Chapter 39 #2
He stares at me silently, and for a moment, I think he might challenge me. I’m fully expecting him to throw me over his shoulder and take me away, to safety, but then his eyes soften. “Have I ever told you that you’re beautiful when you’re pissed off?”
I snort. “I must be glowing right now, then.”
He smiles, and it threatens to undo me. I want to wrap my arms around him and lose myself in him, but another angry bellow makes me whip my head around.
This time, it’s Ivan. He’s bent over a small fire, screaming.
No, not a small fire.
Someone is engulfed in Marik’s black flames, writhing on the ground.
Marik stands, his hands outstretched as he watches the fire. The branches holding Cora in place are now engulfed in flames, which must mean…fuck. Holly is on fire.
Asmo comes to the same realization and sprints to Marik, tackling him to the ground.
It breaks his concentration, and the flames die instantly, revealing Holly’s limp body.
She lays there, unconscious, her skin looking like it’s melting from her delicate frame.
Ivan drags her unconscious body away from the fight as Luca watches for any creatures of darkness.
Luckily, Marik’s fire had no impact on the actual tree roots. Cora is still trapped in place. And with Marik now distracted by Asmo…it’s the perfect time for me to attack.
Cora stands tall, locked in battle with a stunning female, a delicate crown resting on her white hair. Her icy blue eyes are furrowed in concentration as she blocks Cora’s blows while hurling spears of ice at her in rapid fire.
Queen Sasha.
Cora easily deflects all of them, using wind to knock them from their paths and fire to melt them before they can even reach her.
Asmo and Marik are still fighting each other, a combination of black flames, steel, and punches, as brother fights brother. Neither of them notices me as I run past them.
I hurl a blast of freezing magic toward a cambion circling Koa as I do. He pounces on the cambion and obliterates it. He falls in line behind me, protecting my blind spot.
Together, we race toward Cora, her raven hair bobbing against her pale frame as she hurls shot after shot at Sasha. She looks tired, while Cora looks like she’s just getting started.
Sasha’s eyes dart to us as she sees us approaching. It was all the alert Cora needed.
It ruins the only advantage we had.
She twists around, almost unnaturally, and fires a powerful wave at me, then spins back to fire another shot at Sasha. I throw my shield up, but it dissolves instantly when it contacts Cora’s black magic.
I’m ready for my wedding to be over.
I delve deep into my power and summon all the fury that’s been building inside of me.
My magic has been waiting to burn bright.
I will it to the surface, and magic pours out of me.
Golden fire and wind shoot from me, creating a terrifying mix of wildfire.
It shoots straight into the air without aim, obliterating the ceiling above us.
I pull back, trying to bring it back in and give it some sort of direction.
Wind whips all around me, setting blazes of fire throughout the room.
Cambions screech as they catch on fire, instantly turning to dust. Sweat pours down my back from the sheer heat of the fire.
“Finally come to play?” Cora sneers at me. “You’re no match for me, girl.”
Black flames joins my golden fire as Asmo stands next to me, meaning Marik must be dead or unconscious.
Hopefully dead so I can be out of this marriage.
I reach for the wind of flames, imagining cloaking myself in it. It rushes back to me, and I force it away, coaxing it to form a path straight to Willa.
She stares at me over the flames, watching as the fiery wind heads straight for her. She doesn’t even attempt to move out of its path. She just laughs as she watches the flames get closer and closer. They near her, and I hold my breath in anticipation of the contact.
I’m about to burn the only mother I ever knew alive. Burn her in the magic that she willingly kept me from. But then she moves, jumping six feet away from the flames.
Of course. It wouldn’t have been that easy. I was a fool to think so.
“You thought the trees could hold me? Your little friend died for that trick?” Her cruel laughter fills the throne room. “I’m thousands of years old. I’ve fought entire armies and walked away unscathed. This is nothing,” she spits at me.
Rain starts to pour through the open hole in the roof. It comes hard and fast, thunder and lightning cracking overhead. A bolt of black lightning comes down, missing me by inches. I instantly leap away, cursing as I do.
Asmo grips my wrist, pulling me away. “Mae, we have to go.”
I wrench my wrist from his hand, not even bothering with a response.
Cora took everything from me. She manipulated every aspect of my life to leave me helpless when this time came. I refuse to run from this fight.
Another bolt comes perfectly in between Asmo and me, forcing us to jump apart from each other. Bolts of lightning continue to strike around me, Cora directing each one. Every bolt lands inches away, as if she knows exactly where to strike.
Everyone is scrambling, jumping out of the way to avoid being hit. I don’t move. I stand, my feet planted on the ground, refusing to show any fear. This, at least, is something I can do right. Because I’m not afraid.
I’m fucking livid.
Cora cackles as she masterfully manipulates bolt after bolt around me, firing them so quickly that nobody can get near me. Every time Asmo runs toward me, his path is cut off by Cora.
She won’t kill me. That would be too easy. This game of hers has been going on for years. She won’t end it that quickly.
Asmo shifts, massive black mamba snake now barreling toward Cora. Her eyes narrow as she watches him approach, but she jumps effortlessly out of the way as he gets within inches. But what she doesn’t see is his tail whipping as he darts past her. It catches her in the air and sends her flying.
Marik bellows as she hits the ground and shifts into his animal form, the midnight-black complement to Asmo’s form. Another bolt of lightning cracks overhead, glittering on Marik’s ebony scales. He charges for Asmo, jaw wide open, ready to sink his venomous fangs into his brother’s ash-gray form.
Before he can, a giant grizzly bear pounces on Marik, claws shredding his skin as he knocks him off course from Asmo.
Marik whips back, ready to strike at Barrett.
But then, a white wolf flies through the air, sinking his canines into Marik’s back.
Marik bares his fangs, twisting his neck to get to August.
And he does. One fang grazes August’s side. August leaps away with a yelp, then sprints away, trying to distance himself as much as he can from Marik. Marik doesn’t chase him, instead turning his attention back to Asmo.
But Asmo isn’t looking at him.
He’s speeding toward me, eyes locked on something behind me. I whirl around, only to find a cambion jumping toward me. I duck, but there’s no need. Asmo swallows the cambion whole just before it reaches me. He turns to me, snake eyes locked on me.
I reach up to stroke his charcoal scales in a thank you. As I do, Asmo’s body jerks, and he shifts back into his human form, naked body crashing to the ground.
His face is contorted in pain, eyes clenched and teeth gritted. His body is curled up, his hand grabbing one foot, two puncture wounds dripping with blood.
I sink to the ground, ripping another piece of my wedding dress off as I do. I drape it over his naked frame, panic threatening to consume me in the way that his face is crumpled with pain. Panic turns into rampant fear when Asmo’s eyes roll back into his head, and his body goes limp.
“Asmo?” I shake his limp frame. “Asmo!”
He stirs, his eyelids fluttering. He mumbles something, but I can’t make out what he says. He goes limp again.
No, no, no.
No.
Not Elle.
Not William.
Not Holly.
Not Asmo. Not the one who kissed my scars and healed a part of me that’s been broken for years. Not the one who believed in pushing me to my breaking point to make me stronger. Not the one who made me feel alive.
They’re not taking another person from me. It’s time for this to end.
I settle onto my haunches and summon my elemental magic. As lightning pours around me, I place my hands on the rough, hardwood floor. I send tendrils of magic through the floor, reaching for the earth below.
When I feel the cool clay beneath the building, I pull. Hard.
The building shakes, wooden flooring cracking as it does. Guards and creatures scramble, desperately trying to avoid the lightning and the cracks in the floor that are spreading.
As the floor shatters, shards of splintered wood and dirt rise, suspended in the air. I pull my magic back, then hurl it at Cora, sending it all hurtling toward her.
She sends it all away with a quick flick of her wrist before splaying her fingers again, sending lightning cracking through the darkening sky.
With each bolt of lightning and each crack of thunder, the ceiling cracks open wider.
The torrential downpour is now inside the throne room, adding to the utter chaos that’s erupted.
I grit my teeth, crouching down to shake the earth to the core this time, prepared to split the ground itself and suck Cora into a black hole of nothing, but something moves behind her, interrupting my train of thought.
The stag. Elle rides him, the blood-soaked strip of my wedding dress still hanging from her neck.
Her own dress is hanging off her, exposing the thick ribbons of mottled flesh across her chest. Dried blood is crusted on her neck, chest, and toned arms, just a shade darker than her berry-red gown.
Her bone-white antlers stand tall, a stark contrast to her red hair, red dress, and the blood that coats her.
Even from a distance, I can see the rage that courses through her. Relief floods through me, threatening to bring me to my knees. But I refuse to look at her, refuse to give her advantage away.
I fire wave after wave of magic at Cora, unwilling to let her see Elle. But Cora is too quick, dodging each blow and moving with enough speed to fire off her own shots against the both of us.
Finally, the stag surges forward quicker than I ever imagined. Elle holds a sword made of blazing light, aimed straight for Cora.
Sweet, sweet relief overcomes me as I realize Elle’s going to make it. She rams the blade straight through Cora’s heart, piercing her chest. She gasps as she looks down at the lightsword, her hands gripping it as she falls.
Blood pours from her hands as she sinks to her knees. On the floor, her eyes find mine. She smiles, and shoots a bolt of black lightning right at my own heart.
Everything goes dark.
The End