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The guards had him on his feet and held fast. Desmerada, her chest and face blackened, pressed her silver blade to his throat, burning him.

When she saw my face, her eyes grew wide. “Helen!” she screeched.

Déjà vu swirled inside me. Desmerada knew me. How? A fragment of a memory flashed through my mind—Desmerada sitting next to a cauldron of Hades fire. Then it was gone.

Desmerada bared her fangs. “One step closer and I will end him. I swear it.”

The nobles had cleared out, but the soldiers advanced on me, staying just outside my blast radius.

“Elena, run.” Paris ignored the burn of the blade and bored into me with his gaze.

Desmerada sawed the blade back and forth, cutting into the first layers of flesh. Paris grunted but did not cry out as blood poured from the wound.

Desmerada stilled her movement. “She’s not going anywhere. Menelaus would give me anything for her.”

I maintained the fiery maelstrom swirling around me, keeping the soldiers at bay. Several of them launched a volley of arrows. The flames ashed each one before it could find its mark.

“Don’t kill her, you idiots. Take her!” Desmerada cried.

The soldiers hesitated at the edge of the destructive magic.

“I will burn through them all,” Elena said. “And then I will burn you.” The air roiled and surged with flames. I let the full force of my power flow out, the flames hot enough to bubble the stone floor and send every soldier nearby into puffs of ash.

“Your magic won’t last forever.” Desmerada bared her fangs.

“Long enough to destroy you.” I dove deep, pulling up the heart of my power and infusing the air with flaming death.

“Burn yourself out, sweet Helen. Then you’re mine.” She sawed deeper into Paris’s neck.

He kept his eyes on me. “Run, Elena. Leave me.”

Desmerada cackled. “He’s still in love with you, after all this time. How quaint.” She shook him. “I’ll ride him like a stallion while you watch, then bathe in his blood. I’ll—” Her voice died as an arrow pierced her throat. Her soldiers were momentarily shocked, as was I.

She released the sword and scrambled to withdraw the bolt from her neck. More flew in, piercing her so many times that she dropped to her knees.

Paris dropped down and swept his leg out to knock everyone on the platform off their feet. He gripped the sword and began fighting the nearest guards, the clang of metal shooting through the hiss of the fire.

I kept the intensity of my spell, even as the magics drained me. More vampires at the periphery were set alight—some incinerated on contact. Paris battled in a blur of ferocity, taking down soldier after soldier. He gave no mercy, dispatching every adversary as he fought his way to me.

My spell’s radius began to shrink, the vampires getting closer and closer as my ability to wield the power slowly faded. I had never used up so much magic, never needed to when I had my sisters at my side.

I dropped to my knees, the soldiers creeping closer as the flames pulled back. But then they turned away from me, their backs to the fire as they began fighting a new front. Faren’s soldiers were overwhelming the room from all directions. Desmerada’s forces were pinned between my fire and the invaders’ blades.

In one final push, I seized the power inside me and pushed it out, birthing a wide arc of fire that cut down hundreds of soldiers. I was a supernova, giving my last bright light before going cold and dark.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Paris

I watched Elena sink. She’d released the last burst of power she could before falling forward on her hands. I scented her tears, the taste of her sadness cracking me open, and I rushed to her side.

The sound of battle echoed through the hall, and arrows flew all around. Faren’s forces overwhelmed the last soldiers who still lived after Elena’s volcanic onslaught. Because of her, they were no match, and the Darkwood vampires rolled over their enemies.

The vampires no longer crowded around Elena. They were too busy fighting the invaders. Elena had fallen to her side, and her breaths came fast and shallow. I lifted her into my arms. Clearing the nearest standing banquet table in a violent sweep, I laid her down before checking for any close foes. There were none.

The hall had emptied of crimson soldiers so that only one enemy remained. Desmerada, still atop the platform, a look of utter disbelief on her haughty face. She seemed to awaken from her stupor and crawled toward the back of the room. Another arrow hit her in the shoulder.

“One more step and I’ll end you,” Faren called from behind me.

Desmerada shrieked as she ripped the arrow out. “How dare you!” she cried. “I am your queen. You will stand down or suffer my wrath!”