Rage burned through me. “If you hurt?—”
“Thinking of killing me enforcer? If you do, Joy dies. And Gunnar, I have your precious queen. If you kill me, you’ll never know where I’ve taken her.” She narrowed her eyes. “Now move.”
Fuck. Checkmate.
Gunnar and I looked at each other. Understanding passed between us without words. He knew. I knew. We didn’t have a choice. Both of our mates were in danger.
I led Gunnar to where I had left Joy. Gunnar was powerful and no one was getting near Joy with the two of us. I glanced around for any allies, but the rest of them were busy fighting the Unseelie. Angelo was too far away to help. I couldn’t make out where the rest of them were. It was total chaos.
A dark-haired woman stood in the grove like a nightmare made flesh, flanked by soldiers whose armor gleamed in the filtered moonlight. She radiated power and cruelty in equalmeasure—tall, regal, with silver hair braided down her back and eyes like chips of ice. She had to be the queen.
My heart stopped as I took in the scene before me. Joy and Morden were on their knees in the mud, guards on either side of them with swords pressed against their throats. Joy's face was pale and streaked with tears, but her eyes blazed with defiance even as the blade bit into her skin. Blood trickled down her neck in a thin crimson line.
Rage exploded through me like wildfire, burning away every rational thought.
The woman's cold gaze swept over us with calculated assessment. "Gunnar and Enzo, I presume. I am Queen Alanna."
"Fuck you," I snarled, taking a step forward. Fury screamed at me to tear her apart, to rip the throat out of every soldier standing between me and Joy.
One of her soldiers struck me across the face with his armored fist, the impact snapping my head to the side. Pain exploded across my cheekbone and blood filled my mouth, the taste of copper mixing with fury. "You will not talk to our queen that way, vampire filth."
I spat blood at his feet and bared my fangs. "That all you got?"
Queen Alanna ignored my outburst entirely, her attention shifting to Marsha with businesslike efficiency. "Do you have it?"
"I do, Your Majesty." Marsha reached into her pocket and pulled out the Anchoring Obsidian stone with reverent care, cradling it in her palm like a precious child.
Even diminished and drained of power, the stone was breathtaking—like a faded black diamond covered in dust, its surface no longer absorbing light but reflecting it weakly. The purple and silver veins were barely visible, faint as dying embers. It pulsed with a weak, irregular rhythm, like a failing heartbeat desperately clinging to life.
The queen's eyes lit with hunger and triumph as she stared at the stone. "Finally." The word came out as a whisper, almost reverent. "After all these years, it's mine."
I glanced at Joy, whose eyes had widened in horror as she stared at the stone. She knew what it meant—with that artifact, the queen could anchor herself permanently in our world, and her entire army would follow.
Marsha sauntered over to the queen with deliberate, triumphant steps and placed the stone into her outstretched palm.
The queen's greedy fingers closed around it like a vice, and her eyes blazed with victory. "Finally, it's mine. No one can stop me now." She held the stone up to the moonlight, and even in its weakened state, it began to pulse more strongly in response to her touch.
My eyes locked with Joy's across the clearing. Fierce determination surged through my chest. She was everything, and I would protect her with my last breath. I wouldn't let the queen take her. I'd die first—die a thousand times before I let them drag her back to that hellish dimension.
As if reading my thoughts, she shook her head frantically and mouthed one desperate word: "No."
Marsha's attention shifted to Gunnar, and a cruel smile spread across her face. "One more gift, Your Majesty. You need a killing machine. One that's indestructible and completely under your control." She pulled a small vial from her pocket—dark liquid that seemed to writhe within the glass. "With this spell, I can break Serenity's healing and restore him to what he was. Better, even. He'll be yours to command."
Gunnar stepped back, horror flooding his features as he recognized what she was holding. "No. Not again. I won't go back to that."
I lunged toward the queen with every ounce of vampire speed I possessed, determined to rip that stone from her hand even if it meant I'd die in the attempt.
Guards moved to intercept me, but I was faster?—
