Chapter Forty-Three
Ellie
She’d failed.
Again.
Vairik had been right in front of her. She’d put her blades through his body yet had missed his heart. She’d been so close.
So close.
Ellie stared down at her hands, her entire body trembling. She barely noticed the world exploding around her. The ground trembled. She fell to her knees.
No pain. No feeling. Just that ever-present numbness.
She’d failed.
She didn’t know where her weapons had fallen.
She didn’t know where she was anymore. She just wanted to be back in that field.
To be consumed by the scent of the meadow.
To watch as the wind gently shifted the plains of grass.
And to see—Ellie swallowed hard, the grief piercing through her heart all over again.
She’d failed him, too.
And when you wake from this nightmare—
No.
And when you wake from this nightmare—
NO.
Ellie gripped her head, ignoring the way grains of earth bit into her skin, things flying that she didn’t care about. Let it take her. Let her be done with this world.
“Evelyn.”
Her head jerked up when a slick hand touched her arm. Ellie stared at the face of the male through blurry vision. Copper hair shifted to black. His eyes turned darker, too. Just like the shadows.
The shadows, the shadows, the—
“Evelyn.” Gavin’s voice was gentle. “Stay with me.”
Her breathing hitched, heart aching. She didn’t want to be here.
“I can’t—” her voice cracked, broke. She couldn’t do this anymore. It hurt too much. She’d done too much. She couldn’t—she couldn’t—
Gavin’s arm gave out, and it was only then that Ellie realized the acrid tang so close wasn’t due to the monstrous bodies strewn across the field.
It was him.
Her gaze traveled down his torso and snagged on the stub jutting out of his shoulder. Blood poured from his body, pooling just beneath him. Gavin wasn’t kneeling in front of her, he was lying on his side, barely keeping himself upright.
Her gaze traveled over the field. She ignored the way the earth shuddered beneath her body, then her eyes locked onto Gavin’s severed limb. It lay amidst the carnage, palm up, forgotten in a sea of death.
Images assaulted her like lightning.
A body crumbling at her feet. Her kicking said body toward monsters. The sound of those monsters tearing the body to pieces. The hand that had momentarily lay in a pool of blood. The way muscle and sinew had split into long pieces, dangling—
She’d—she’d—she’d—
“Evelyn,” Gavin’s voice again. “Focus on me.” She turned back, hot tears rolling down her face that she didn’t remember shedding. “One last stand,” Gavin said, his voice full of remorse, as if mourning a life he’d never lived. “One last time, then you can rest.”
One last time—
Something trickled through the back of her mind. A feeling she couldn’t place.
She tried to look down again, but Gavin tilted his head, capturing her eyes. “One last stand.”
Ellie swallowed hard, then the world blasted into focus. She saw Rion first, the male standing close, both arms raised, sweat pouring down his face. Earth and rock surrounded them, tendrils tearing through the horde threatening to close in.
It was only now that she realized he’d been calling her name. She met Rion’s gaze and found … anger. Determination. A soul unwilling to falter.
He’d suffered and still, he fought.
He already knew how this story would end.
But still, he fought.
Ellie curled her hands into fists. She turned to Gavin, then reached for the male’s belt, tearing it from his pants before looping it around what was left of his arm and yanking it tight. Gavin screamed out in pain, gritting his teeth.
She stared down at the wound again. They couldn’t treat it out here. She didn’t have medical supplies. Arianna was nowhere to be found, and they were surrounded by enemies with Rion barely holding on.
Gavin would die.
She’d fail again.
Ellie’s lips trembled.
Her heart was being pulled in too many directions at one. She wasn’t even sure she knew who she was anymore. Maybe she never would. But—her gaze lifted to Rion again. The male had his fangs bared, blood coating his teeth.
One last stand.
“You shouldn’t have come,” Ellie whispered.
“I’m glad I did.” Gavin winced when he tried to stand. “And if—”
“No,” Ellie interrupted. “I can’t—” She didn’t want any more words haunting her. There were already so many. Those who’d begged. Those who’d cursed her. Those who’d fallen to their knees, tears streaming down their faces.
“Ellie,” Rion screamed her name right as a group of creatures broke his line and charged. Ice exploded from her body. It raced across the ground and collided with the creatures, freezing them on impact. Then her fury spread, consuming those beyond Rion’s circling defenses.
Ellie rose to her feet. She clenched her fist and the Dark Fae shattered like glass. She tottered when the images in her mind tried to assault her again.
Some wanted her life.
Some wanted her to suffer.
One beckoned her to join him in the afterlife.
Another tug in the back of her mind had Ellie peering at Gavin.
One last stand.
Ellie took in the chaos surrounding them. She couldn’t comprehend how the numbers had increased. She didn’t particularly care.
One last stand.
She could do that beside Rion.
She could do that for Kirian.
Ellie stepped around Gavin. His face was already turning ashen. Rion’s attention shifted to the male.
“He’s dying,” Ellie said simply. Then her magic whispered beneath her skin, greeting her like an old friend. She’d been ignoring it, begging it to just leave her alone. But she would use it now. Even if it were all in vain, she’d use it and make these bastards suffer.
Ice crackled across the surface of her skin. It coated the air surrounding her, shifting the droplets to specks of ice. She stared at the creatures snapping their jaws, clawing against the rapidly swirling earth only to have their limbs torn from their bodies.
Ellie spread her arms wide. Her magic followed. She counted the bodies. Her magic stretched further. Then in one giant wave, Ellie let ice and water consume the world before her. Everything became a sea of white and blues, the very particles in the air freezing to become tiny, jagged weapons.
Everything sped faster and faster until she matched Rion’s tempo … then exceeded it. Spears of ice pieced her enemy’s flesh one second, then tore through it the next. Huge chunks hurled through the air, hitting the ground, crushing the monsters, then they broke apart and joined the frenzy.
The Dark Fae fell one at a time in her sea of chaos. But Ellie didn’t feel like chaos. She felt … free.
One last stand.
Ellie let the magic rush through her body. She let it consume and overtake her. Calm settled throughout her mind as she pushed and pushed and pushed, becoming an unstoppable force that rivaled—no—surpassed even the High Lord of Storms.
She was a Lady of Móirín and it was time the world knew exactly what she was capable of.