Devastation clung to every corner of the city, hitting her with a force strong enough to knock her off her feet. As they walked through the streets, Auraelia scanned her surroundings. Lifeless bodies lined the roads, draped in the traditional black cloth ofdeath. The once gorgeous stone homes had been reduced to piles of rubble, and the wisteria burned down to nothing but twigs and charred wood.
She still couldn’t believe that this had happened to her people.
As her emotions began to swell to an overwhelming magnitude, Daemon laced his fingers with hers. His strength swam through her veins, calming the storm that raged inside her.
When they reached the center of the city, Xander stared at what had once been a larger-than-life rendition of their Goddess Rhayne but had now been reduced to a pile of stone.
“This may be harder than I anticipated. It’s going to take forever to move all of this,” Xander said on an exhale.
“Maybe not.” Auraelia slipped her hand from Daemon’s and dove into her well of power, pulling on that rich brown thread that spooled down into her soul. Let the feel of the earth fill her veins and pull on the ground beneath the rubble.
As the ground began to quiver beneath their feet, Piper staggered, clinging to Xander’s arm in an attempt to regain her balance. Then, she quickly righted herself, her face pinched in annoyance. Slowly, the debris fell away, and the soil beneath surfaced, leaving behind a hole large enough to bury the final rune.
“Well, that’s new,” Xander breathed, his eyes wide as he stared at the upturned ground.
Daemon’s pride swelled in her own chest, cool and velvety just like his shadows, and she took a moment to glance his way. The sensation was mirrored in his eyes as he beamed down at her, but it was quickly replaced by something else. Something warm and welcoming that felt like home.
She lost herself in his gaze and the immense outpouring of love that she felt for and from him. Let it ground her as Xander worked to get the last of the runes into place.
“Ready?” Her brother’s voice sliced through her, bringing her back to the situation at hand.
Daemon gave her hand a reassuring squeeze, then released her.
Kneeling at the bottom of the rune, Auraelia went to place her hand in the center like she had for every other one but stopped when Xander placed his hand on her shoulder.
“Remember when I said no more blood runes?”
Expelling an exasperated breath, Auraelia hung her head. “You said, ‘I promise…kind of.’ Is this the ‘kind of’ part of that statement?”
“It is. Sealing these with your blood will strengthen them. Reinforce them.”
Sitting back on her heels, Auraelia turned her face toward the sky, soaking in the peachy tones as the sun made its way to the horizon. She should have known there was a catch. Should have known that more blood would need to be spilled to keep her people safe. But she hadn’t realized how much of it would be her own.
Auraelia pulled her dagger from its sheath on her thigh, the emerald blade glowing beneath the sun’s rays, her magic humming beneath her skin in recognition. A hiss slipped between her teeth as she dragged the edge across her palm, and she felt a sharp pang of panic in her chest before it quickly disappeared.
Placing her palm down on the rune, Auraelia closed her eyes and let herself sink into her power. Let it spill over like a waterfall, crashing through her blood and into the stones. Blinding light flared beneath her palm and shot out in every direction, a direct line to the runes buried along the lines of her kingdom.
It was working.
“That should be good, Rae,” Xander said from behind her, his voice taking on a panicked edge. When she didn’t stop, he reached for her shoulder. “Auraelia, stop. You’re giving too much.”
More. She needed to give more.
Needed to ensure that her people would be safe.
Her strength was waning between the blood loss in the clearing and the energy spent on her magic. The crushing weight of fatigue crashed into her full force as she continued to pump her magic into the runes.
“My star, you need to stop.” She felt him next to her, but his voice sounded far away.
“Just…a little…more…” She could feel the end of her magic nearing. Calling to her like a siren’s song, beckoning her onward. But when she tried to pull up, to reign in the power flowing out of her in waves, those threads slipped through her fingers, sending her careening toward the bottom with nothing to catch her.
The world around her flared white before black swam across her vision.
The last sound she heard was Daemon calling her name as darkness claimed her.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Daemon
