This is about to get bad. I’m getting her out.
Merrick nodded to Raine as he threw a raging Frelina over a shoulder, then turned to Lessia, about to do the same thing, when he picked up a strange feeling from her, a current running from her soul to his.
It wasn’t something he’d felt before from this beautiful creature. It was…
His eyes widened when they collided with her glowing ones, and that static that had started deep within him flew across his skin, forcing a hissed breath through his teeth as his magic awoke—but not how it usually did, with harsh whispers and pressure all around.
No, this time it felt inevitable—like hewasthe magic and she pulled it out of him.
There was nothing Merrick could do—nothing that he wanted to do—apart from stare at her.
Lessia’s entire being seemed to shimmer, her hair dancing around her face, and her eyes were so golden it was difficult to continue meeting them for all their brightness.
But he did.
Merrick couldn’t look away.
Not when the room around them went dark. Not when a chill that wasn’t of this world rushed through it,putting out the fires. Not when the people’s screams and angry voices were replaced by whispers.
Lessia smiled at him. Not a hesitant smile. Not a fearful one. But one of conviction.
One that filled him with such love and pride that he could barely swallow.
Then she turned to the room, and the Death Whisperer shouldn’t have jerked like he did when he was met with hundreds of ethereal souls—their shapes like thick, shimmering air—standing amidst the crowd, the majority of them…
Merrick’s brows crashed.
Were they protecting Loche and Iviry from the people who had approached them?
Yes.
Yes, that’s what these souls were doing.
They moved as a glittering army, driving back the crowds with their phantom hands until both Fae and humans stood in neat rows against the walls on opposite sides of the room.
When the souls nudged the two leaders into the middle, their whispers sounded almost… inviting as they backed away.
As if they were pleased with Iviry’s and Loche’s positions.
Spinning around, Merrick caught Kerym’s rounded eyes, and he noted the sisters holding on to each of his arms, while two souls had stopped Raine and Frelina, and were in the process of… scolding his redheaded friend?
Merrick stared in disbelief as the two pale beings gently pressed their hands into Raine’s chest until he setLessia’s sister down and returned to stand behind Merrick and his frighteningly beautiful mate.
He had to blink as his eyes landed on Lessia once more.
She was so fucking perfect.
With this old power seeping from her to him—or from him to her, he wasn’t quite sure—the soft glow emitting from her skin and eyes, reflecting in the translucent people around them, and the terror she invoked in the people in this room, shefeltformidable.
A startled laugh slipped through his lips.
No one had loved anyone as much as he loved her. No one could even come close.
“Thank you for your help.” Lessia bowed her head for a second to the souls around her, before looking out over the crowds, and her voice sounded eerie, strong, and soft all at once.
“I have had enough,” she continued, a sharpness he’d never heard but now knew he’d never get enough of slicing through the words. “When will you see that if we stand together, there is nothing that can stop us? There is a real threat coming. Ships, and ships with Fae—strong Fae, based on the couple dozen in those cells down this cliff. But that’s not the worst of it, is it? The worst of it is all of you! You see only where we differ. You want to throw blame, but you do not want to look inward—see what you might be causing.Youare the real threat to our world.”
It was so quiet in the room that it felt as if every person in it held their breath, and Merrick could taste the fear, feel the stickiness of it in the air as they all kept their eyes on the only person he loved in this world.
