I had no idea wherethatpower had come from, but I liked it.
Alastar saw and whirled toward me. I snatched a dagger from the nearest guard and ducked beneath Alastar’s first blow. I jumped up and danced back, flipping the dagger from one hand to the next. The fae male narrowed his eyes and swung again, but the furious power singing in my veins made my movements faster, stronger, smoother.
I gripped the dagger tight in my hand and threw. It soared across the room, straight at Alastar’s head. His eyes widened a split second too late, and then the blade sunk into his face.
He fell with a crash.
When I spun to face the Queen, she was waiting. She held a long curved blade in her hands, swinging it from left to right. The weapon whistled as it soared through the air, a warning sign to come no nearer. I knelt down and ripped the dagger from the fallen fae and wiped the blood from the blade. Viola watched my every movement, her eyes calculating what I might do next.
“I appreciate your efforts, but this fighting is no use.” She tsked and shook her head. “You cannot win against me. You’re still so young. Your powers are not fully developed. Besides, you’re completely surrounded. You’re in the middle of a crowd who is against you. Do you truly expect to fight them off all by yourself?”
I raised my voice loud so that it could be heard all the way to the back of the room. “My name is Norah Oliver. I am the daughter of Queen Marin. I am a Greater Fae, one who possesses the gifts of all four Courts. This Autumn Queen wishes to rule over you all, but she’s bringing chaos to this realm. The turmoil, the deaths, and even those storms. I—”
Before I could finish my little speech, Viola launched herself at me. She moved with furious speed, her blade slashing left and then right, over and over again until I could see nothing but a blur of glinting motion. My dagger was smaller and weaker, and I had to grit my teeth to block blow after blow. With a deep breath, I blocked again. Viola screamed and slashed her sword, the blade coming only inches from my head.
I jumped back two steps and heaved. Stars danced in my eyes. I wasn’t going to be able to beat her like this. I was going to have to win some other way.
“Why are you all just standing there staring?” Viola turned to shout at a random cluster of fae. “Take her down. I’m growing weary of this.”
I braced myself for a dozen rushing fae, but none came. Instead, they merely turned to watch me with curiosity. My eyes widened. Had they actually listened to what I said? Had I been wrong about myself? Could they truly be turning their backs on their vengeful Queen?”
But I’d grown distracted, a fact that Viola herself hadn’t missed. She slammed the flat of her blade against the back of my head, and a loud boom rang through my skull. The whole world went pitch black for five agonizing seconds. I couldn’t see. I couldn’t hear. I couldn’t even think.
When the world rushed back in around me again, everything seemed black and white. My knees hit the ground, and my palms grasped at the marble floor. Viola had started laughing, swinging her sword from side to side. I blinked and shook my head, trying to shake out the stars in my eyes, but all that did was cause another wave of dizziness to crash through my skull.
“So pathetic.” She spat. “So weak. You know what I think? I think Marin sent you into the human realm, not to keep you safe, but to keep you out of Otherworld. You’re not good enough for this place. You don’t belong here.”
Her words snapped me out of my daze, and I lifted my chin to stare into her eyes. Delight sparked in the reddish hue. Smugness. Confidence. Arrogance. She thought she’d won.
Maybe she had. My mates were trapped, and there was nothing I could do to save them. Her eyes flashed like brutal lightning as she stalked toward me. I scrabbled back, but it was no use. There was nowhere for me to go, not anymore.
She had destroyed everything I loved about this realm.
She had torn my life apart.
And now, she was taking them away from me. Forever.
No.A voice whispered into my ear. One both familiar and foreign at the same time. It urged me back onto my feet. It told me that I couldn’t give up. I didn’t know how, and I didn’t know why, but that urging voice was all I needed to steady my legs as I rose from the floor.
The laughter died on the Queen’s lips. “Oh, this is getting tiresome. Can someone please take care of this cockroach for me? I’d rather not kill her because the Dark Fae will want to take her alive, but knock her senseless if you need to.”
She turned away to stalk back to her throne and her crowns she wanted so badly to destroy.
“Not so fast,” I hissed.
And then I shadowed. One moment, I was behind her, and the next, I stood right in her path with my dagger’s blade pressed tight against her throat.
“Give up.” My voice was hard, unyielding. “Let my mates go.”
“Never,” she hissed.
I ground my teeth together. Her hands twitched, reaching for her own blade. In two seconds, she would have it, and we’d renew the fight once more.
Killing Queen Viola was the last thing I wanted to do. Even after everything that had happened, I still hadn’t grown accustomed to all the death and murder that took place in this realm. But I saw no other option. There was no other way out. I could see the truth in her eyes. As long as she was still breathing, Queen Viola would never give up. She would never stop trying to gain the crown. And she would never stop haunting me. She would never stop trying to take my mates.
I only had one choice. With a deep breath, I sliced my blade across her neck.
Epilogue
