As Avery poured herself into the trees, a deeper well of magic, completely unlike her own, overflowed into her body. This wild, volatile magic threatened to consume her, but she was powerless against stopping the well that she unintentionally tapped.
The magic seemed to be deep in the ground. Avery pulled the magic up as ribbons of different shades of green streamed into her. The strain of tapping into so much power rocked Avery’s body, and she trembled like a leaf in the wind as she continued to pull the magic from the earth. Savine’s strong, calloused hands held firm, his pulse quickening as Avery acted as a conduit for this strange magic. There was no controlling the flow of magic as it flowed through her and into Savine and the tree. His grip on her was so tight she thought her hand was going tobreak.
Suddenly, the skeletal forest burst into color as fresh green leaves the color of spring shot out of the broken trees. Whatever this magic was, it was working! Avery didn’t back down from the magic that coursed through her veins.
Savine’s body shuddered as his skin soaked in the magic that she pumped into him. His blue eyes transformed into a brilliant green. His essence swirled and convulsed, and his entire being took on an otherworldly form. Avery was no longer hand in hand with the great fae rebel, but with a godlike being. She tried to pull her hand from his grasp, but they seemed to be locked together as she fed this strange magic into him and the surrounding forest.
The battle below stilled, with all eyes on Avery and Savine and the growing woods of trees. Savine let out an animalistic roar that echoed off the rocks and cliffs of the mountain slope overhead. A crown of gilded cedar boughs ripped through his flesh, encircling his head in blood-soaked boughs. Avery’s eyes bulged. What did she just witness?
Savine turned to Avery with a sneer on his face. Avery’s stomach flipped as she realized he might hurt her without realizing what he was doing. His hand continued to grip her, tightening to the point that she worried he would crush it.
“Savine! Let go of me!” Avery shouted, but whatever power that pushed through his veins had transformed him into something that no longer heard her. His eyes, bright green orbs, shone without recognition. He pushed Avery away, and she collapsed on the hard-pack dirt. Another roar filled the valley as Savine picked up his sword and raised it over his head.
Avery couldn’t make out the warriors below, but their response to Savine’s call thundered off the mountaintops.
An ear-splitting noise broke through the valley as all the previously maimed treesuprootedthemselves and began walking toward theviolence in the valley below. The elks bugled and sprinted toward Savine. As the trees continued their march into the valley, the elks formed a circle around Avery, Savine, Rue, and Weston. Avery thought the elks looked like they were dancing in a circle around them, calling as they went. What in the actual hell had she released?
Chapter thirty-seven
Savine
Savine looked at the world through emerald-tinted eyes. Everything in his vision was laced in green. The magic coursing through Aeritis stretched out before him like golden tendrils, connecting and illuminating. Somehow, he could see every living being’s life force laid bare before him.
He turned to the woman who gave him all this power. She had taken a few steps away from him after he let her go, and she wore an expression his magic-addled mind couldn’t comprehend. Did she fear him? Her shoulders looked tight, and her body shook uncontrollably. Something salty diminished her honeysuckle and mint scent. Small beads of sweat dotted her forehead.
The gap between their bodies was interconnected with dozens of small strings of brilliant, shimmering light.
Avery Hollis.
His Avery.
She was so small, so frightened. Like she feared he was beyond understanding.
But not with that bond. There it was, glistening before his eyes. With that bond between them, he would never lose that part of himself, even with his mind and bodydrunk on power.
He resisted the urge to reach out to those strings and pull them taut, forcing Avery to acknowledge what he now knew was between them.
She really was his soulmate, and he was hers. Here was the physical proof he’d denied for weeks, coming up with every excuse to diminish their visceral connection.
Savine’s gaze shifted to the elk who encircled them. With the beat of each footstep, Savine felt the tug of their acceptance of him as king tightening. The trees’ voices ululated through his senses, an unspoken chant toward war.
All of this—the power, the elk bowing before him, the trees marching under his command—all of it pointed to Savine being the true King of Latiah. He touched the cold metal of the gilded crown of cedars on his head and released another bellowing cry that bounded across the mountains. His people, rallied by his cry, lifted their weapons against the loyalists. Through the sea of green, Savine saw red splatter as Latian fought Latian.
Brother against brother, sister against sister.
The elk responded, bugling their war cry as they pulled back from encircling Savine and galloped down the valley. Only Jari and two other mounts remained. Savine mounted his elk, antlers thrashing in anticipation of entering the fray. Savine looked back at Avery. A tug of tenderness that went against this animalistic instinct rushed through him.
My soulmate.
“Ride with me, Avery,” Savine said, his voice reverberating with power.
Avery hesitated, then nodded. Her voice seemed to falter as she allowed Savine to pull her up onto Jari. Savine felt the stream of untapped magic pool between their touch. Avery looked down at the spot where Savine’s hand held her waist. He willed his essence to pullthat pure magic Avery carried into his body. As he did, the connecting strands of essence in all the world seemed to brighten.
Avery bit down on her lip, confusion circling her brown eyes. “What have I released?” Avery asked.
Savine pressed Jari forward and bellowed out another war cry as they galloped down the steep slope of the mountain walls.
“You have made me a king. And I will take my rightful place on the throne with you by my side.”
