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Daeanna’s lips peeled back in an animalistic growl.

Rihanna lifted her hands, palms skyward, two foggy orbs of magic resting patiently in her hands, waiting for direction.

“Your father granted you life within the mortal realm, a lenient punishment considering all you’ve done to Shaye, and what you did to those innocent women at the inn that eve. He is unobtainable, Daeanna. You cannot have him, never had him, and willneverget him back. You’ve lured an unsuspecting mortal woman into your scheme, playing on her emotions for a man who will never give her his heart. You, Daeanna, know the power of soul mates, and you, Daeanna, know that once the Goddess sets Fate into motion, there is no halting Her intentions. You shan’t ever disrupt Her course, for if you do”—Rihanna spread her arms, balancing her magic in her hands—“you curse yourself and all who you manipulateto a Fate such as the one you brought to your loyal followers today.”

Daeanna’s face twisted into a terrifying expression. The latticework of magic around Terrek thickened, the cords cinching into the blankets. Her nephew’s fists jerked aimlessly into the air, but no cry of distress escaped. Only the sucking sounds he made when he was hungry.

A sound that, unfortunately, made Moira shift restlessly beside her.

“I am indestructible, unlike you,” Daeanna hissed, her voice laced with poison. She thrust her arm out, the one holding Terrek.

Moira leaped.

Rihanna grabbed her arm, her magic dispersing before she burned her sister’s skin. Moira screeched, fighting against Rihanna’s restraint as the blankets fell away and Daeanna dangled Terrek by his onesie. Her nephew’s bottom lip jutted on a pout right before he released a wail.

“Give me my son!” Moira roared. Rihanna needed two hands to hold her back as Daeanna gave Terrek a light shake, his cries intensifying.

“He’s destructible! He’s an abomination to all Fae! He’s dispensable, just like you!” Daeanna marched to the edge of the marble floor and dangled the baby over the water. The calm, soothing babble from the water turned violent as the narrow stream swirled and lapped at the walls of its enclosure. “You should have died in that despicable castle! You and this thing that has no bearing on me, and shall have no further bearing on Shaye!”

“Moira,” Rihanna barked, but her sister was too far gone in raw panic to hear. Magic sizzled around her clenched fingers, skating along her arms, scurrying up toward whereRihanna held her tight, keeping her back, keeping her from instigating Daeanna to further action. “Stop!”

“He said you’d never hurt a babe!” Moira screamed. “As much as he loathes you, he still held hope for you! Are you going to prove him wrong now? Are you going to hurt his son and show him just how wrong he was about you?”

Daeanna flinched. She blinked once, the firestorm in her eyes dimming.

Rihanna bit back the urge to correct her sister, knowing the lie that slipped by her lips was naught more than a weak attempt to save Terrek. A lie, in this case, that may prove to be Moira’s greatest weapon.

Until a cruel grin stretched across Daeanna’s mouth.

“You may have ingested Fae potion, but you’re still human at heart. One thing I learned in my exile?” Daeanna leaned forward, nostrils flared and a faint tick at the corner of her mouth. “Humanslie.”

The stream leaped skyward.

It whipped around Terrek and crashed back into the waterway.

For a heartbeat, heavy silence settled over the room.

Then, a pulse of magic rippled through the room, shaking the floors, the ceiling, the pillars until everyone was thrown off their feet and hurtled through the air.

Everyone, except Moira, who disappeared into the stream after her son.

44

’Twas red pulsing against his eyes. Red he saw run from the tips of his fingers. Red he watched explode from his hands and strike the golden devil lying on her back, stunned by magic hisanam carareleased in her panic.

’Twas his final straw, the last gate shattering.

Their plan had failed.

Leaving him with one option.

Liam and Horano jumped into the magical stream, a body of water deceptive in its depth and peace. His son. His wife. Both fighting to survive beneath the stormy currents that would allow them to surface if not for Daeanna.

Always Daeanna.

Rage blinded him, his body tense to the point his arms trembled. Power, so much power, mounted inside him, needing release. Needing a way out.

He’d allow it release.