Chapter 36
AVELINE
My anger over Malakai’s underhanded magical contract doesn’t vanish, but it is instantly the least important thing to spend energy on.
I don’t waste time arguing.
The Wild Oak Woods is in danger, and the women who called themselves my sisters need me.
I shove my feelings down.
The moment I stepped out of the bathroom, I am dressed and ready.
Malakai is already moving, a force of lethal intention.
The guilt and pleading in his eyes is gone; the Elder God has taken over. His dark eyes burn like hot coals as his shadows snap across his skin.
We run down the stairs, the carpet catching me as I nearly trip and righting me.
"They are hitting the western tree line," Cern barks, his massive chest heaving as he wrenches the heavy castle doors wide. His antlers pulse with a glowing green magic as the broken one regrows, his emerald eyes wild. "Valen is already on the lower terrace. The Seelie are raining spears."
"We move together," I say, my voice steady. I march straight past the brothers and out onto the frosted stone courtyard.
The scene outside is absolute chaos.
The strange winter storm Vesperia sent evaporates as blinding waves of emerald and yellow Fae fire pours from the sky. Crystalline spears of Seelie light slam into the castle's outer walls, detonating against the ancient stone masonry with deafening noise.
It doesn’t look good.
Fear starts to turn my stomach, and I glance up as a dark shape circles.
“Ter,” I call out, and the raven dives, gliding before landing hard on my shoulder. “I needed you,” I tell the bird.
“That’s why I’m here,” Ter tells me.
On the lower terrace, Valen is a specter of total destruction.
His face is completely locked in the white, gleaming death skull, his massive great sword swinging in arcs.
Every time his blade cuts the air, a wave of deadly magic surges outward, turning the oncoming Seelie projectiles into ash before they can breach the keep.
“That’s scary,” I tell Ter.
“Be grateful he’s on our side,” Ter responds. “Now it’s your turn to be scary.”
I like the sound of that, and a little of the fear disappears.
"Aveline, hold behind me," Malakai commands.
"No," I say, stepping directly up to the edge of the stone balustrade beside him. "We are fated, remember? We’re more powerful together."
I might not have known we were getting married when we… my face flushes. But that? That our power is better together? I can feel that in my very bones.
The Seelie forces surge into view. A glittering, armored line of elite Fae warriors cross the frosted ridge, hands throwing a wave of blinding emerald fire directly at our courtyard.
I’m not trained in war, and my stomach is in knots, but I’m not stupid.
It’s clear to see what they are doing.
It is a magical blast meant to incinerate my castle in a single strike.
"Now!" Cern roars.
The brothers unleash hell.
Cern drives both hands into the earth, his veins glowing woodland green as oak roots violently tear through the earth, erupting into a thick wooden barricade outside the castle walls. Valen slashes his sword, and the entire first line of Fae soldiers screams, then withers, then turns to dust.
Really scary magic, that. I shudder.
The volume of the emerald Fae fire is too heavy.
The oak barrier splinters, glowing as the Unseelie wild magic tries to tear it apart.
I don't wait to be asked.
I drop my hands to my sides, close my eyes, and reach deep into the core of my chest. I strip away the doubt, the fear, and the lingering annoyance over our marriage, tapping directly into the raw, golden wildfire of my confidence.
Of who I am.
Who I have always been.
Aveline, Duchess of Stormspire.
Aveline, Queen of Shadow Keep.
Aveline, of the Wild Oak Woods coven, the witch of day.
Ter screams a war cry, and I join him in the wordless sound.
A dazzling light erupts from my skin.
Malakai steps behind me, his massive, burning-hot frame bracketing my body. He doesn't hold me back; he throws his hands over mine, his shadows expanding to block out the falling Fae fire. His cooling shadows surge forward, twisting directly into my gold fire.
The combination is incredible.
Our magic spirals outward, a shockwave of gold-threaded darkness that surges over Cern’s wooden roots and expands into a colossal dome across the entire courtyard.
When the Seelie emerald fire hits our shield, I brace myself. But it doesn't hit, no, the shield consumes it, and when I inhale, energy rocks through me.
Our magic smothers the Fae light, suffocating the energy until the emerald flames die out, repowering our shield.
All that’s left in the sky is the quiet, harmless drift of winter wind.
“ONCE MORE,” Valen bellows, so loud I wince at the sound. I swear I can see bone through his clothes now, too, and he turns, picking up speed, before slashing his sword in another huge arc.
“As one,” Cern shouts, and more roots erupt from the earth outside the castle walls, primeval trees sprouting in the ranks of the Seelie themselves.
Malakai takes my hand, and this time, our magic is effortless.
With this final push, the Seelie vanguard is thrown backward off the ridge. The rift they march through folds in on itself, collapsing into nothing.
My ears pop as the perimeter threshold locks back into place, stronger now.
Impenetrable.
Malakai and I finished what we were meant to do.
A sudden silence settles over the courtyard.
The autumn sunshine crashes back down onto the damp cobblestones. My knees turn boneless, the insane amount of magic I expended leaving me weak.
I stumble backward, my balance failing completely.
I don't hit the stone.
Malakai catches me before I can even drop an inch. His muscular arms lock securely around my waist from behind, pulling my spine flush against his broad chest.
I let my head fall back against his shoulder, too tired to pull away. My heaving breaths cloud the air in front of me. I lean the weight of my body into his strength, knowing I need him in this moment.
Knowing I needed him the whole time.
Malakai buries his face into the base of my neck, his chest heaving in desperate gasps against my shoulder blades. His grip on my waist tightens.
“Be mad at me Aveline. Spend eternity angry, if you must. But I am your servant. I am entirely, helplessly in love with you,” his voice vibrates against my spine. “Let me protect you, if nothing else. Let me keep you from—” his voice breaks. “Don’t leave me for death.”
My heart splits open. I want the heavy, unyielding safety of his arms; I want the dark, comforting shadows of his realm; I want the feral, devastating heat of his mouth.
“I don’t want to die,” I tell him, my voice shaking as much as my legs are.
"I have you," he rasps against my skin. "I have you, Aveline. This is your last lifetime, I swear it. This one will be eternal, I swear it on our soul bond."
"I know," I whisper, my fingers reaching back to lock tightly around his forearms, anchoring myself to the god who could drown the world in darkness to keep me safe.
I turn around, and I wrap my arms around the breadth of his back.
He sighs, setting his chin on top of my head.
We stay like that for a long moment.
Finally, I pull away, feeling sheepish. Foolish. Pretty damned stupid, if I’m honest with myself.
"Look," I mutter, rubbing the back of my neck. "I’m sorry I threw a pillow at your head and called you a, um, rat bastard. I was just scared, not mad... not upset about actually being yours."
Malakai’s chest heaves under my cheek, his huge hands coming up to cup my face like I'm the most precious thing he's ever touched.
"And I’m sorry I didn't explain how our union would work," he rasps, his dark eyes dead serious. "I should have given you a proper courtship, Aveline. I want you to choose me."
He bends down and kisses me. It’s not a frantic, world-ending kiss this time, but a tender, searching kiss that melts me entirely.
We are entirely wrapped up in each other until a loud, annoyed sigh cuts through the silence.
Valen is leaning against the shattered doorframe, crossing his arms and rolling his eyes, while Cern ducks his massive antlers out of the way.
"Finally, you pair of fucking idiots," Valen yells. "The storm is over, the Fae ran away, and we’ve been freezing out here for twenty minutes waiting for you two disgusting sex addicts to stop kissing so we can go inside and eat the rest of breakfast."