A wicked laugh left his mouth.
“We will not cower before you or betray our world,” Lana shouted back at him. “Not one of these Fae is less than. It’syouwho hold that distinct honor.”
He tilted his head back, laughing harder. “Ah, you of all people know what it’s like to be powerless, Illiana Dresden.” His voice slithered across his dark ones, across the entire void, directly toward us. “To be worthless.” He tsked. “Pathetic.”
I kept my eyes on Thames while moving my hand toward my mate. His words echoed the ones Andras had tortured Lana with years ago. Words that were meant to make her cower in fear.
This time? His words did nothing to cause her pause. Instead, I saw her lips twitch upward from the corner of my eye.
“How easy it would be for you, if your words meant anything to me, Thames. Unlike you, I’ve already proven my worth. Can you say the same?”
“Maybe let’s not taunt the evil being that couldn’t be killed and was trapped instead, yeah?” Jax hissed.
“Let her rile him,” I responded. “He’s more likely to make a mistake.”
Thames rose higher in the air, his grey mist seeping out over the front lines of his army. “Why don’t we find out,child.”
Thames raised his hand up to the sky and a swarm of voidlings launched from behind him, flying toward our army.
Our people shouted, never having seen the beasts. Before I could give an order, the strox cawed from behind us, rising in response to the new, winged threat.
I watched in awe as the battle beasts flew over our army and made their way directly toward the voidlings. The creatures met far above us in a flurry of wings, roars, and screeching.
Shouts from the ground ripped my attention from the skies as charging dark ones came into view through Thames’s grey mist, ready to engage.
“For Atheria,” Ian shouted as our own soldiers surged forward in response.
The final battle for Atheria had begun.
Lana used her sword instead of her light, cutting down dark ones like she was born to do it. Fates, shewasborn for this.
“Keep count,” Storm shouted at me, shoving me sideways as he jumped and plowed his blade through the neck of a dark one to my left. “I swear to the Fates themselves if you exaggerate your kills this time, I’ll take all the coin left in Mount Legion as my winnings.”
“You’re on,” I shouted, materializing my shadow sword alongside my other blade.
Though I fought the soldiers before me, my attention moved back and forth between them and Thames. He stood, gleefully watching the battle, but not engaging himself.
What is he waiting for?my shadows asked.
I didn’t know how to answer them because I had the same question.
A sharp sensation stabbed into my leg, brushing by me as it scraped the skin. I jerked around, catching the end of Lucien’s tail swishing away from my leg. He trotted through the battle, breathing fire at dark ones as he went.
“Fucking pugron,” I muttered, unable to stop a smile at the thought of Lana’s pet being just as headstrong as her.
I slaughtered three more dark ones before turning to see a shimmering portal appear and Jax’s panther form jumping through. He popped out behind the group of dark ones aroundhim, shifting back so only his claws remained and driving them through their chests. He laughed, looking down at the pugron.
“Damn it, Luci, brilliant execution.” He shook off the partial-shift and picked up a sword from the ground, twirling it before starting his attack on the next group.
Storm shot fire forward toward a battalion approaching on our right. A whooping cry rang behind us as the noblewoman Keena sprinted toward it, throwing her hands out and fueling Storm’s fire as it blew forward, covering two entire lines of soldiers. They screamed, flailing, engulfed in magic.
Storm whipped around, staring open-mouthed at the woman.
“Damn, I didn’t know that would work so perfectly. Carry on.” She winked toward my now sputtering friend and ran off toward another group of Fae.
“I can’t tell if he’s intrigued or angry,” Lana chuckled as she watched Storm chase after the woman.
“Both,” I confirmed.
