Chapter 19 #3
Then her head broke free from the river, choking out the water. She coughed and sputtered from her nose. Everything burned, even when she finally inhaled greedily, taking in the sweet, decadent air that brought with it a tang of vomit.
Her stomach roiled, but she held on tight to that sliver of hope etched into the side of the stone—the smooth wall of the stronghold.
She blinked, looking up and up until the top of the wall was in view.
It hit her then that she’d slipped right through the barrier.
Whatever ward Maverick and the others had sensed hadn’t kept her out, and she’d washed through it without a scratch.
Without alerting the guards. This was her chance, her opportunity to take them down by surprise.
But how had she gotten through those wards the vamp called “impenetrable”?
She scrubbed water droplets from her eyelashes.
Where were the others? Probably frantic at the edge of the barrier.
She blinked. A cobweb of purple light reflected around her in the setting sun.
It rose from just a foot away from her and surrounded the stronghold, an intricate web of interwoven cells that glowed with the faintest spark of purple.
The wards. They were made of pixie dust. That was how she’d been able to slip right through unnoticed.
It was a trap meant to snare the weak. Gareth had no idea his trap would quickly become his own prison.
Thunder beat at her back, and a rage consumed her that she’d only felt once before—when she’d defended her child.
Her people had died so that this monster could hide himself.
A coward. She would tear him apart from the inside out.
Everything he had, she would take from him as he had done to the countless souls that glimmered around her.
A whisper from the staff that somehow was still attached at her side told her it approved and would help her.
She didn’t need it. Her power would be strong enough, but she wouldn’t turn the voices of her ancestors down.
They would come with her. She would give herself up for the cause to not only avenge her son—her blood—but also the women, men, and children who’d been tortured and consumed by this heinous man not worthy of his own skin.
Her body burned with rage, the heat of it sending another whoosh and wisp of power surging through her veins. That was when she noticed the empty hole in her chest. The bond that was once a tether to Maverick had gone cold.
Maverick. She sent the call out into the ether, but only silence returned. MAVERICK!
Her mental shields stretched far and wide, but it was like he’d fallen off the face of the realm. Frantic voices above her sent her pressing her back up against the side of the wall. Someone had alerted the guards.
“There! Get them,” a guard from overhead called, and her breath froze.
They’d found her hiding spot. They must have.
But she would be ready for them. Anger filled her.
She was power and might. She was a pixie and would no longer be fearful if someone saw her use magic.
No fae or fear could control her now. She was free from it.
No more would she hide in the shadows, cowering like a dog to keep from being seen.
Let them see. Let them see what eons of keeping her kind powerless and afraid could do.
She shot a glance over shoulder, and a sly grin spread across her features that looked more wolfish than pixie-like.
Purple wings sparkled and flapped behind her in the oranges and pinks of dusk.
Their veins were almost blue as they wound around behind her, supporting the near-sheer membranous wings that wisped into sharp, jagged lines at the ends—not quite like a butterfly’s wings but also not quite angelic.
It was both foreign and ancient to her, yet somehow familiar.
Her wings, no longer dormant, flapped behind her with a power she’d never felt before.
Free. She was free from the shackles she’d developed to keep herself safe.
What a stupid way to live. She was worthy of this power.
Worthy of living as an equal with the rest of the faen world without fear.
Her son was worthy of a life where his mother didn’t cower or bow to others.
He deserved someone strong enough to run into the viper’s den and protect the world from its poison.
She would do that and more.
A familiar growl shook the wards around her.
Maverick. He’d somehow broken through the shield.
Or perhaps he’d been forced to. She flapped her wings harder, forgetting how high above the rocky rapids she was, and carefully rose up the side of the stone wall.
The main building was built over a waterfall that rushed with white water.
She inched toward the top of the wall and paused to look over the edge.
All the guards had either moved to the far-right side or had completely disappeared.
Angry growls and voices came from the other side of the wall. She inched her way through the air, flying closer to get a view. She flapped her wings once. Twice. She finally reached the edge of the wall and peeked around the side of it.
She cringed at the view that met her. A giant troll armed with a whip slashed at Maverick, who shoved and fought to get away, but his powers were subdued. The rings that circled his ankles and wrists, siphoning his powers, glowed each time he attempted to shift into his wolf form. He was powerless.
Irdeel and the rest of the team were being dragged by sharp-nosed elves and donned matching bracelets and anklets. They were all prisoners, leaving only Zera to save them.
Zera ground her teeth. This was not going according to plan. Her fall into the Mystic Rapids had gotten her team caught, and now she had a rescue mission on her hands.