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It had taken all this time, a journey through the stars and under the earth … but here they were.
Morven spat on the ground. “If you plan to fight the Asteri, you will fail. It doesn’t matter if you unify every House. You will be wiped from the face of Midgard.”
Bryce surveyed the king on his knees. “I appreciate your confidence.”
Morven’s shadows began to seethe along his shoulders again. Rippling down his arms. “I yield now, girl, but the Fae shall never accept a half-breed by-blow as queen, even a Starborn one.”
Ruhn lunged for him, Starsword angling, but Bryce blocked him with an arm. For a long moment, she stared down into Morven’s face. Really, truly looked at it. At the male beneath the crown of shadows.
She found only hate.
“If we win,” Bryce said quietly, “this new world will be a fair one. No more hierarchies and bullshit.” The very things Hunt had fought for. That he and the Fallen had suffered for. “But right now,” Bryce said, “I’m Queen of the Valbaran Fae.” She nodded to the Autumn King’s body cooling on the ground, then smirked at Morven. “And of Avallen.”
Morven hissed, “You’ll be Queen of Avallen over my dead …” He trailed off at the smile on her face. And paled.
“As I was saying,” Bryce drawled, “for the moment, I’m queen. I’m judge, jury …”
Bryce looked to Sathia, still shaken and wide-eyed from the twins’ attack—yet unafraid. Unbroken, despite what the males in her life, what this male, had tried to do to her.
So Bryce peered down at Morven and finished sweetly, “And I’m your motherfucking executioner.”
The King of Avallen was still blazing with hate when Bryce slid Truth-Teller into his heart.
* * *
It was a matter of a few strokes of Truth-Teller through Morven’s neck for Bryce to behead him. And as she rose to her feet, it was a Fae Queen who stood before Ruhn, wreathed in starlight, unflinching before her enemies. From the love shining on Athalar’s face as he beheld Bryce, Ruhn knew the angel saw it as well.
But it was Sathia who approached Bryce. Who knelt at her feet, bowing her head, and declared, “Hail Bryce, Queen of the Midgardian Fae.”
“Oof,” Bryce said, wincing. “Let’s start with Avallen and Valbara and see where we wind up.”
But Flynn and Declan knelt, too. And Ruhn turned to his sister and knelt as well, offering up the Starsword with both hands.
“To right an old wrong,” Ruhn said, “and on behalf of all the Starborn Princes before me. This is yours.”
No words had ever sounded so right. Nor had anything felt so right as when Bryce took the Starsword from him, a formal claiming, and weighed it in her hands.
Ruhn watched his sister glance between the Starsword and Truth-Teller, one blade blazing with starlight, the other with darkness. “What now?” she asked quietly.
“Other than taking a moment to process the deaths of those two assholes over there?” Ruhn said. He nodded toward Morven and his father.
Bryce offered a watery smile. “We learned some things, at least.”
“Yeah?” The others were all crowding around them now, listening.
“Turns out,” Athalar said with what Ruhn could have sworn was forced casualness, “Theia did some weird shit with her star magic, divvying it up between herself and her daughters. Long story short, Bryce has two of those pieces, but Helena used Avallen’s nexus of ley lines and natural magic to hide the third piece somewhere on Avallen. If Bryce can get that piece, the sword and knife will be able to open a portal to nowhere, and we can trap the Asteri inside it.”
Bryce gave Hunt a look as if to say there was a lot more to it than that, but she said, “So … new mission: find the power Helena hid. Aidas claimed that Helena used Midgard’s ley lines to hide it in these caves after Pelias died.” She sighed, scanning all their faces. “Any thoughts on where it might be?”
Ruhn blinked at her. “Yeah,” he said hoarsely. “I do have a thought.”
“Really?” Athalar said, frowning.
“Don’t look so shocked,” Ruhn grumbled.
Lidia came up to his side, adding, “After Pelias died, you say?”
“Yeah. It’s complicated—”
