My pulse picks up a notch. “But Leon could just unalive them with a single thought. It would be a one-way trip.”
He doesn’t disagree. “For most of us, it would be.”
Understanding clicks into place, and I squeeze his hand a little tighter. “I’m going with you.”
It isn’t a question.
“I’m coming too,” Rosie adds, also not asking. She’s dressed in her chrome armor, and even though the circles under her eyes are almost black, it’s doing nothing to slow her unbridled fury.
“Absolutely, you are,” I agree, easily remembering how much I hated being separated from Sin – and she’s been doing it foryears.
Fuck that. Let her rain hell.
I wait a beat, realizing I’m waiting for Arianna to chime in, only to remember I still haven’t seen her today.
The crowd of soldiers is growing, but I don’t see her amongst them. Unease twists in my gut. “Has anyone seen Arianna?”
There’s a momentary pause, and my friends share a concerned look.
Arianna would never miss this.
Morgana purses her lips before shaking her head. “I’ll send word to Carys to start a search of the castle. In the meantime, we need to stay focused on the battle. The longer you can stall the fighting, the better.”
She strides away without another word.
My heart begins to pound as Rosie, Sin, and I start toward the empty field. There are no soft goodbyes, and none of us looks back.
The ground is slick under my boots, and a thin layer of fog clings to the air. The sky is dulled and gray, and the low clouds press in on us.
I swallow hard, still not quite believing that this is real life.
We’ve only taken about a dozen steps before something ripples over my skin. It feels like taking a waterless shower, and it leaves me feeling exposed.
We’ve left Morgana’s shield.
I can feel the stares of thousands of unseen eyes, tracking our every move. Still, we keep our steps slow and confident, only stopping once we’ve reached the center of the clearing.
The sound of my pulse hammering in my ears is becoming deafening.
‘Breathe. Panic means death,’Cassandra’s memory snaps in my mind, and her commanding tone helps pull me back to the present.
The panic isn’t gone, but it’s on the back burner, away from my immediate focus.
Sin lifts a questioning brow in my direction, and I realize this is the first time he’s heard Cassandra’s memory. But before I can explain, a different, and very familiar voice greets us.
“Ah, Vivian, I’m so happy you could join us,” Need greets with her typical politician smile as she emerges from her own shields. She hasn’t bothered to dress for battle and is still draped in white robes.
She glides forward, approaching us like she’s claiming a throne rather than a battlefield.
There’s an ease in the way she moves, as if the outcome of this war has already been decided in her favor.
Like us, she isn’t alone. The Fae Queen walks on her right, and like Need, she hasn’t bothered with armor. Instead, she’s dressed in a beautiful green gown that glitters despite the lack of sunlight.
Lilanthara trails slightly behind her mother, but with her chrome armor, she’s almost indistinguishable from Rosie. Even their exhaustion is mirrored. Lilanthara’s wings droop, and I briefly wonder if it’s because I stabbed her.
No part of me wants to see the person on Need’s left, but I only stall for another breath before finally forcing myself to look at him. Leon’s cold blue eyes are fixed on me, and he gives me a twisted smile the moment our gazes meet.
A slight involuntary shudder passes through me, and my throat tightens. It’s followed by a flash of that same smile, back in the prisons before his teeth…
