Page 220

Before the Night brothers and I can scramble to protect the kids, the queen of dragons shoots a bolt of golden light at Lily, hitting her in the arm and knocking her down. Zara attempts to fly unsteadily, then drops to the ground crying. Kaya looks frantically between Alina in her arms, and her unconscious lover on the floor. I try to distract the queen to give the dryad a chance to help them both.

"Amora!" I say, filling myself with power, my voice projecting into the heavens. "Stop! We have not harmed your grandchild." I think quickly, trying to mitigate the damage. "We were about to bring her to you at the meeting time. Why are you attacking us?"

“You lie,” roars the queen, flames flicking from her lips. Her golden eyes look past me, to what remains of the balcony, to Matilda, who is dressed in her Fate robes for the first time since I've known her. The Queen sneers, “Another Fate. I remember you, though you now deign to show your face. Your kind has brought me nothing but pain. This world ends now!" She begins chanting, her voice echoing on the wind, and her body begins to glow like the sun.

Callia appears by my side. "You must kill her. Now. It's the only way," she says.

"No.” I’m not a murderer. We can still execute my plan.

“Elijah.” I call out. “Sebastian. Liam. Derek. It’s time.”

The Night brothers snap into action, rushing to my side as we discussed. We all clasp hands and form a circle. The earth druid to my right. The water druid to my left. Fire and air across from me.

I channel my powers, seeking to create a barrier like the one I did to hold Ana. I only had a few of the brothers lending me their strength that time. With all four it should be enough to hold even the Mother of Dragons. It must be enough. The elements swirl together, creating an intricate web of white light that covers the giant dragon. Magic seals, runes that I once knew in a past life, begin to appear around her. The barrier is forming. Her glow diminishing. She is trapped.

Matilda makes her way downstairs and joins our circle as Kaya manages to take Lily, Alina and Zara outside the castle. The barrier strengthens, becoming almost blinding with its light, fueled by the power of two Fates and four druids.

But as the queen fights against her captivity, I can feel my magic stretching, pulling, and tearing apart. For a moment, I connect with the Queen, with her power, and I feel an energy so hot, so overwhelming, it burns like an inferno. A heat so blistering even a fire druid could not resist its flames. There is so much power here. More than I have ever felt. The blaze grows. The queen screams.

And the barrier shatters.

A shockwave erupts from the golden dragon, knocking all five of us to the ground, breaking our circle as wooden furniture splinters apart and stone cracks to pieces.

“I killed a Fate once,” roars the queen. “You think I can’t kill more?” She resumes her chanting, and the ground beneath us begins to crack as the world is undone piece by piece.

The northern wall splits in half, crumbling under the weight of its own stone, and then it falls, leaving us in only a partial shell of a castle, our library now extending into the side garden.

I think of all the lives that will be lost and wonder if I could have done more. If I should have tried to save as many as possible before it came to this. But I don't have time to second guess myself.

I channel all my power, my body glowing white, and I float into the sky and summon lightning at my fingertips, flinging it at her, but the bolts bounce off her golden scales like pebbles.

I try fire next, and it slips off her like oil. Nothing is working.

Below me, Sebastian tries to hold the earth together. Elijah and Derek work as one to keep the storm from tearing us all apart. And Liam launches his own useless attack.

It’s over.

Unless…

I tap into my Darkness, using the tracking spell Cole helped me to perform, and search for the unicorn dagger. It should be somewhere below. Amongst the rubble.

But it’s not.

It's above me.

Close to the queen.

I don’t understand.

Until I see the dark mist.

See his body appearing midair, black cloak flapping in the wind, unicorn dagger in hand.

Cole.

He materializes at her chest and plunges the dagger toward her heart. It breaks through a scale, and the queen roars in agony, golden blood spilling from her wound, her wings flapping erratically. Cole places both hands on the hilt, driving the dagger deeper. Deep enough to pierce her heart.

But then she swipes at him with one of her massive talons, hitting him in the side. And like an insignificant mosquito, he is flung through the air, dagger slipping from his palm as it falls into the shadows. I create a pocket of wind to catch him, slowing his descent to the ground. His face is bloody and purple, but he manages a grin through scarlet lips.