Her head went one way, her body another, falling to the ground and shattering the ice, herblood gushing into the air before settling to paint the snow in a macabre artwork. Red mist settled across the white signaling the end of a monarch. A tree, the one that had walked and distracted her, shot out a branch and pierced the winter queen’s abdomen, lifting her high up into the air. Another branch pierced through her skull, lifting it as well.
It then carried both to the burning lake, and flung her body out into its flaming depths.
She cared not for nature. Neglected her trees.
I realized another tree had uprooted and was standing at my side, its branch brushing my arm.
As I expected, her inability to put her land and people first had come back to bite her.
Thank you,I said.I will always treat trees and nature with the respect they deserve. You have a friend and ally in me.
It extended its branch arm toward me, and as I reached out to grab it, thinking it was like a handshake, a perfectly polished walking stick broke off. I smiled, sheathing my ice sword just in case I needed it again.
Placing one end of the stick on the ground, I leaned into it as I hurried forward, using my bad leg more fully than I had up to this point. My leg didn’t collapse into mush, which was a great sign, but it still hurt like all hell. Pain shot up to my kneecap and I sucked in a breath.
Okay, it definitely needed more time to heal.
I eased some of my weight off it, putting more onto the stick as I headed toward Kade. Through the trees, I was catching glimpses of the darkness, and as I hobbled closer I saw that Kade had the Dark Fae Lord pinned against a tree. Now both of his antlers were hacked off — one lying in a puddle of black oil.
The back of Kade’s thigh had a wide four-inch gash that didn’t seem to be healing, but he was standing strong, so either it wasn’t laced with dark poison or my mate had developed some sort of immunity after last time.
Just behind them was an advancing line of a half-dozen killians, no doubt trying to come to their master’s aid. At this stage, they were being held off by Dante and Kian—who must have crossed the long way around the lake—the pair swinging their swords with precision, taking off heads left and right. Satisfied they were okay, I focused on the more pressing problem.
I limped closer to Kade quickly, one hand on my walking stick and the other on my sword. Whatever the ice magic had done, my weapon remained strong and cold beneath my touch. A breeze blew a wave of smoke from the lake through me, and I coughed a few times as the acridness invaded my nose and lungs.
I’ve killed the queen. I’m coming to help, I sent to Kade, because at the moment I couldn’t see him through the blackness.
I wasn’t sure what state physically or mentally he was in, I hadn’t been able to focus on him during my fight. But I needed him to know that I was here now. I had his back.
Put up your shield.His response was weak and delayed.He has more magic than we presumed. I’ve almost … got him.
I was through the smoke now, nearly at Kade’s side. My focus was on him, the worry bubbling in my gut again. He had sounded so strained. I had no idea what he was doing to kill the Dark Fae Lord but … he did seem to be in control. I slowed, erecting a shimmery bubble of magic across my skin, a technique I’d learned from Violet and Rowan. It was supposed to repel dark spells.
I had no idea if it would work against the strength of this particularly dark fae, but it was better than nothing. When I was about six feet from them, Kade lost his focus. It was no more than a split-second that his energy wavered, but it was enough for the fae lord to find strength to attack. Kade was thrown high into the air. He arced up, and then fell with a thud right at my feet.
I heard a bone snap, but as soon as Kade had fallen he was standing again. Somehow. The look on his face was beautiful and deadly. It was a Kade I didn’t really know, a warrior, a killer. But, when I searched deep in our bond, I sensed my mate under his lethal intentions.
The Dark Fae Lord picked up his hacked-off antler and held it in his hands. It was freely dripping that poisonous oil. Within seconds it had transformed into a long, pointed, wickedly sharp weapon. That dark stone — his staff was in his other hand — had given him some extraordinary gifts. From the story he told me, it sounded as if he had once been just an ordinary fae. He’d wanted to be more, and he had succeeded. But at what cost?
The dark fae lifted his head and sniffed, looking over his shoulder at Kian, who was now a mere five feet from him, fighting a killian. Kian and Dante had been pushed forward to the edge of this fight.
“Your kin? He smells of you,” the Dark Fae Lord murmured.
In a motion so fast I almost missed it happening, the fae dove toward Kian, antler-weapon raised. I threw my hands up, calling my magic forward.
“Kian!” Kade bellowed, sprinting toward his brother. He wasn’t going to make it in time,hampered by whatever bone his fall had broken. I shot my magic off in a quick blast, hoping to at least distract the Dark Fae Lord, but my aim was off. It hit a mere three inches from his feet, freezing the ground there.
Before Kade or I could do anything, the fae shoved his antler-weapon low into Kian’s back, slowly ripping it up into his chest, inflicting maximum damage. Somewhere deep in the woods I heard Shelley scream, a haunting wail that filled the air with pain and sorrow. Tears sprang to my eyes, the pain in my heart so sharp and aching that I held a hand to my chest to try and ease it.
Kade’s chest was heaving, bear roars echoing across the clearing. We both hobbled forward together — I had all but abandoned my stick now, choosing the pain for a faster gait. When I reached for Kade’s mind I slammed up against a wall of darkness. It was like a thick cloud, but with much more substance.
My mate was in a bad place I could not reach. The Fae Lord spun around, staff raised, but he was too slow. In his pleasure at killing, in his bloodlust, he had forgotten there was another bear brother, one he had just enraged. Kade let out a bear roar and swiped with a partially-shifted hand claw across the dark one’s face.
He was aiming to hurt, not kill. Kade was too far gone in his own pain and fury. All he wanted was revenge. A row of deep cuts sprang up across the fae lord’s face, black blood oozing out of them, and that injury was enough to distract the evil bastard. As he cried out, reaching for his face, Kade swiped again. This time I thought he was going for a kill, but instead he snatched up the Dark Fae Lord’s staff.
Maybe he wasn’t as far gone as I had thought.
He had skipped his chance to hurt the fae lord more, going for the weapon. Because he was the only one here who could handle the dark stone. My mate staked the staff into the ground, and then with one kick snapped it in half. The fae let out a weak cry, which turned into a high-pitched screech when Kade used his mighty strength to propel the top half, with the dark crystal on it, out into the burning lake. The second it hit the fire, thunder rolled across the sky and the Dark Fae Lord fell to his knees.
