“My twin isn’t fae either,” Barbie tried to educate him. “She’s more than any fae. And are you so sure there’s no goddess, you old goat, when a god is already coming to take this realm?” She swept three fingers in a gesture that encompassed the surrounding guards before thrusting them pointedly at the captain. “You are all so fucking blind.”
Rowan shot Barbie a look that clearly spelled,Let me handle this!Everyone knew she was notorious for derailing serious situations.
“I seek no bloodshed here, Captain Ashborn,” Rowan said, his voice calm and logical. “Stand down. Let those who wish to fight for the realm’s survival join me. This is not a feud between my father and me. It is about the ancient evil and his Shrieker army at our door.”
For a heartbeat, Ashborn’s resolve seemed to waver. Then his face hardened into grim lines. “The king’s word is absolute. If you wish to do what is best for the fae kingdom, you will notresist. I will grant you a quick death and report to the king that you died with honor.”
While I seethed at his words, Barbie let out a short, incredulous laugh. “Is he for real?”
The captain ignored her; his gaze locked on Rowan. “No one is coming for you. Today, you are alone.” He had no fucking idea. Even if he managed to kill Rowan, he would never leave the academy alive. The heirs at the perimeter would ensure it. “Your men won’t fight beside you. We incapacitated them while you hid in the House of Chaos. They’re locked in the dungeons, awaiting trial for treason. Only those who have sworn loyalty to the crown will be permitted to live.”
“Then we’ll take the crown!” I snarled, my fangs bared.
“Blasphemy!” the captain bellowed. “You shall die with the imposter!”
“This dude bores me,” Barbie announced to no one in particular.
“I spared you once,” Rowan said, his voice cold as glacier ice. “I won’t do it again. Not when you threaten my mate.”
In one fluid motion, Rowan drew his longsword.
Ashborn barked an order, and five guards rushed Rowan at once, a coordinated attack from all angles, a maneuver designed to be impossible to fully counter.
Barbie and I didn’t move. We knew he had this.
Rowan didn’t bother to deflect.
He moved like a phantom, spinning and weaving through their blades with ease, his speed seven times theirs, a blur against their collective onslaught.
His knuckles connected with the first guard’s chest, the crack of ribs echoing across the courtyard. A powerful kick sent a second guard crashing into two others, while his blade swept in a deadly arc, beheading the one who dared lunge toward me.
A single, devastating strike, and five guards were down. Their bodies crumpled against the stone. Three dead, two unconscious.
The remaining guards stared, jaws slack, stunned by how much more powerful Rowan had become since they last faced him. They hesitated, but their captain barked an order, urging them forward.
“Stop!” Rowan’s voice boomed, amplified by his earth magic, halting the advance. “I do not want to slaughter you all. We are not enemies! The God of Ruin is coming for all of us—fae, vampires, shifters, mages, witches, and even humans. We need every warrior to stand against him!”
“And it won’t just be an invasion,” Barbie barked, dark flames igniting in her two-toned eyes. “It’ll be annihilation. He’s coming to devour this realm and eat every last one of you.”
Ashborn leveled his blade at Barbie and me. “Kill these heretical whores first! Make the imposter watch them suffer!” His face contorted with rage. “And if all the kingdoms have to burn, then so be it.”
“Then you burn first,” Barbie said.
Her dark flame unleashed, slamming into the captain. He didn’t just burn; he condensed, his flesh and bones compressing into something smaller and smaller until only a single, shimmering drop of dark liquid remained. Then, that too vanished into nothingness. All that was left was his armor, riddled with protective runes, which clattered empty to the ground.
A wave of gasps rippled from beyond the courtyard. Fae students watched from their quarters, their eyes wide. My sister’s power was formidable, and this was only a drop from her ocean.
“Attack!” shouted Ashborn’s second-in-command, his voice cracking. “Avenge the captain! Defend the crown!”
Some people just refused to be saved.
The ground beneath us groaned in protest. Cracks spider-webbed across the courtyard stones, and several guards stumbled, their charge faltering.
“Go,” Rowan urged, and I heard the raw pain in his voice. It was killing a part of him to do this. “You don’t have to join the fight. Just leave and save yourselves. Don’t make me do this.”
The soldiers rushed him anyway. Still, Barbie and I held our ground, wanting the other fae to witness what Rowan was made of, to see his true power so that those who could be saved would bow to him.
The earth split open, thunder rumbling underneath. A chasm yawned wide, swallowing half the soldiers and cutting their screams short.
