He rushed her. His feet slammed into the ground. With a gasp, she darted to the side, but his hand grabbed the back of her tunic. He roared and threw her to the ground. Pain lanced through her back as she wheezed against the force, her sword tumbling out of her hands.
The warrior twisted his sword to the side and slammed the blunt end against her aching wound. Pain screamed through her, blinding her, filling her eyes with blood. Nothing existed but the fire rushing through her leg.
She felt his sword whistling toward her. Eyes shut tight, she tumbled to the side, missing his blow by seconds. He slammed his sword down again, missing her face but only just.
Gritting her teeth, she opened her eyes to see him looming above her.
The sky rumbled. Lightning cracked through the thick snow. A strange sensation curled inside her gut, and she gasped as black flakes tumbled down from above.
The Ruin. It’s here. It’s found me again.
White wings speared through the storm. Wingallock swooped down and landed on the warrior’s head. Sucking in a sharp breath, Reyna scuttled back, grabbing her weapon and jumping to her feet.
Wingallock flapped hard against the volatile wind, his talons gripping tightly to the warrior’s helmet. And then the owl pulled it away, revealing the wide, angry face of the air fae within.
He ground his teeth and whirled toward the owl. Reyna screamed as his blade sliced toward Wingallock. Her owl screeched, dropping the helmet to the ground. He spun away into a sky full of ash, escaping the warrior’s blade.
Reyna smiled and charged. While her opponent had been distracted by Wingallock, he hadn’t noticed her forward advance. She leapt up from the ground with an impossible speed and aimed her sword right at his forehead, her feet high off the icy ground. The bladeslurpedas it sunk deep into his flesh, killing him instantly.
She grabbed his sword as he fell and then whirled on her feet. Sloane’s face had paled as he’d watched the fight in horror, but his eyes were now locked on the sky above. Black flakes of the Ruin hit her face, slamming against her, prodding at her skin. But the swirl of snow flicked them away just as easily. And her body did not yield. With a smile, she stalked toward the former king.
The handful of warriors surrounding him had scurried into the safety of the castle. Another black flake hit her face as she advanced. And the snow brushed it aside once again.
“Where are your hundreds of warriors?” she shouted into the wind. “It appears they have abandoned you.”
He nervously wet his lips. “They’re not here. I sent them to join the wood fae army a week past. There’s no need to point your blade my way. I can’t command them to kill you if they’re not even here. Only a dozen remain, and they’ve gone inside.”
Reyna smiled, power still tumbling around her trembling body. Ash and snow whipped through the courtyard, masking everything in a hundred shades of grey. “Your mistake. My gain.”
With wide eyes, Sloane spun on his feet to race into the castle halls.
She grabbed the back of his shirt and threw him onto the ground. Towering over him, she placed the sharp tip of her sword against his bobbing neck. Narrowing her eyes, she leaned down and hissed, “Where is my sister?”
He let out a chuckle, though his eyes were wide in fear. Black flakes landed on his face, and his skin began to sizzle. “You are making a terrible mistake. I am the High King’s father. By killing me, you’re starting a war.”
“The war started a hundred years ago,” she said in a low growl. “Whereis my sister?”
His laughter died on his lips just as his glamor faltered, revealing the true fae beneath the mask. A pitiful former king with no power and no one to save him anymore. “She’s in the dungeons, same as you’ve been all this time. Now,” he said, licking his lips and wincing as another black flake landed on his nose. “Go to her and let me live. It’s better for the realm if you do.”
“No,” Reyna said, shaking her head. “I don’t believe it is.”
With the wind, snow, and Ruin swirling around her, she shoved her blade deep into his neck. A sickeningcrunchechoed through the storm, the sound of a life ending in the dirt. Blood spread across the newly-fallen snow, fingers of bright red that flared bright against the white.
Reyna left the sword where it was, the hilt pointing straight up toward the stormy sky. And then, with the snow urging her on, she went to find her sister.
60
Thane
Horror churned through Thane’s gut as he stood just out of reach of the storm. Feurach Fortress had been consumed by…something. He didn’t quite understand it. Whatever it was, it wasn’t natural. Thick, bulging clouds hung low over the square stone towers. Snow and ash swirled through the air.
Not ash, he thought.The Ruin.
Eislyn and Reyna were stuck inside that castle. They would be trapped inside their cells while destruction rained down from above. Sorrow churned through him. How could he stop it? How could he save them? This wasn’t a battle he could win or a lord he could manipulate. Winds whipped around the castle in a frenzy, creating a blizzard of epic proportions. Thane could barely even see the familiar towers jutting up toward the sky.
He glanced behind him. The shadow fae had not followed. Lorcan had stopped them somehow, and Thane couldn’t squander that by standing on a hillside, gaping at a castle in fear.
Thane would have to go into the storm. There was nothing else he could do. The Ruin might kill him, but he would never be able to forgive himself if he didn’t try.
