With brute force, I turned her thoughts in a different direction. I could see every memory that Gabby had of Elijah playing out within her mind on hyper-speed, flashes of their life together and how happy they’d been. I pressed down upon her the despair now that Elijah was gone, the immensity of her endless grief. She’d lost her mate, and no title, whether that would be queen or goddess, would satisfy the emptiness she felt at the loss of her shifter.
Sorceresses weren’t strong without their mates. Gabby held immense power, but the true, ultimate power she’d had… the power of love… had left her long ago. Becoming Droga’s bride could not come close. All the magic Droga had given her made her feelnothing, when Elijah’s love had given her everything.
As I made that reality clear to her, I brought up another memory— the blissful night she and Elijah had conceived their daughter, for that had been the most wonderful moment of her life. For a single, shining moment, she knew she mattered to someone, and that she was her mate’s entire world. Elijah would die for her, and she knew it, because she’d do the same for him.
It paled in stark comparison to the hopelessness she’d felt the morning Signe had been born. Her daughter was placed into her arms, and she’d had to lock eyes with a child who was forced to endure the world without a father to guide her.
Elijah, truly, was gone. And without him, she could not bear to live a moment longer.
Gabby fell to her knees. The hold she had on me vanished as she willingly let me go. I slowly rose, clutchingLodbuzan.
Gabby didn’t move to flee as I came closer. She’d lost the will to fight.
I wondered then if she’d cared at all once Elijah had died. She’d fought to raise Droga and stayed by his side to get revenge on us, and to provide safety for her daughter. But her greed had been destroyed once she’d lost her mate and king. Elijah had been her whole world, and without him, even the promise of owning a universe failed to satisfy.
“Kill me,” Gabby rasped. “I wish to go to my mate, whether in heaven or hell he may be.”
Elijah was definitely in the Underworld, and if Gabby wanted to join him so bad, I’d happily grant her request. I swung my sword at Gabby’s neck, gritting my teeth as I lopped off her head.
Gabby’s headless corpse fell to the ground, while her head went flying several feet away. I did not mourn her. I only hoped she found some sort of peace.
The minute she was dead, I scrambled to grab the Crystals. I pulled off the Crystals that were embedded in the breastplate, and wrenched the circlet from her dismembered head before grabbing the dark necklace from her severed neck.
I expected the stones to be weakened by summoning the dead army, but they still thrummed with immense power. What Finlay had said was true. Gods could wield the power inside the Crystals without draining them of their magic, as long as they didn’t try too many powerful spells at once. It was so unfair.
But the rules didn’t need to be on my side for us to have a chance of ending this. I shoved the stones into my bag with the silver crown, and made another portal back to the armory, leaving Gabby’s discarded corpse behind me.
The army of the dead had nearly hacked my thorn barricade to bits. My friends were pressed against the wall, looking terrified that there was nowhere to go. Ethan locked eyes on my form, and relaxed when he saw I was unhurt.
I didn’t understand why the dead army was still moving. I killed Gabby, and took the Crystals, so these walking corpses, along with the ghosts, should’ve stopped fighting.
But then I realized that the spell Gabby had cast using the stones still held, and would continue to hold until I drained the power inside the Crystals of Harmony and used them to open the gate to Edinmyre. There would be no other way for me to direct or wield the magic inside the Crystals to stop Gabby’s spell. If I wanted the dead army gone, I still had to finish this.
I blasted back the army with a blue ray of magic, which also shattered the rest of my thorn barricade. I created another portal with my other hand, while my friends blinked at me.
“Come on!” I shouted. I ushered them through the portal. They entered one by one, until Ethan and I were the last ones through. I closed the portal so the corpses couldn’t follow us as we stood gasping on the edges of destroyed cobblestone streets.
I’d transported us to the palace ruins. It was the closest my portal could take us to the Sacred Gathering, as the site was so magically powerful, it rendered any portals useless that attempted to appear anywhere near it. We’d have to run the rest of the way.
Now that Gabby was dead, the thunderstorm had ended, and the sun was starting to come out, bathing the earth in an orange hue of a forlorn sunset.
“Onawilke! I’m so glad you’re all right.” Ethan embraced me, and I held him against my body. I’d been so worried I wouldn’t see him again.
“Did you get the Crystals?” Theo pressed.
I nodded as I pulled out of Ethan’s arms. “Yes, and Gabby is dead.”
Ethan sighed. “I don’t know if it makes much of a difference. The way to Edinmyre has been shut. The fae have lost their magic. We’re all going to die anyway. It’s too late.”
“Don’t think like that. Fae are perishing as we speak! We need to keep fighting, and battle to save what’s left!” Kiara insisted.
“Maybe we can still unite the stones. If so, we’ll be able to save those fae who haven’t disintegrated into dust,” Alexei added.
“I mean, this would be a hell of a lot easier if we didn’t have to fight literalzombies,” Delmare complained.
“It’s not like anything in our lives is simple!” Stefan let out a galliant laugh.
“Hear, hear!” Theo agreed heartily. “As far as I’m concerned, an army of the dead makes it all the more interesting!”
