It wasn’t until I pushed through the abervoqs to get to the edge that I saw about five of her furred people throwing my creatures off the cliff.
“NO!” I screamed, my energy rippling from me as I sent Ixana’s minions freefalling straight off the side and into the lava below. Now it was Ixana’s turn to scream and rage, and I heard her from in the depths of the lavafalls. Shadow’s rumble followed, and at least I knew he was alive.
Now to save everyone else.
Knowing that all of this was tied to the stone, I decided that was the key. I needed to break the connection it had to Ixana and the mists, removing her true advantage.
But how to do that and survive?
Len would probably know if grabbing the stone would destroy me, but since he wasn’t here, and I couldn’t hear them through the lava, I’d have to do what I did best: wing it.
What could possibly go wrong?
“Lift me, please,” I said to an abervoq, one of the largest of the creatures.
It understood me, reaching down to haul me up, holding my body above its head. I had to wiggle myself around, but after climbing up its arm and standing on that large, meaty paw, I was just about the right height to jump for the stone.
Crouching, preparing myself mentally for what pain might come from this, I shot one last look at my friends, finding all of them staring at me in horror.
No, wait… They weren’t looking at me. They were lookingbehindme…
I spun in time to find Ixana right there, smashing into my side, knocking me down off the creature. As we hit the ground, my flames and wolf surged up, shredding through my clothes as we tore into her without thought of consequence.
My attack took her by surprise; she was already visibly beaten, no doubt thanks to Shadow, who also appeared a moment later, yanking her off me.
“Whoa,” I groaned, jumping to my feet. “You are one heavy bitch.”
She snarled again, hands out as she looked between Shadow and me. He had already backed up closer to me, and I felt a moment of satisfaction that he still chose me. I mean, sure, his mate was a complete psychopath with delusions of grandeur, but… technically, I’d still won the beast.
Score.
“She plans on using the sunburst stone from Len’s family to turn herself into the next Nexus,” I murmured to him in a rush, feeling the vibrating surge of his power across my skin.
“I know,” he bit out.
“I invited Shadow to join me,” Ixana said. “I mean, he started as a means to an end. My family wanted to take over Trinity, so they ensured I’d be in the perfect position to do so. But when I learned I would be their puppet, I decided that no longer would I fall victim to cruel, powerful rulers. I would take the power into my own hands.”
There was a dark story there, one that had left scars littered on her psyche, but we didn’t have time for it today. Today we just had to stop her before this plan came to fruition.
Shadow growled. “Cristell never betrayed me. It was Ixana all along. She killed my sister, used the illusion of her to throw everyone off, and orchestrated it all herself.”
The cunt in question laughed. “I mean, everyone thought illusion was such a weak skill. ‘Oh, you can make pretty pictures with your mind. How nice, Ixxy.’” Her voice grew stronger. “Little did they know, illusion is the closest power to the mists. I did what no other royal has been able to, I tamed them. And I was content to rule as I was, slowly building power into this stone, all the while keeping Cristell as the public enemy. An easy task since she was an evil little bitch, who probably was planning on taking over, only I beat her to it.” Her eyes flashed with an insanity she’d done well to hide up until now. “When I felt Shadow’s energy return, I knew I could finalize my original plans. It was time to turn myself into the next Nexus, using a Nexus born shifter to gather the thousands of creatures beyond my reach.” Her gaze smashed into mine. “Thanks for all your help with that,Mera.”
Shadow’s chest was rumbling, his muscles tense and visible through the many tears in his shirt. They’d been fighting, but at least no physical injuries remained on his body.
“You were my true mate,” she said randomly, and at this point it was fairly obvious she was completely bonkers. “But I could never break through to you. Why?” For the first time, she was genuinely curious.
“You’re not worthy,” he said without inflection… or hesitation.
She reached for the stone’s energy. I felt it as she used whatever bonded her to the gem, and when it gathered in her hands, I knew that it was going to be too much for us to handle. “Youare not worthy,” she snarled back.
In my panic, I reached for the deepest recesses of my energy, drawing up fromthe Nexus. Or at least that was what it felt like. The spell she’d created from the sunburst stone shot our way, and I released the power I’d gathered as well. Just as our two powers were about to slam into each other, a bright light burst up between us, intercepting them both.
No! Not a light… a phoenix.
Dannie’s phoenix.
“Mother!” Shadow dove toward her, but the goddess was here to save her son, and she wasn’t waiting for a rescue.
