Chapter 37
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Enzo
I had to keep these bastards away from Joy.
Every second they were focused on me was another second she had to stay hidden and safe.
I just hoped she'd use her shadows to protect herself if anyone got past our defenses.
Through the chaos, I caught sight of Morden with Joy, his dark form weaving through the battle with purpose. Good. He'd keep her safe.
Relief flickered briefly before reality crashed back down on me.
Like the Dark Demons before them, the Unseelie army was pouring out of the portal in an endless stream—hundreds, maybe thousands of soldiers flooding onto bayou soil.
This was going to be just as deadly and desperate as the last supernatural war with Cormac, and we were already exhausted, already bloodied, already pushed to our limits.
Five Unseelie soldiers broke away from the main force and rushed me with coordinated precision, their swords gleaming in the moonlight as they swung at me from multiple angles. Steel sang through the air, aiming to cut me down where I stood.
I dodged their strikes, moving faster than a human eye could follow. The world slowed around me as I tapped into every ounce of vampire speed I possessed. I twisted between their blades like water, feeling the wind of near-misses brush against my skin.
The first soldier overextended on his swing. Fatal mistake. I grabbed his head with both hands and twisted with cold precision, snapping his neck with a sickening crack. His body crumpled in a heap before his companions even registered what had happened.
Four left. And a whole army still coming through behind them.
Gunnar descended from above like an avenging angel.
He landed silently behind one of the remaining guards, his movements fluid and precise.
Before the Unseelie could react, Gunnar wrapped his muscular arm around the man's throat in a chokehold, applying pressure to the carotid artery with practiced efficiency.
The soldier's eyes went wide with shock, then rolled back into his head as consciousness fled.
His sword clattered to the ground as he collapsed in a boneless heap.
Three left.
I didn't give them time to regroup or call for reinforcements.
I lunged at the one closest to me with predatory speed, closing the distance before he could raise his blade in defense.
My fangs extended fully as I seized him by the shoulders and sank them deep into his throat.
His scream died in a wet gurgle as I drained him dry, his Unseelie blood flooding my mouth—different from human blood, thicker, tinged with magic that made my senses flare even brighter.
His body went limp in my grasp within seconds, completely drained. I let him drop to the sodden ground and turned to face the last soldier, blood dripping from my chin. His confident expression had shifted to pure terror.
He should run. But he wouldn't make it far.
Gunnar lunged at the terrified Unseelie and grabbed him by the throat. His eyes blazed red as he drained the soldier in seconds, the body crumpling at his feet.
"We've got to close that portal." I wiped the blood off my face, watching more soldiers pour through. "Drive them back."
"The Anchoring Obsidian stone," Gunnar said, breathing hard. "If we could get it and threaten to destroy it, the queen would have no choice but to retreat. Without it, she can't stay in this realm."
"Where is it?"
"Marsha must have the stone.”
I grinned coldly. "Good. Then we have her where we want her—tangled in Morden's shadows inside the cathedral."
"But he has to draw back his shadows for us to get it," Gunnar pointed out. "And if Marsha gets free..."
"Then we wound the queen first," I said, the plan forming quickly. "Make her desperate to get back to the Elder Dimension where she can heal safely. She won't risk dying here—she'll call for retreat to save herself."
"That could work," Gunnar agreed. "Wound her badly enough, and she'll prioritize survival over conquest."
"Now why would I give up the stone to you two assholes?" The voice dripped with venom and dark amusement.
I whirled around, my muscles tensing for combat.
Fuck. Marsha stood twenty feet away, freed from Morden's shadows.
How the hell had she done this? Must have used a dark spell.
Her dress was torn and dirty, her hair wild around her face, but her eyes blazed with malicious triumph.
Viciousness shone in those dark depths—the look of someone who'd been humiliated and was eager for revenge.
"How the hell did you—" Gunnar started, his wings spreading defensively.
"Did you really think a few shadows could hold me forever?" Marsha laughed, the sound bitter and cruel. She held up the Anchoring Obsidian stone, the black surface seeming to drink in the moonlight. "Morden's good, I'll give him that. But I'm better."
The stone pulsed with dark energy in her palm, and I realized with sickening clarity that our entire plan had just collapsed. Without that stone, we had no leverage, no way to force the queen's retreat.
And Marsha knew it. The satisfaction radiating from her was palpable as she took a step backward toward the portal, putting distance between us.
"Catch me if you can, boys." Her smile was all teeth and malice. "But I wouldn't recommend it. The queen has your precious Joy and her traitor father cornered. Come and watch them die.”
Rage burned through me. “If you hurt—”
“Thinking of killing me enforcer? If you do, Joy dies. And Gunnar, I have your precious queen. If you kill me, you’ll never know where I’ve taken her.” She narrowed her eyes. “Now move.”
Fuck. Checkmate.
Gunnar and I looked at each other. Understanding passed between us without words. He knew. I knew. We didn’t have a choice. Both of our mates were in danger.
I led Gunnar to where I had left Joy. Gunnar was powerful and no one was getting near Joy with the two of us. I glanced around for any allies, but the rest of them were busy fighting the Unseelie. Angelo was too far away to help. I couldn’t make out where the rest of them were. It was total chaos.
A dark-haired woman stood in the grove like a nightmare made flesh, flanked by soldiers whose armor gleamed in the filtered moonlight. She radiated power and cruelty in equal measure—tall, regal, with silver hair braided down her back and eyes like chips of ice. She had to be the queen.
My heart stopped as I took in the scene before me.
Joy and Morden were on their knees in the mud, guards on either side of them with swords pressed against their throats.
Joy's face was pale and streaked with tears, but her eyes blazed with defiance even as the blade bit into her skin.
Blood trickled down her neck in a thin crimson line.
Rage exploded through me like wildfire, burning away every rational thought.
The woman's cold gaze swept over us with calculated assessment. "Gunnar and Enzo, I presume. I am Queen Alanna."
"Fuck you," I snarled, taking a step forward. Fury screamed at me to tear her apart, to rip the throat out of every soldier standing between me and Joy.
One of her soldiers struck me across the face with his armored fist, the impact snapping my head to the side. Pain exploded across my cheekbone and blood filled my mouth, the taste of copper mixing with fury. "You will not talk to our queen that way, vampire filth."
I spat blood at his feet and bared my fangs. "That all you got?"
Queen Alanna ignored my outburst entirely, her attention shifting to Marsha with businesslike efficiency. "Do you have it?"
"I do, Your Majesty." Marsha reached into her pocket and pulled out the Anchoring Obsidian stone with reverent care, cradling it in her palm like a precious child.
Even diminished and drained of power, the stone was breathtaking—like a faded black diamond covered in dust, its surface no longer absorbing light but reflecting it weakly.
The purple and silver veins were barely visible, faint as dying embers.
It pulsed with a weak, irregular rhythm, like a failing heartbeat desperately clinging to life.
The queen's eyes lit with hunger and triumph as she stared at the stone. "Finally." The word came out as a whisper, almost reverent. "After all these years, it's mine."
I glanced at Joy, whose eyes had widened in horror as she stared at the stone. She knew what it meant—with that artifact, the queen could anchor herself permanently in our world, and her entire army would follow.
Marsha sauntered over to the queen with deliberate, triumphant steps and placed the stone into her outstretched palm.
The queen's greedy fingers closed around it like a vice, and her eyes blazed with victory. "Finally, it's mine. No one can stop me now." She held the stone up to the moonlight, and even in its weakened state, it began to pulse more strongly in response to her touch.
My eyes locked with Joy's across the clearing. Fierce determination surged through my chest. She was everything, and I would protect her with my last breath. I wouldn't let the queen take her. I'd die first—die a thousand times before I let them drag her back to that hellish dimension.
As if reading my thoughts, she shook her head frantically and mouthed one desperate word: "No."
Marsha's attention shifted to Gunnar, and a cruel smile spread across her face.
"One more gift, Your Majesty. You need a killing machine.
One that's indestructible and completely under your control.
" She pulled a small vial from her pocket—dark liquid that seemed to writhe within the glass.
"With this spell, I can break Serenity's healing and restore him to what he was.
Better, even. He'll be yours to command. "
Gunnar stepped back, horror flooding his features as he recognized what she was holding. "No. Not again. I won't go back to that."
I lunged toward the queen with every ounce of vampire speed I possessed, determined to rip that stone from her hand even if it meant I'd die in the attempt.
Guards moved to intercept me, but I was faster—