My head whipped towards the shield. Each thundering beat of my heart matched the rumble of thunder and crash of rain.
“We need to break whatever spell surrounds them. Separate them,” I said, voice low.
“We can’t,” Rhadamanthus deadpanned. “They are trapped in their own battle, one we cannot interfere with.”
A lump formed in my throat as I stared at the hazy, violet and black bubble around the pair. I could barely make them out, but what I saw made terror build within me. “I cannot lose her again,” I whispered, voice tight. “Never again.”
The demon king pressed his lips into a firm line, raising his hand into a fist. In an instant, a wave of incoming Aither Fae dropped to the ground, their veins blackened, skin a dark grey. My eyes widened as I looked from the ten or so soldiers to Rhadamanthus, who stumbled back with a groan.
“We do what we can,” he wheezed, “and we give her a fighting chance. It is all we can offer her. Our strength and protection for now. His death once we win.”
He wasn’t wrong, but I still hated it. Hated this. Around us, the shifters under Dante’s control broke free of him and either bowed to Elias or suffered through a painful shift. The giant bear lumbered towards us and changed from beast to man, each cracking bone signifying the effort of his shift.
The male moved to stand with us, the blood that’d matted his fur washed away by the rain. I lifted my face towards the sky again, taking in the treacherous clouds, the flashes of light and quick responses of thunder, and I wondered what it would be like to survive this.
What would it look like to come out of this alive, with my mate whole and no longer under threat?
Could I handle the peace that would come from that? Could I handle living a life that didn’t involve battle and bloodshed? Was it in my nature, or would I always live with the darkness bestowed upon me by my sire?
I dropped my stare from the dark sky to look behind meinto the violet mass of power. Within, my mate fought a battle I could not aid her in. One I could not fight for her.
That was meant to be my purpose, wasn’t it? Fighting for her when she should not? Putting my life on the line when she needed me to?
But this is not a fight you would have won, I told myself, tears burning my eyes as I watched her. Even though she was barely visible behind the shield, the two forms of magic—her Goddess given power and his dark, bastardised magic—attempted to overcome the other. And the longer I watched, the more his overpowered hers.
I considered what it might look like to escape this battle with her by my side, and it almost brought me to my knees with how bright it looked. But I knew it would not come to pass with Dante still hanging over us. Not when he could still win.
Sickness simmered deep in my stomach. As I looked around, I found Ivy’s mates gathering, forming a necessary barrier around her. As more of our own army came to fight, the less attention she and Dante received. That should have given me pause, perhaps even some relief. His army was no longer trying to take her out on his behalf.
“Tighten!” Orion shouted as his sword plunged into the chest of an approaching soldier. The blank eyed stare told me all I needed to know.
As soon as the blade disappeared from the male’s chest, recognition and pain flared in the depths of his consciousness. Just the pain alone was enough to wake him from Dante’s control. I watched him stumble and fall from the courtyard to the dark water of the waterfall. A small part of me felt guilt, and yet at the next loud crack of thunder, it disappeared.
Those of us mated to Ivy gathered closer around the shield of magic. The closer I got, the more I felt from the bubble. Aside from Ivy’s living, real magic, something I knew intimately now, a power I’d missed dearly, I also felt the darkness that was Dante.
It reminded me of what he’d done to his followers. Thebastardisation, the strange way it seemed to be rotting from the inside out.
“You feel that, right?” Rowan asked, looking into the bubble like I did. “It doesn’t…feel right. It’s worse than what my visions revealed to me.”
A shiver rolled down my spine. “I do,” I admitted, voice low. “It is what Nyx warned us of.”
As the darkness threatened to swallow Ivy, waves of it crashed into us. I almost doubled down from the pain it brought upon me. A terrible ache started in my skull, radiating down my spine, and there was no escaping it.
I squeezed my eyes shut, and in the darkness of my own mind, I saw it.
The future Rowan envisioned.
And it was terrifying.
102
Hawk
Rain cut my cheek, burning against my exposed flesh as I crashed into one of the approaching Aither Fae diving for my mate. The female soared through the air before slamming into the large pool beneath the waterfall, disappearing beneath its depths.
As lightning struck the sky, I clenched my jaw and pulled a dagger from my belt. The wind threatened to take me down, but with the power Ivy’s bond offered me, I created a wind barrier around myself, protecting my wings especially against the onslaught of harsh weather.
I had no idea how I would tell her that I had all my memories back. That the peace we’d found together when they were gone was lost. It was one thing seeking her forgiveness, her love, when I had no idea what I’d done to her. Not knowing the extent of the hurt allowed for some forgiveness.
