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Arianna absorbed the scene with every person she healed. Black soot, broken pieces of wood, and still burning bits of tent lining a small circular area. Those in the immediate vicinity had suffered the worst of the explosion while those outside it were hit with shrapnel.

Some hadn’t made it at all.

The Divine, they whispered.

Arianna didn’t meet their gazes. She was still scanning the area, looking for more, but when she reached down for a male, he smacked her hand away and pulled a knife from within the folds of his tunic.

Her adrenaline spiked and Arianna’s magic materialized from thin air, deflecting the sharpened blade, but it slid across her cheek anyway.

A blood-chilling roar cleaved the world in two and shadows poured from every corner of the earth, rising to block out the sun.

No, not shadows. The earth itself.

Arianna’s ears rang from the collective screams echoing across the area. They scrambled back, desperate to separate themselves from The Demon and his monstrous magic.

Sand whipped out and snatched the male by the throat, crushing his windpipe in an instant. Arianna turned to look at her mate and the others who’d stood, drawing weapons against him. Eyes flickered toward her, some filled with so much unfathomable hatred. She’d never met these people. She’d never—

A female roared and charged Rion, but Arianna sprang to her feet, water ripping from the air as she sprinted forward and leapt over a tendril of Rion’s earth. He followed her movements, his magic aiding her charge as she snarled and blocked the female’s magic in a clash of raining icy.

Arianna thought the female would stand down. That maybe they’d only attacked Rion because of his reputation. But the female’s low growl sent a jolting spike of fear through Arianna’s body.

And this female wasn’t the only one baring her fangs. Seven stood around them, their magic taking form. Water from Móirín. Vines from Brónach. Fire from Fiadh. Sweat trickled down Arianna’s face and she steeled herself, sinking back into the persona of the female she’d been months ago.

An icy current pulsed through her veins and instinct screamed for her to protect her mate. She’d tear them apart, rip them from the world before they even got close. Her magic rose as high as Rion’s and spun just as furiously.

Ice cracked and raced across the ground followed by a wave of water, both coming from unknown sources. Two snarling figures joined the frenzy, placing themselves between the seven and Arianna.

Ellie stood in front of Rion, a rapier clutched in her hand as she crouched in a low stance. Talon stood before Arianna, his frost spreading along the ground and down the blade in his grasp.

Then others joined, ready to defend their queen, but they weren’t all from Móirín. Warriors and civilians surrounded the seven nameless assailants from all sides, weapons and magic poised.

The world slowed.

A female glanced toward the male to her right and she gave him the slightest of nods. Arianna understood the gesture when the female’s hateful gaze turned back.

They didn’t intend to live. They had one goal. One mission.

Destroy the would-be queen.

The seven lunged as a unit and the world exploded in a kaleidoscope of color and pain.

A spear of ice flew from Talon’s palm and hit a female with so much force it blasted her off her feet. A stranger summoned brush from the ground that ensnared a male’s legs, sharp thorns digging into flesh and twisting to lock his movements in place.

Frost crawled up another’s lower body, spreading like fingers across the male’s body until it immobilized him entirely. Chunks of earth split into tiny particles, then wrapped around two bodies and squeezed. Their bones ground, then snapped. Two gasps. Two silent hearts.

Arianna stood before the carnage, both distraught by it and equally thankful for those who’d intervened.

The female was the only opponent left. Arianna knew she should have summoned her magic when the female charged, her battle cry echoing in her wake as she pointed her sword, intending to drive it straight through Arianna’s torso.

Arianna knew she wouldn’t make it. The female knew it, too, but she was still willing to die. To throw her life away for the mission.

But why? What aspect of life did they fear her changing so much that they were willing to die to protect it?

Talon’s fist slammed into the side of the female’s face and she slumped to the ground in an unconscious heap.

He huffed out a breath then turned to her. “Are you all right?”

Arianna only nodded, her gaze lingering on the bodies spread across the area. Her heart cracked, bleeding from a wound in her chest that wouldn’t heal. Reality swept through her like an icy current.