Chapter Twenty
My daughter wasn’t by her side. That was the very first thing I noticed, but before I even had a moment to take that in, the skies darkened with something so thick and ominous that I could taste it.
Clouds rolled over the compound in heavy waves, swallowing the moon until the blue fire burning through the tower windows became the only light left across the hills.
The shadows below deepened immediately, stretching long across the courtyards and broken stone paths while the wind picked up hard enough to jerk at cloaks and broomsticks alike.
The compound responded to her.
I could feel it beneath us.
Cracks in the walls glowed faintly for a moment before dimming again.
Twobble’s grip tightened around my waist. “I don’t like this place.”
Neither did I.
The sound of battle rolled across the grounds below us as witches descended lower through the air. Bursts of magic illuminated sections of the compound in flashes of silver, blue, and gold while wolves tore through the lower courtyards and orcs pushed steadily through the western ridge.
The Priestess had expected resistance.
I just wasn’t sure she’d expected this many people willing to bring the fight directly to her doorstep.
A scream echoed from somewhere beneath the northern wing, sharp enough that every hair along my arms rose instantly.
Human.
My broom shifted lower without me steering it.
The pendant at my throat pulsed warm against my skin, and for one horrible second, I wondered if it recognized my daughter’s fear.
Below us, the northern side of the compound looked older than the rest, the stone darker and uneven, as if pieces of it had been repaired over centuries rather than decades.
Iron lanterns hung dead along portions of the walls, and black vines wrapped tightly around the windows, thick enough that parts of the structure looked strangled beneath them.
The broom drifted toward one of the upper balconies, directly toward the shadows.
“Maeve,” Twobble whispered.
“I know.”
A movement flickered behind one of the lower windows beneath us, and another.
Faces.
Pale and frightened behind darkened glass.
Prisoners crowded together beneath the compound.
The Priestess hadn’t just built a fortress here.
She’d built a cage.
Magic burst through the courtyard below as one of the shadow creatures lunged toward a cluster of witches near the eastern stairs. Bella met it head-on in fox form, copper fur flashing beneath the blue firelight before she shifted mid-motion again and drove a blade through the creature’s chest.
The thing dissolved instantly into black smoke.
Another creature crawled over the upper walls near the western ridge, dragging itself unnaturally across the stone until Stella lifted one hand from her broomstick and sent a sharp blast of magic straight through it.
The creature exploded outward into dark ash, scattering across the courtyard below.
The vampires moved together with eerie precision through the skies, cloaks snapping behind them as they circled the upper towers and drove the creatures back from the walls.
Nova flew higher above the compound than the rest of us, silver magic spreading outward from her hands in shimmering waves that pressed against the shadow magic curling through the hillsides.
Everywhere her magic touched, the darkness recoiled slightly.
Not enough…but enough to hold the line.
The wind shifted again, carrying the scent of smoke, damp stone, and something metallic beneath it, making my stomach tighten.
Blood.
The battle below had grown closer.
Closer to the center.
My eyes scanned every movement across the grounds desperately.
Every stairwell.
Every doorway.
Every flicker of motion near the windows.
Celeste.
The pendant burned suddenly hotter against my skin as the broom jerked sharply toward the northern tower.
I barely tightened my grip in time before it dropped lower through the air.
Twobble cursed under his breath as the tower rushed toward us.
“Please tell me this thing knows what it’s doing.”
“It always has so far,” I shouted over the wind.
The broom slowed abruptly near one of the balconies.
The balcony doors stood partly open, but darkness stretched into the room behind.
The broom hovered closer.
Below us, another explosion shook the compound so hard that dust burst from sections of the upper walls. Orc battle horns answered from the western ridge while wolves surged through the broken eastern entrance.
The assault was forcing the Priestess inward.
Exactly where she wanted us.
That realization settled heavily in my chest.
“She’s drawing everyone toward the center,” I murmured.
Twobble went still behind me.
The compound groaned again beneath us, deeper this time, and the blue fire burning through the upper windows flickered violently.
Then something moved above us.
A massive shape swept across the tower tops so quickly that I only caught glimpses of feathers and claws before it vanished back into the darkness overhead.
The scream that followed rattled through the compound hard enough that witches throughout the skies scattered instinctively.
Another shape burst from behind the central tower.
The creatures looked wrong in a way that made my eyes struggle to focus fully on them. Wings stretched too wide across the sky while black feathers drifted downward in slow spirals around bodies that seemed half-shadow and half-bone.
One dove sharply toward the courtyard below.
A witch barely avoided it in time as claws scraped across the stone hard enough to leave deep gouges in its path.
The creature rose again immediately, circling back through the air with glowing white eyes fixed upward toward us.
Toward the pendant.
My stomach dropped.
It shrieked once more and lunged.
I pulled the broom sharply sideways, wind tearing through my hair as the creature swept past close enough that its claws ripped through the edge of my sleeve.
Twobble shouted behind me as the broom spun hard near the tower.
The creature circled back instantly, but faster this time.
The pendant burned hot against my chest as something silver-gray exploded upward from below.
Keegan hit the creature midair with enough force to drive both of them straight into the side of the northern tower. Stone cracked beneath the impact while black feathers burst outward around them.
The creature screamed violently.
Keegan’s claws tore through its chest before it dissolved into shadow and dust beneath him.
He landed hard on the broken balcony.
Relief crossed his face so quickly it almost hurt to see, but tension settled right back into his expression as another scream echoed somewhere beneath the compound.
He shifted back into human form, chest heaving slightly as he pushed his hair away from his face.
“You shouldn’t be this close to the tower,” he called upward.
“I’m not leaving without Celeste and my mom.”
His gaze held mine for half a second longer before he nodded once.
Of course, he understood.
The blue fire from the upper windows cast uneven light across his face while the compound groaned again beneath us.
“You found signs of Celeste?” I asked quickly.
“Yes.” He stepped toward the balcony railing and glanced briefly toward the lower courtyards before looking back at me. “She’s been moving through the northern wing.”
Relief and panic tangled together so tightly inside me that I could barely separate them.
“She’s alive,” I whispered.
“She’s fighting the Priestess’ intentions.”
That sounded like my daughter.
A burst of magic lit the eastern cliffs as Nova drove back another wave of shadow creatures near the lower walls. Ardetia stood near her with both hands raised, silver threads of Fae magic stretching outward through the compound like glowing roots searching for cracks in the shadow magic.
The structure shuddered violently again.
Keegan’s expression darkened immediately.
“It’s changing faster now.”
“What is?”
“The compound.”
As if answering him, the upper tower behind him groaned loudly enough that pieces of stone broke loose from the walls and crashed into the courtyard below.
The balcony beneath Keegan shifted.
The entire structure seemed to rearrange itself beneath the shadow magic threading through the walls.
I stared at it in horror.
“The hallways,” I whispered.
Keegan nodded sharply. “They’re shifting every few minutes. Rooms are moving with them.”
The broom dipped toward the balcony again.
Twobble tightened his grip immediately. “Maeve.”
“I know.”
“She’s trying to pull you inside.”
I looked toward the open balcony doors.
Darkness stretched beyond them, waiting for me.
Below us, the battle had spread across nearly every section of the compound grounds now.
Witches moved through the courtyards in coordinated groups while goblins darted between stairwells carrying glowing lanterns and charms. Wolves surged through the lower passages, forcing shadow creatures back toward the central tower, while orcs held the broken western entrance against another wave pouring from beneath the cliffs.
The sound of it all blended strangely against the shifting magic.
Battle cries.
Howls.
Stone breaking.
The distant screams of prisoners beneath the compound.
And underneath it all, the low pulse of something ancient waking deeper below the hills.
Keegan’s eyes flicked sharply toward the eastern ridge and back toward me.
The look on his face changed instantly to fear, real fear.
“Maeve,” he said quietly.
The way he said my name sent ice through my veins.
Before I could respond, the balcony doors behind him slowly creaked wider, and cold air spilled outward from the darkness inside.
The pendant at my throat burned almost painfully hot, but the shadow mark remained silent.
Keegan turned immediately toward the opening.
Every muscle in his body tightened as a voice drifted softly into the night.
“Mom?”