It wasn’t water.
Half a dozen shadowy figures sped under the ice to answer the ercho’s dying call, and I was reminded of how quickly it had caught alight.
It gave me an idea.
“Kade, how fast can you run?” I gave him a wink. He was more than fast enough. I just hoped I could keep up. I held the torch to the open oil spot.
Kade’s eyes gleamed. “Do it,” he said.
Needing no more encouragement, I dropped the torch into the oily water, and we both took off running.
Burn baby burn.
Today I was taking out the Dark Fae Lord and all of his evil babies.
Chapter Twelve
What hides in the darkness?
Turned out that an oil-filled lake would burn faster and stronger than I had expected. The top layer of the ice was already starting to crack, as the flames behind us spread so fast that I could feel real heat licking my skin. This was no ordinary sort of fire. The elven flame mixed with dark magic was forming a magical fire show of epic proportions.
“Almost there, Ari,” Kade shouted, but not even his soothing husky tones were going to help when the ice was breaking under my feet. At any point, I was going to plunge into the oil, and then the creatures below — or the fire — would consume me.
I kept my eyes on Kade’s broad shoulders. He was not far in front of me, and I knew he was limiting his speed to stay with me. If I wasn’t so busy running for my life, I would be shouting at him to move it. He was so much heavier than me; he was about to crash through. He must have realized that, because when there was about twenty feet to the shore, he dived, his muscled legs propelling him onto the snowy bank. I knew I couldn’t make that distance, but I had no choice, it was jump or die. My wolf pushed further forward, assessing the situation, and in the last second she tried to force the change on me. We wouldn’t make it in my human form, but I was lighter, more nimble in my wolf.
I don’t have time,I told her. I could change in a minute or less, but I didn’t even have a spare second.
“Jump, Ari.” Kade was right on the edge of the lake, arms outstretched. He would come for me if I didn’t make it, but there was no point in both of us dying.
Heat snapped behind me, ice slushed and cracked under my boots, and I launched myself forward. Using every ounce of shifter strength I could gather, I fell about three feet short of the shore, but Kade’s long arms came in handy again as he snatched me out of the air and propelled usboth backwards. I crashed on top of him as he hit the ground hard.
Screams and screeches filled the air, something I hadn’t been paying attention to when I was running for my life. The scent of burning flesh and leather was almost overwhelming, but I fought through the nausea, forcing myself to focus. The lake was completely ablaze, flames standing ten feet or more in the air. It was probably only burning on the surface, if it required oxygen like on Earth, but the screams told me that plenty of the creatures who lived in its depths were being ignited too.
A powerful, guttural yell echoed across the lands. The fury within it boomed out, shaking the ground. Kade and I clambered to our feet.
“Guess someone found out about his precious creatures,” I murmured, already scanning the darkness.
Kade stood to his full height, lifting the strap of the case holding the staff over his shoulders. Thankfully, he had not lost it in that mad dash. In a second, he had the lid open and the weapon in his hands. I fought down the urge to knock it out of his grasp, hating the eerie glint of its dark light. The cloying pressure of its energy — now that it was free from its spelled confines — swelled out and started trying to infiltrate into my power, brushing against me insidiously.
Swallowing hard, I pulled my eyes from the staff, focusing instead on the boxy castle, wanting to be prepared when the enraged Dark Fae Lord made his appearance.
I didn’t have to wait long.
He flashed in with a swirl of dark smoke, his long cloak billowing behind him, his staff, the twin of Kade’s, clutched tightly in his hand. Pure fury filled his face, making him look inhuman as he slammed the tip of his dark weapon into the ground. The horn Kade had sliced off was still missing, giving his face a lopsided look.
“You and I could have been great together, Arianna. Now you will join your mother, in death!” His shouts filled the air, and a giant crack split the ground where he had slammed the staff into the earth. It started small, but as it shot toward Kade and me, got wider and wider.
We sprinted away from the widening chasm in the ground, reorienting ourselves so we could approach the Dark Fae Lord from a different angle. As I ran, the ache in my leg started to increase, right where the ercho had clawed me. I pushed it from my mind. Nothing I could do about it now.
Any sign of the queen?Kade asked.
Nothing,I said, and then almost in the same instant I felt the icy shift of the wind.Wait … she’s here.
Her magic was familiar to me. It called to my own in a way I hated, but also accepted. I wasn’t going to freak out about it anymore. I couldn’t help who my family were, just who I was.I’ll go after the Dark Fae Lord,Kade said.The winter queen is yours. Stay safe, my love.
I love you, King Kade. Don’t you dare die.
Or turn evil.
