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The sign carved into the enormous black tree swayed in an unnatural wind:Underhill! Enter At Your Own Peril!
Once upon a time, Barbie had been a magic eater, forced by Ruin to drain power from the lands and feed that motherfucker until we finally escaped. Now we stood here as protectors, leading a parade of heirs into its heart.
We passed through aspens, cedars, and pines. Plants with leaf colors that had no names moved aside for us. Thorny shrubs parted without being asked; the forest could shift like that. Shadow beasts howled in the distance, kept at bay only by Underhill’s will.
The heirs bantered, laughed, and punched each other playfully. War was coming, and our hearts were heavy, but we never forgot to live a little, even when danger threatened to choke us.
Silas swaggered as if he owned the place, apparently forgetting that Underhill admitted the heirs only as Barbie’sguests. One wrong move, one perceived insult, and the dark forest would teach him a hard lesson. Then Barbie would have to plead with Underhill for his release. The heirs had grown on me, but I recognized all their faults. Privilege was in their blood.
“Can’t believe Underhill’s become our pal,” Silas said, swaggering forward.
“Only because of Barbie,” Cade corrected. “Our little mage is rude, but her heart is in the right place.”
The other heirs chuckled at the tease. I knew Silas and Louis still craved me, and Cade cared for me, grateful I’d yanked the Fury curse from him. But none of them teased me the way they did Barbie. Not that she was a good sport about it.
The scent of bitter orange and dense pine resin drifted on the breeze. Underneath it all was the burned taste of wild magic. A shower yesterday afternoon had made the scent thick and heavy.
We emerged into the clearing by the lake, and even I had to stop and stare. The training field stretched larger than I remembered, a perfectly flat expanse surrounded by trees that formed natural stadium seating.
“Did Underhill make this for us?” Louis asked in awe. He’d been wary of Underhill ever since it punished him for hunting Barbie.
“Yep,” Barbie said. “My pal knows we need the space to train.”
The wild magic purred. It loved Barbie but considered me a rival.
This was our first official training session and our last chance to prepare before we prevented the world from ending. The heirs had mapped battle strategies until my eyes crossed. One-third of each kingdom’s forces had arrived at the academy, all except the official fae army, though Rowan’s growing rebellion more than made up the difference. Every student had been given a choice:fight or flee. Half had chosen to go to war with us. The ones seeking safety had been portaled home.
“Positions,” Cade called out.
The heirs would practice channeling their power through Barbie, and she would blast the Shriekers into oblivion, just as they had in the last battle. They just needed to coordinate more effectively and know when to stop, preserving their energy for the bigger fight to come.
Killian wouldn’t be joining this particular exercise. His job was different: to keep Ruin occupied while the rest of the heirs dealt with the Shriekers.
A demigod dragon versus an alien god.
Barbie’s face was pale, her lips bloodless. My sister was clearly worried sick for her mate. I just hoped her breakfast—and she had eaten a lot—wouldn’t make a reappearance. The smell would make me wrinkle my nose.
“Let’s go!” Rowan shouted, earth and air magic already swirling around his hands. He was practicing harder than anyone.
The heirs formed a half-circle behind Barbie, and power snapped in the air, everyone itching to channel their energy into her—Louis’s cold, brutal vampire air; Silas’s devastating water element; Rowan’s fae magic that could shatter the earth; and Cade’s precise, furious mage fire and metal. They were all eager to see how Barbie would twist their combined powers into a magical atomic bomb.
“On three,” I called. I wasn’t practicing destructive power with them. I wasn’t a channeler, but I liked to play the active coach. “One, two?—”
The heirs unleashed their power before I could call “three.” Barbie arched her back as if drunk. In a way, she was, intoxicated by the raw energy. She no longer siphoned power against her will, but that didn’t mean she didn’t enjoy it.
Her dark flame roared to life, feeding on their offerings, growing into something that could crack open the sky. That was her role. She threw up her hands, and the firestorm erupted upward—the reason for this vast training field, to ensure not a single flower in the forbidden forest was harmed.
“Shit,” Cade breathed. “That would erase an entire company of Shriekers.”
Silas and Louis moved to high-five each other, then realized who they were about to touch and slammed on the brakes just before contact.
Killian shot a concerned glance at Barbie but looked away before she could call him out for being overbearing.
“Don’t stop there!” I barked. “Again!”
“Give us a minute,” Louis protested.
