She took my hand without hesitation, and I brought us to the Crossing. Arran’s army was already in motion below us. We were familiar with the terrain from having crossed it ourselves months before in our quest for Avalon. Arran and his lieutenants had gone on about the high ground and waves of attack and strategic advantage.
I was not a commander. A queen, yes. I’d accepted that. And a warrior. My place was on the battlefield, not trying to command it.
I expected to hear Arran in my mind, but it was eerily quiet. The golden thread of our mating bond was strong, the connection taut but not strained. He was not far. But his attention was elsewhere, as it should be. Worrying about me would only distract him—and I was more than capable of taking care of myself.
Lyrena and I stood above the army on the tiered bluff that eventually gave way to the thick, jungle-like forest where we’d been attacked by the succubus ourselves and then saved by Isolde.
I sent up a silent prayer to the Ancestors to protect the faerie. She was back in the war camp, convening with the terrestrial healers and preparing for the injured. She’d tried to come with us; I’d refused. Leaving her with the terrestrials, healers but also strangers, made my heart twist uncomfortably.
She’ll use those claws if she needs to, I consoled myself. The Faeries of the Fen had survived for thousands of years without help from the fae. Despite them. Isolde would be fine. She had to be. I did not know if I could stand the loss of another loved one.
Lyrena’s voice pulled me back to the reality unfolding before our eyes.
“It doesn’t seem real.” Her sword hung limp at her side, all the humor drained from her lovely face. “I’ve imagined it… but never as bad as this.”
I was not the only one who had nightmares about the succubus.
I followed her gaze down the graduated tiers of sheared off rock, past the mass of terrestrials clad in browns and greens. Most of the fauna-gifted among them had shifted. Wings and claws and gaping maws surged forward—forward and forward and forward towards the black mass that had overrun the narrow land bridge the connected the two sides of the continent.
It seemed impossible that we’d been here only months before.
What had once been a thriving human festival was now a wave of black death. Even staying awake through the night, refusing to sleep or let their minds become vulnerable, the succubus had eventually found them.If only we’d known about the amorite then…
And what would I have done? We’d carried none with us. Nor would I have been willing to spare it to protecthumans.
Yet here I stood, ready to die for them.
I imagined I could see the spot where I’d stood in Arran’s arms, kissing him while colorful fireworks burst overhead. My fingers curled into fists, remembering the way we’d painted each other’s skin. For a brief moment, we’d been free.
Ancestors, I had not yet told him I loved him when we were here before.
The colorful tents were barely visible through the churning waves of black. Where before there had been music, now screams competed with the clash of metal. The latter was losing.
Lyrena exhaled slowly beside me. I recognized the careful, measured way she released the breath and then drew in the next. She was trying—failing—to steady herself. My heart rate increased, pounding wildly in my chest.
I drew Excalibur from across my back. I would not risk losing the precious amorite-swirled daggers by throwing them, and the great sword would allow me to kill the succubus while keeping as much distance as I could.
Lyrena’s grip on her own weapon tightened. “Where do we even begin?”
“The village.” We’d carefully avoided it when we made our way over the Crossing the first time all those months ago. But if it was still standing, then that was our first task. “We clear the village so that the survivors have somewhere to retreat.”
Lyrena was good enough not to question whether there would be any survivors.
She extended her hand, her golden rings winking up at me. I knew that by the end of this day, no matter what happened, they would be coated in black.
There were survivors in the village.
Their screams told us that there would not be for long.
It was smaller than Eldermist. Even once cleared, it would not provide much shelter. I counted no more than two dozen buildings and only half of those were residences. If we could fill all of those with human survivors it would be nothing short of a miracle.
Lyrena swung her sword in a circle, loosening her wrist. “Stay close—”
“Never farther than an arm’s reach,” I finished for her.
She thought it was for my protection. I knew it was for hers.
There was no village square, only a single wide road and haphazard alleys crisscrossing off of it. The first alley was empty. The road was not. Four women tried to fight off a single succubus—a male, recently turned from the fact that most of his body was still intact. One of the women was crying, sobbing,beggingthe others to stop.
