The creature struck Marsha like a missile, sending her crashing into an oak tree. The splintering crack echoed through the grove. Her head snapped back against the trunk, and she slumped, dazed and bleeding.
She shook her head and rubbed her forehead. "Hades, stay away from me." She lifted her palm, and dark energy began crackling around her fingers. "Animam tuam capio, voluntatem meam?—"
Hades? It had a name?
Hades snarled, revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth, and lunged forward, sinking his fangs deep into Marsha's exposed throat, cutting off her spell. Blood gushed from the wounds in dark, pulsing streams, spraying across the tree bark.
Marsha's eyes went wide. Her mouth opened in a scream that never came—only a wet, gurgling sound as the creature shook her viciously. Her limbs flailed uselessly before going limp.
Was she really dead? The woman who had caused me so much misery, so much pain, was lying on the ground in a pool of her own blood. Some of the tension in my bunched muscles eased.
She'd been so powerful—I half expected her to rise again. But then Hades sniffed her corpse and opened his jaws wide. Black smoke poured from Marsha's mouth, rising in dark tendrils.Her magic? Her soul? Whatever it was, Hades consumed it. Her skin withered, growing paper thin before melting away entirely, leaving nothing but bleached bone.
For all her power, she was nothing compared to Hades.
I felt no pity. She'd caused too much suffering, hurt too many people. All I felt was relief that she was finally, truly gone.
The vines binding Enzo withered and died, turning black and crumbling to dust. They fell away from him like ash. Enzo was immediately on his feet and ran toward me.
Everything in me screamed to run to him, but I was trapped—on my knees with cold steel against my throat. All I could do was watch him come for me.
Morden laughed. “You’re going to be next Your majesty unless you let my daughter and me go.”
The queen's face twisted with fury. 'Kill that creature!' she screamed at her guards, pointing at Hades. 'Now!' Soldiers rushed toward Hades, weapons raised. But Hades snarled and the guards hesitated.
Gunnar stepped protectively in front of the dragon, wings spreading wide. “You'll have to go through me first."
Enzo squared his shoulders. “Let them go, Alanna.”
Queen Alanna dropped back and her soldiers surrounded her. "Kill the prisoners."
The guard's blade pressed harder against my throat, breaking my skin. Warm blood trickled down my neck.
No. No. No.
Not when Enzo was so close. Not when we'd just found each other again.
Two dark shadow figures moved through the bayou. Loud voices cried out,“Accede gladius!”The swords flew from the guards' hands—the blades that had been pressed against mine and Morden's throats—and stabbed into two trees.
I headbutted the soldier behind me, and he fell backward. I bolted upright and ran as fast as I could, my arms and legs pumping. Morden was right behind me.
As the figures emerged from the shadows, I smiled—Tinker Bell and Alice. Alice looked pale and shaky, barely healed, but her eyes blazed with fierce determination. She had the same fire as Tinker Bell.
Suddenly, Enzo was right next to me and immediately pulled me close. I sagged against him, the fight draining out of me in a rush. He was here. He was real. Nothing else mattered. Not the blood, not the chaos, not the battle raging around. Just him holding me.
"I've got you. You're never leaving my sight again."
I wrapped my arms around his neck and buried my face against his chest. He held me like he'd never let go, and I inhaled deeply—his scent, strong and woody and perfectly him. The smell of safety. Of home.
“Going somewhere, Your Majesty?” Tinker Bell smiled. She stretched out her hand. “Give me the stone.”
I lifted my head and shifted closer to Enzo, pressing against his side. I couldn't bear even an inch of distance between us—not after everything. My hand found his and gripped tight, anchoring myself to him.
Queen Alanna had lost all her arrogance. The imperious mask had shattered, revealing absolute fear beneath. Her face was deathly pale, eyes darting wildly as she assessed her situation—outnumbered, outmatched, her soldiers defeated. Her gaze locked onto the swirling portal, and I saw the calculation in her expression. She was looking for an escape route, measuring the distance, wondering if she could make it.
She shook her head. "Guards, protect me." She abandoned the startled soldiers and ran toward the portal.
"We have to close the portal, daughter. The steel weakened us, but we can do it," Morden said as he held out his palm. "Do it now before she escapes."
