104. The Stranger
Chapter One Hundred Four
The Stranger
Y ou are nothing but a coward. Hiding behind magic and power. Using it like a shield because you’re afraid.
Hiding behind magic and power. Afraid. Perhaps this is the real you.
My power flares out, the trees turning to dust as I soar through the air.
Despite my fury, all my defenses were down.
My darkness does not consider her a threat, and when she hit me, she somehow temporarily bound my power.
I don’t know if she meant to do it, but she even managed to slice through my avatar.
I am helpless to stop this, and by the time the strength of her power vanishes, I am miles away from our clearing.
I will never want anything from you but your demise.
Surely she didn’t mean that. She couldn’t.
She told me she wished me dead, wished me ill, wished me harm in hundreds of ways over the last few months, and they all rang so clearly as lies. But the way this is burrowing under my skin, it feels alarmingly close to truth, and it is the first time I am craving more of her lies.
This had to be a lie. It had to be.
Climbing out of the crater my body made in the ground, I fix my avatar, rather impressed by the slash she’d rendered in it.
I accuse her of lies, and here I am the biggest lie of all. The hypocrisy is not lost on me.
I portal back to the clearing, but she’s already gone.
Reaching for her, I am not surprised to find her back at her house.
I focus on forming in her bedroom, but I rebound off a new barrier around her home, finding I can’t go any farther than the edge of the lawn.
My brows furrow, and I press my hands against it. What is this? When did this get here?
“I may not be gifted in runes like Summer,” Alice says softly, watching me from the porch. “But she said Rafe needed somewhere safe, and she deserves a home free from stalkers as well.”
I glare at the petite vampire, noting the artifact she is spinning around her finger.
Narrowing my eyes, I look closer, recognizing the artifact that shouldn’t exist. Pridwen.
Or a piece of it small enough to be put into a ring.
Pridwen was the shield of King Arthur. It grants the wearer the ability to create impenetrable barriers, but only in a small vicinity.
“Where did you get that?” I hiss, my eyes narrowing on her. That shield was supposed to be lost to the Isle of Apples, along with its owner.
“What does it matter? All that matters is I have it,” she says, sliding the ring fully onto her finger. “You left bruises on her.”
I can’t mask my flinch.
“That was a mistake,” she croons. “I don’t care if she forgives you. Or that she cares for you. Once you harm my best friend, there is no forgiveness from me.” Her eyes flash red, looking down at me, haughty as ever.
This is the Mistress of Bloodshed standing before me. The great lady of carnage.
“You cannot hold the barrier forever,” I snarl, feeling the give in the barrier already. The shield is only as strong as the wielder, and despite her lineage, Alice Legosi is not Arthur Pendragon.
She laughs, the discordant sound making the crows in the nearby trees take flight. “I don’t have to. Don’t you get it? Don’t you see?” she asks, her voice mocking. “I only need to hold it for one night against you.”
“Why only one night?” I ask, unease shooting down my spine.
Alice turns toward the door, then pauses to look back at me owlishly.
“Because I know Summer. And I know that in this single night, she’ll have planned a way to destroy you.
Permanently. Goodnight, Stalker,” she says, flipping me off before going inside and shutting the door behind her.
Leaving me outside, knowing that for the first time in a long while?. .?.
Summer Tuatha De Daanan told the truth.