My Lifebind was free. No one was safe.
CHAPTER 52
KORYN
Maura made a mistake.She should never have sent me through the Seven Gates. She should have sent Elodie, who would do whatever she said without a single question. Auri was powerful, too.
Instead, she sent me.
Mistake.
I may hate my bond with the Dark God. But I was no longer afraid to use it. I would never be able to make every right decision. A place in what the humans called heaven was an impossibility. But that meant I was free. I could do what needed to be done for those who could not defend themselves.
Maura was a shitty teacher. But the Dark God himself had filled the gaps in my education.
Frost and ice exploded out of me in every direction. The fae courtiers hurled themselves to the side, but they weren’t fast enough. The tang of blood told me that my sharp icicles found many points of purchase. They’d heal, and they would stay out of my way.
Maura was fast. She’d known I would fight. Good. It was time for her to stop underestimating me—and for me to stop underestimating myself.
Her flames roared higher, melting my ice and keeping Alize trapped.
I have the others,Isanara told me. She roared again, the sound reverberating off the circular walls and up into the dome.
Be gentle with Aurienna.I was disappointed that the covenant between Auri and me broke when faced with Maura’s power. But I understood the strength of Maura’s influence. I was so tired of hating everyone. There were plenty who deserved my hate. But not Auri.
She does not fight.
Isanara was on the other side of the burning pentagram. I could not see her or my sister witches.
Maura will kill her when she realizes.Unless I killed Maura first.
We cannot protect everyone.
Now was not the time for Isanara’s wisdom.I can damn well try.
Icy daggers formed at my fingertips. There was no point in hurling one when I could throw five just as easily. I didn’t have the training for precision, but I did have power. More power than I’d ever realized.
I flung the ice daggers at Maura. She saw me coming and ducked, her attention divided between protecting herself and keeping Alize trapped. I did not care that it wasn’t a fair fight; with Maura, there was no such thing.
She anticipated my second throw, my left hand following my right in rapid succession. But she did not expect the blast of ice across the floor that came with it. I’d never expected to hit her with my first throw of ice daggers. The distraction worked perfectly. She lost her footing on the slick ice, her billowing robes tangling around her legs.
Maura crashed to the ground. I only had a second.
I dove into the icy sea that swirled inside me. I knew its depths thanks to Syleris. I was not afraid of it anymore because of Rylynn. I’d learned the lesson of the Peace Gate well. The only peace I would ever find was in protecting those I cared for and fighting for right, even when it felt wrong.
I slapped my hands together, pointing them right at Alize. I channeled all the power I’d called up through my arms into my palms. Then I threw them open.
A blizzard burst out of me all at once. Ice coated the floor. A vicious wind carried snowflakes as sharp as my icy daggers swirling in deadly spirals across the presence chamber. One spread for Maura, the other for Alize.
Maura threw herself to the side, but my familiar was there, jaws snapping.
Isanara roared again. The windows shattered. What was left of the crowd scattered, running for the spiral down into the tower and shoving each other out of the way to escape the sea of falling glass.
My spiral of frost hit Maura in the shoulder. She threw back her head as the pain took over. It was not just a single hit of ice, but thousands of tiny crystals invading her body, freezing her from the inside out, bit by bit.
I couldn’t take my attention off of Maura, not even for a second. I had to trust the power I’d sent Alize’s way to be enough to douse Maura’s flames. Garrick and Isanara would get her out. I had to keep Maura down.
You cannot master a power you do not understand or respect
