“And you, Shieldmaiden,” Nollaig said. “These low fae need your help, too.”
Reyna clenched her hands. “You know what I must do. I have to go home to my kingdom and stop the Ruin.”
“And you shall do it,” Nollaig said firmly. “But there are innocents inside Findius, likely dying. You have the power of Seelie rushing through your veins.” She grasped Reyna’s arm, shaking her gently. “The shadow fae are greatly outnumbered. Even if Lorcan and I rush into the fight, this city will fall. You have seen the wood king’s atrocities. You know what he will do to them all.”
Reyna swallowed around a hard, hot lump in her throat.
“You gave up your heart for that power.” Nollaig shook her harder. “Use it.”
Her throat closed up as she fought for breath. Nollaig was right. Findius would fall, and the wood king would begin a reign of terror over anyone who survived. They would be tortured, flayed, consumed raw. Trembling, she gazed across the black stone that rose up from the fiery ground. Her heightened senses sharpened, zooming in on the fight.
Bodies already littered the ground. Some were warriors but many others wore the simple linen of innocent civilians. Orange light flared in cottage homes. Roofs had been consumed by flames. Low fae screamed as they raced from attackers, donned in the unmistakable green-tinted armor of the Wood Court.
Reyna pulled back within herself, pressing a palm against the ache in her stomach. She was not accustomed to this power, and it made her nauseous. The sight of the battle haunted her mind. As much as she needed to get home, she could not turn her back on this. Bolg Rothach was cruel and wicked, but the innocents of the city were not. She couldn’t leave them here to die.
She set her jaw, turning to Nollaig. “You’re right. I’ll do whatever I can to help.”
They huddled together for a moment, exchanging ideas. In the end, there was only one answer. Most of the activity appeared to be at the gates that led deep into the hidden caverns and tunnels beneath Findius. The wood fae had discovered the way inside, and they were swarming out of the ground like ants.
They would converge on those gates. Lorcan and Nollaig would fight while Reyna drew the focus of the wood fae away. And then she would unleash the power of Seelie onto them all.
Just before they set off, Lorcan grasped her elbow. “Look at me,” he said in a low and dangerous voice. He had been so angry when he’d found out what she’d done. That anger lingered in his voice even now, but she knew it was the gods he hated. Not her.
She dropped back her head, swallowing hard beneath the weight of his familiar dark eyes. “I don’t want to argue, Lorcan. Not now. Not when we’re about to rush into a fight.”
“I don’t want to argue with you. I—” His jaw clenched in frustration, and he dropped a fierce kiss onto her mouth. She leaned into it, breathing the scent of him deep into her mind. Leather, smoke, steel. A scent she would never forget.
He pulled back, chest heaving. “This power you have, it’s dangerous and raw and new. Be careful, Reyna. Promise me you will not die in this fight.”
Tears welled in her eyes. “Only if you promise you won’t die either.”
“I promise you.” He tucked his finger beneath her chin, a move so achingly familiar that her bones throbbed. “And I promise you that we will figure out a way through this. You can help me lead this kingdom, and I can help you defeat the Ruin. We can do this together, Reyna.”
“I don’t think we can,” she whispered, wanting nothing more than for him to be right.
“At least promise me you won’t leave without saying goodbye.”
“All right. I will promise you that.” She did not think Lorcan was right, that they could find a way past a deal she’d made with a god. But she would keep this promise. She would fight this battle, and then say her goodbyes. She would gaze into his eyes one last time and memorize the light within the dark.
But first, there was a battle to be won and a king to defeat. Together, they raced to Findius.
* * *
Chaos had consumed the black stone city. As they huddled at the base of the towering, impenetrable city walls, they could hear the screams of fae dying.
“How will we get in?” Nollaig asked, her cloak fluttering around her hidden face. “The gates are shut. And no one is there to open them.”
“I have an idea, but I don’t think either of you will like it,” Reyna said, glancing up at where her owl swooped overhead. It reminded her of the last time she’d faced a battle in a city. She remembered what Wingallock had done then.
Lorcan scowled. “I don’t even want to hear it.”
Reyna ignored him. She was yet to understand the full extent of her new Seelie powers, but there was one thing she knew she could do. Something the Dagda had done, and something fae could do before the Fall. With a deep breath, she closed her eyes and focused on the light thrum of power charging through her body. She thought of what she wanted and pictured it in her mind’s eye.
Her back began to stretch. Bones and flesh snapped, pain flickering through her shoulder blades. With a trembling growl, she bent at the waist and grasped her knees, digging the nails into her thin trousers. More bones snapped. Her body shuddered as if it had been thrown into a tempest sea. A horrible, excruciatingsnickripped her flesh open wide.
Nollaig gasped. Lorcan took Reyna’s hand, holding her steady as the magic twisted her body into a terrible, wrangled mess.
And then the torment suddenly stopped. A fresh buzz of power flared through her shoulder blades. With a gasp, she glanced behind her. A pair of silver wings stretched wide on either side of her, the glittering feathers impossibly large. She reached out and traced a finger down one feather. A shiver of sensation stormed through her, and she gasped.
