didn’t shock me. His body jerked, unable to die but apparently half-alive enough to react to pain. With his grip slackening, I was able to duck and break free, calling for ice, for snowstorms, foranythingas I charged toward the ballroom. But as soon as I entered the churning clouds, darkness consumed me, and I couldn’t see anything. Flashes of light sparked before my eyes, but rather than illuminating my path, they only blinded me until all I could see when I blinked was a dizzying display of shadow and light.
In the roiling storm clouds, thunder all but blotted out the distant cries coming from the ballroom. I had to get into that room, to the rebels. To Aspen. To Garrick.
It was clear to me now: Ashwood had arrived. While we’d plotted and hoped to tear Silverfrost apart from the inside, rebuilding it to our liking, our enemies had descended.
I reached for the magic within me, wondering if the same light that flared from my blood when it came into contact with demons could be summoned at any time. My mind conjured memories of distant starlight. I stretched out my hands, trying not to stumble into a wall, hoping I was still walking in the right direction.Please, please,I begged my magic.
But it was no use. The shadows enveloped me in a muggy embrace, tasting of early autumn days when the heat of summer hadn’t fully relented. Electricity made my skin prickle.
Something struck the back of my head, and I was falling, falling into endless darkness.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Iopened my eyes to the scent of woodsmoke and the sight of a fae man with shoulder-length auburn hair and piercing green eyes kneeling before me, his hands around my neck.
Pain crept up my throat and I panicked, lifting my arms to shove him away.
“Careful,” he said, his voice low and soothing while he lifted his hands palms outward, as if indicating he meant no harm.
