“It is too big of a risk allowing him to live,” he finally answered before narrowing his eyes. “Just as you have now proven that it is too big of a risk to allowyouto live. I would have kept you safe for a time, Moira. Instead, you have forced myhand.”
He launched toward me, catching me off guard. With a cry, I jumped back and swung the spear toward his head. He knocked my blow aside as if it were nothing. I fell to the ground, teeth knockingtogether.
Wraith Lugh stormed toward me. I scrabbled back, grabbing the spear from where it had fallen to the ground. The broken weapon felt solid in my hand, but it had little use to me. It wasn’t asword.
Still, it was the only weapon Ihad.
Lugh loomed over me. I jumped to my feet, whirling out of the way just as he threw his fists at my head. He stumbled forward, caught off guard by mymovements.
I took that opportunity to throw all my weight behind the spear, jabbing it right at hisribs.
But then I held my blow, stopping suddenly as the edge of the longest point brushed against his shirt. Heart beating hard, I stared up into his venomous face. Only a second longer, and I would have stabbed him right in thegut.
Tears sprang into my eyes as we stared each other down. I could still finish the blow. All it would take was another burst of fae strength, and the sharp points would sink deep into his skin. Caer’s prophecy flashed in my mind. One day, I would kill my mate. This was the moment she had envisioned. I knew it, deep within my gut. She had seen us face off, and she had seen me sink the spear into Lugh’sgut.
To save myself. To save my Queen. And to save theworld.
But I couldn’t do it. He was Lugh. My mate. The other half of my soul. I couldn’t stand here and watch the life drain out of his eyes, even if the wraith now controlled his body and hismind.
With a heavy sigh, I pulled back and let the spear fall to the ground by my feet. I had chosen my own damn fate this time. Fuck the prophecy, Lugh had always said. Well, if this wasn’t a ‘fuck you’ to the prophecy, then I didn’t know whatwas.
Surprise flickered in hiseyes.
“Why didn’t you kill me?” he asked gruffly. “You had your chance. You heldback.”
“Because while you might be willing to destroy the one you love, I’m not.” I brushed aside the tears and stepped toward him, despite all the warning bells clanging in my mind. “If I kill you, then I kill my mate.” I shook my head. “No matter what happens, I could never dothat.”
“Caer’s prophecy,” he murmured. “You are supposed to killme.”
Once again, power rippled to me. The matingbond.
“Lugh?” I cocked my head and reached out toward him. “Is thatyou?”
Wraith Lugh roared back before me, eyes flashing with rage. “Stopthat!”
The two Lughs were clearly battling for dominance inside of the male who stood before me now. With a deep breath, I grabbed the spear again. I pointed it at him, handsshaking.
“Give up,” I said, inching closer. “I know you’re fighting him. Giveup!”
Wraith Lugh whipped his head toward me and sneered. “Or you’ll what? Stab me? You just proved you’d never dothat.”
He had a point. There had to be another way to get him out of Lugh’s body. Buthow?
I glanced down at the spear. It all came back to this damn weapon. There was something about it. Something holding the fragments of Lugh together. Something keeping the wraith from fully taking control. The thing was...Lugh’s soul wasn’t inside the spear anymore. I could feel that it was gone. Instead, his soulwas...
With a gasp, I looked up again. We’d been wrong about it all. His soul had never truly been inside this weapon. It had been inside of his body, along with the wraith. They had existed side by side for decades. The only thing that had kept Lugh in control was the spear. Which meant, I didn’t need to get Lughback.
I need to get the wraithout.
Memories flashed through my mind. Pages of the books we’d searched when trying to find a way to defeat the wraiths. Nightmare wraiths weren’t demons, but they were closeenough.
“No,” Wraith Lugh growled, his eyes going wide at the expression flickering across my face. “Do not tryit.”
I took a step back, lifting the spear before me. Gritting my teeth, I dug the sharpest, longest point of the weapon deep into my palm. It stung, and pain lanced through my hand. Blood pooled in the wound instantaneously. Droplets fell onto the grass at my feet, painting the green strandsred.
“Stop it!” Wraith Lugh screamed, an inhuman sound that scraped against myeardrums.
I lifted my hand, curling it into a fist, and let the blood drip onto the sharp points of the spear. Wraith Lugh stumbled back, shaking his head. But then suddenly, his footsteps stopped. His body froze, his eyes goingwide.
