Chapter 62
Vivian’s Point of View
Rule sixty-two: When faced with overwhelmingly bad odds, shit talk your enemy.
Acold, salty breeze whips across my face the moment we apparate into the Mortal Realm.
It’s such a familiar feeling that for the barest second, it feels like coming home.
But then I take in the dozens of soldiers around us, and my muscles re-tense.
More people are apparating in every few seconds, but despite the numbers, it’s eerily quiet. No one says a word.
Sin spots Morgana on the other side of our growing army, and our fingers stay interlocked as we go meet her. The soldiers part to give us space, and I crane my neck to try and spot Need’s armies.
A large, but empty field stretches out before us. It’s covered in a few taller sedges and flat stones that are carpeted in lichens.
Dense forests border the clearing on three sides, and behind us, there’s a stretch of highway that parallels the coastline. Waves roll onto a rocky beach, and the sound of water rushing over pebbles muffles the occasional shuffle and clanking of soldiers.
There’s no sign of Need’s armies anywhere.
“Is this all a trick?” I ask Sin, my unease growing.
“She’s using a shield,” he answers. “Someone is cloaking the armies.”
Emerging from the crowd of soldiers, I freeze when I take in the scene before us. Magnus has a hand over Rosie’s mouth, and both he and Damien are struggling to hold her as she tries to scream and thrash against them. Morgana is watching them with a resigned expression.
“What–” I start, only for Morgana to aggressively shush me.
“My shield can hide us, but it will not stop sound,” she hisses.
Rosie flails again, and my legs unlock.
I storm over to her.
No one gets to hurt my friends, not even my other friends.
Morgana lets out an impatient growl and steps in front of me.
“She apparated here and felt Irena on the other side. If we let her go, she’s going to apparate right over to the enemy and get herself killed.
” She pauses to glare at the usually mild-mannered fae before adding, “Just like her mother wants her to.”
Rosie bites Magnus’ hand, and he lets out a silent cuss as he pulls away. Blood drips from his hand, and Damien glances over at him, concern flashing across his features.
That’s all the time Rosie needs. She drives an elbow into Damien’s head, causing him to stumble back. Her glare is laser-focused on Morgana as she strides over to my side.
Right, Rosie is a badass, even when she looks half-dead.
“Try to stop me from retrieving my mate, again, Morgana, and we will learn just how strong the leader of the Shadow Realm is without her army of broken souls to protect her.” Her pink eyes burn with menace, and thorny vines climb from the earth, twisting to angle their sharp thorns at Morgana.
My jaw drops. I’ve never seen Rosie violent before.
Bossy?
Yes.
But this? This is very new.
There’s nothing soft about her now, and suddenly, I’m not sure I believe Lilanthara’s words that Rosie isn’t cutthroat enough to take the throne. Still, I stay at her side, even as I cast nervous glances at the sharp thorns.
Morgana rubs her temples, looking tired. “I don’t have time for this,” she mutters, before she addresses me once more, “Look, we need as much time as possible to apparate in soldiers and continue evacuating the town.”
I’m not quite sure what she’s getting at, but Sin nods before turning to me and explaining, “She means we need a distraction. It’s only a matter of time before Need attacks. We need a lightning rod. Someone needs to go out there and keep them busy.”
My pulse picks up a notch. “But Leon could just unalive them with a single thought. It would be a one-way trip.”
He doesn’t disagree. “For most of us, it would be.”
Understanding clicks into place, and I squeeze his hand a little tighter. “I’m going with you.”
It isn’t a question.
“I’m coming too,” Rosie adds, also not asking. She’s dressed in her chrome armor, and even though the circles under her eyes are almost black, it’s doing nothing to slow her unbridled fury.
“Absolutely, you are,” I agree, easily remembering how much I hated being separated from Sin – and she’s been doing it for years.
Fuck that. Let her rain hell.
I wait a beat, realizing I’m waiting for Arianna to chime in, only to remember I still haven’t seen her today.
The crowd of soldiers is growing, but I don’t see her amongst them. Unease twists in my gut. “Has anyone seen Arianna?”
There’s a momentary pause, and my friends share a concerned look.
Arianna would never miss this.
Morgana purses her lips before shaking her head. “I’ll send word to Carys to start a search of the castle. In the meantime, we need to stay focused on the battle. The longer you can stall the fighting, the better.”
She strides away without another word.
My heart begins to pound as Rosie, Sin, and I start toward the empty field. There are no soft goodbyes, and none of us looks back.
The ground is slick under my boots, and a thin layer of fog clings to the air. The sky is dulled and gray, and the low clouds press in on us.
I swallow hard, still not quite believing that this is real life.
We’ve only taken about a dozen steps before something ripples over my skin. It feels like taking a waterless shower, and it leaves me feeling exposed.
We’ve left Morgana’s shield.
I can feel the stares of thousands of unseen eyes, tracking our every move. Still, we keep our steps slow and confident, only stopping once we’ve reached the center of the clearing.
The sound of my pulse hammering in my ears is becoming deafening.
‘Breathe. Panic means death,’ Cassandra’s memory snaps in my mind, and her commanding tone helps pull me back to the present.
The panic isn’t gone, but it’s on the back burner, away from my immediate focus.
Sin lifts a questioning brow in my direction, and I realize this is the first time he’s heard Cassandra’s memory. But before I can explain, a different, and very familiar voice greets us.
“Ah, Vivian, I’m so happy you could join us,” Need greets with her typical politician smile as she emerges from her own shields. She hasn’t bothered to dress for battle and is still draped in white robes.
She glides forward, approaching us like she’s claiming a throne rather than a battlefield.
There’s an ease in the way she moves, as if the outcome of this war has already been decided in her favor.
Like us, she isn’t alone. The Fae Queen walks on her right, and like Need, she hasn’t bothered with armor. Instead, she’s dressed in a beautiful green gown that glitters despite the lack of sunlight.
Lilanthara trails slightly behind her mother, but with her chrome armor, she’s almost indistinguishable from Rosie. Even their exhaustion is mirrored. Lilanthara’s wings droop, and I briefly wonder if it’s because I stabbed her.
No part of me wants to see the person on Need’s left, but I only stall for another breath before finally forcing myself to look at him. Leon’s cold blue eyes are fixed on me, and he gives me a twisted smile the moment our gazes meet.
A slight involuntary shudder passes through me, and my throat tightens. It’s followed by a flash of that same smile, back in the prisons before his teeth…
Sin squeezes my hand. “Stay with me, kitten.”
I snap back to the present and grind my teeth together.
I’m not his victim anymore.
I’ll never be his victim, ever again.
“Rosenthal,” the Fae Queen drawls, her eyes skimming over Rosie before her lips pinch in obvious distaste.
I think this might be the first time I’ve heard her speak. Unlike Lilanthara and Rosie, there’s no musical ring to her voice. It’s low and cold, and the single word comes out as a threat.
Rosie lifts her chin. “Mother.”
“I see you’ve finally crawled out of whatever hole you’ve been hiding in,” the Queen drawls, and her stare is cutting.
“And as usual, you manage to be an embarrassment to our bloodline. Truly, I should have killed you the moment you were second to leave my womb. You were a disappointment before you even drew your first breath.”
I expect Rosie to shrink under her mother’s cruelty, but she only gives her a bored look before shrugging. “Luckily for me, you needed a spare, just in case my dearest sister turned out to be unsuitable.” She doesn’t bother to greet her sister.
Oddly, Lilanthara doesn’t take the opportunity to rip her sister’s feelings to shreds. She only stares straight ahead, and her eyes look weirdly flat. All of her usual superiority and disdain are missing.
Unable to resist inserting himself, Leon crosses his arms and smirks at me. “How are your thighs, pet? Did my teeth leave permanent marks? Or will we need to start over once I kill your Destroyer scum?”
A flicker of rage sparks within me, and an answering surge of power crackles beneath my skin.
I force it down using sheer stubborn determination. This is exactly why we’re here. The longer we get them talking, the better.
But no sooner have I swallowed my own anger than a tide of fury surges through the mate bond. The force of it is violent, and leaves me reeling until it’s abruptly shuttered away.
Sin’s hand tightens over mine. It’s the only outward sign he gives that he’s seething.
“I love you, kitten,” Sin purrs in my mind, even as he gives Leon a menacing grin. “She hasn’t noticed your marks,” he drawls. “Because every time she’s looking at her thighs, they’re wrapped around me – and she’s too busy coming apart to remember you exist.”
Leon’s fists clench together, just as Sin sends a wave of reassurance through the bond, checking that I’m okay with this.
“It’s alright, I know you’re baiting him,” I soothe, remembering that Leon is less focused when he’s angry.
“But if you must know…” Sin adds, pausing just long enough to smile, “I watched your marks fade to nothing, every time I watched my cum drip out of her sweet pussy.”