The battle rages on, grueling and intense. Dmitri’s swords slash in silver blurs. The twins continue to shred through the back, the rust-red fur on their heads and chests now matted and nearly black with blood. The enemy’s numbers are dwindling, but there’s still no sign of Edevane.
I kick a guy in the side who’s swinging a saber toward Dmitri. The blade still catches him in the arm, but I knock the Light off-balance enough that it doesn’t do more damage than that. Dmitri recovers and attacks quick as a viper, sinking his deadly fangs into the guy’s neck and ripping out his throat before dropping the lifeless body to the ground.
Taryn shows up on my other side and joins the close combat, using her short swords like they’re an extension of her body. “This doesn’t feel right,” she shouts as she ducks a strike and sweeps their feet out from under them. “We’re winning too easily.”
“Da, sestra. Like lambs to the slaughter.”
They’re right, something’s wrong about all this. I thought he was just waiting to make his move, but— A cold dread settles over me. He was never waiting.
“This is a distraction! A way to keep us busy while he goes after what he really wants.”
Taryn’s eyes widen with sudden realization. “My mother.”
“Fuck!” I can’t believe I didn’t see this coming.
“Finn, we have to go to her!”
Cathal, who at some point joined the fight on the low ground, shouts, “Go! Save the queen! We’ll finish this!”
I nod in affirmation, then give a shrill whistle. “Connor! Conall!” Their heads raise up, ears perked. “On me!”
Taryn and Dmitri have already shed their armor suits to allow for maximum speed, and I do the same. Then the five of us take off at lightning-fast speeds across Tír Tairngire toward the city of Ildathach, the Summer Palace, and Edevane.
FORTYTARYN
Edevane is a godsdamned monster.
He used the spear and his powers—no, my powers—to annihilate a path through Ildathach on his way to the palace, slaughtering innocent fae as he went.
Racing through the blood-soaked streets, bile creeps up my throat and saliva pools in my mouth with the need to vomit. But I force it down and keep going, vowing to come back after we annihilate him.
My heart pounds a frantic rhythm against my ribs. Fear claws at my insides, sharp and relentless. For centuries, my mother and I were estranged, the chasm between us filled with bitterness and unspoken words.
Now, with every passing minute, the possibility of her being taken from me just like Devlyn and my father terrifies me.
As we pass the city’s far border, the acrid scent of smoke and the metallic tang of blood assault my senses. The once-pristine palace grounds are battle-stained and littered with the Néit left behind in case any of the Light Warriors got past us. They never stood a chance against Edevane.
My magic thrums beneath my skin, wild and potent, fear threatening to unravel my control. I push harder, driven by the desperate hope that we can save her.
Rushing through the entrance to the gardens, we skid to a halt in the center of the courtyard. Finn is on my right, Dmitri on my left, and the wolves are bracketing us on the ends, all of us breathing hard from traveling so far and so fast. But each of our gazes is glued to the horrific scene before us.
Edevane stands proudly, the golden legendary Spear of Assal gleaming in his hand, as though he’s posing for an honorary monument in his likeness.
And next to him, on her knees, is my mother, her beautiful wings shredded like they were sliced through, again and again, by a dozen arrows. Or a single flying spear.
Aine’s eyes meet mine with a fierceness that belies her vulnerable position. Her face is tear-stained, but she holds her head high, her regal presence and inner strength never extinguished.
“You bastard,” I seethe, my magic flowing into my hands.
“Glad you could make it, Your Highnesses,” he says to me and Finn, the smug smirk ever-present on his face. “We’ve been waiting for you, haven’t we, Aine? I felt it was only fair to let you witness your epic failure, since you’ve worked so hard to prevent this very moment.”
Finn takes a careful step forward. “Enough of this insanity, Edevane! If being back in Faerie is what you want, let her go and negotiate for ruling over your own region again.”
The Light King laughs like he just heard a charming joke at a dinner party. “That might have worked for my father, but I have much bigger aspirations than the Day Court, and it’s time I get what I’m due.”
Without warning he says, “Ibar,” and tosses the spear straight at us, but at the halfway mark, it turns around in a wide arc, doubling back…and skewers Aine’s chest as if she was made of paper.
My world stops, narrowing to the sight of my mother crumpling to the ground. I can’t move, I can’t breathe. I’m paralyzed as the past and present collide in a cruel twist of fate, this a gruesome echo of my father’s death mere weeks ago.
Then everything crashes over me at once, my emotions shocking me back to life.
“Noooooo!” I lunge for her, but Finn and Dmitri grab my arms and hold firm.
“You cannot help her now, moy sever. I am sorry.”
Helplessness threatens to drown me in a suffocating wave. My magic is utterly useless in this moment. The newly mended bond between us has been torn away, leaving nothing but raw, agonizing loss in its place. My heart shatters as tears stream unchecked, streaking through the dried blood spattered on my face.
“I’m so fucking sorry, Taryn.” Finn dips his head, resting it near my temple to speak softly in my ear. “I need you to get somewhere safe. Once he figures out Aine isn’t who he wants, he’ll come for you. We’ll hold him off for as long as we can. You know how to hide your identity. Get the hell out of Faerie and start somewhere fresh.”
I snap my shocked gaze to his. “You want me to run?”
Golden-honey eyes I fell in love with, long before I saw them in person, plead with me. “We can’t win against that spear. Please, solnyshko, it’s the only way. I need you to live.”
Anger and frustration and fear mix into a volatile cocktail that boils in my veins. “Forget it,” I hiss. “I will not leave you all here to die.”
“What the fuck?!”
Edevane’s outburst snags our attention. His face is red, and he’s staring down at his body like it’s failed him somehow.
