Darrio and Dax’s voice sound far off in my thoughts as they enter the house above us.
“The nix should be tearing up the coast by now. I really should greet them properly.” Tristan’s words are an empty sound within my mind.
Pain strikes through my chest, pushing sorrow all through me.
But another feeling is stronger.
Rage shakes through me and as he walks past me, I grip his slender leg. I jerk hard until his palms hit the gritty floor. With fuming anger and burning magic, I jump on him. My knees hit the floor and I waste no time slamming his head into the concrete. Power like I’ve never felt tears through me. As I slam his head to the floor for the second time, fire blazes from my palms. It strikes across his jaw and up his face. The smell of burning flesh fills the small cellar and I can’t seem to stop the fire from pouring from my veins.
His shrieks echo around the room until they stop abruptly.
In the blink of an eye, he’s gone. He’s shuddered away from me once again.
The fire halts in an instant and I waste no time storming up the stairs. I push past Darrio and Daxdyn. My feet are stomping across the dirt outside as quickly as my legs will carry me.
Nefarious breathes out a happy puff of air. I stroke his scales without thought. It’s as if I’m having a silent pep talk with the creature. His silver eyes shine my reflection back at me. My hair is a tangled mess. Ash and blood stain my face.
But I don’t see any of it.
All I see are her empty eyes staring back at me in my mind.
I feel Daxdyn behind me. I feel his tension and apprehension and anger all rolled up into a suffocating ball of energy.
“I want you two to take Nefarious to the shore. Our men are already there.” Probably fighting a losing battle. I keep that awful thought to myself. “I want you guys to guide him across the sea and have him torch those fucking creatures before they even make it to the coast.”
“That’s a one person job. Dax can manage. Let me help you.” Darrio’s reasonable statement sets me further on edge.
He dies saving you.
I can’t stand the thought of another person dying because of me.
It isn’t fair.
“No.” And without another word, I shudder away from them.
The coast is in chaos. Blood and bodies litter the ground. Nix slash through mortals. Their talons tear right through them. The fae aren’t much better. Their magic lights up the darkness, striking through it with bloody power. I catch a glimpse of Ryder as he shudders in, surprising a group of nix right before he slices through them with my very own sword.
A warm feeling flutters through me as I realize he didn’t let me leave the weapon behind in Juvar. It’s a short-lived feeling of affection.
Streven shudders in at my side just in time to clench a nix by its throat. The creature’s talons reach out for my face, whipping past my nose by mere centimeters.
Streven slams the creature to the ground and uses the heel of his boot to silence its cries. I turn my head toward him, and for a second, I consider thanking him.
And then I realize he’ll never make my aunt smile again. I liked him for making her smile. Her smile’s gone and neither of us will ever see it again.
His brows lower with a look of confusion as he stares at my empty expression.
My throat tightens and I force myself to step past him.
I push the thoughts from my mind as my gaze searches the shore for a man with too much power and not enough face.
I hope it scars him. I hope he’s charred from my magic for the rest of his short life.
Heat rains down from the heavens. I look up as a roaring sound of anger fills the air.
A prideful feeling consumes me as Darrio and Daxdyn lead Nefarious over the shore.
The dominant sound of the dragon horse's war cry echoes across the waters, making the animal fiercer and more demanding to look at. Most of the nix shrink back from it, scurrying away from the battle on the land to slip back into the safety of the water.
