Page 78 of A Fate of Ice and Lies (Fated #1)

Chapter

Thirty-Two

TEDDY

With the invisible barrier down, the line the fae had formed broke. We ran to Elias, to the creatures and their mage queen.

Bile rose when I passed Elias’s dad and uncle, and I paused when I felt the life that still held his mom here. I reached for Alastor’s magic, letting it guide me to build my own shield around the queen.

Whether she deserved death or not, I couldn’t let his mom die. Not when I’d felt his pain as my own when his father had died. When he’d killed his uncle. When his mother had stabbed herself.

Around me, the lirio and nyxx forced many of the fae to the ground, their bodies broken. Blood dripped from their mouth, choking them as they died too slowly.

Magic blasted from other fae, from the dragons. From Elias, who fought in the thick of this battle.

Blood splattered. Screams reached me, deafening me to everything but the slaughter and the blood-soaked snow that cradled too many dead.

It had barely just started, and we were already losing .

The thunderbirds, who Nalari had managed to release from Leanora’s hold, struck repeatedly, their lightning burning while their talons sank into the lirio who they tore to shreds.

I ran through the maze of creatures and fae. Ran and ran until I reached Elias.

His eyes like molten lava held boundless power.

I pulled from the power Alastor was allowing me to absorb and trusted my magic when I formed a protective shield around Leanora, Elias, and me, not allowing any of the other creatures to come at us while we fought Leanora.

I joined my hand with Elias’s. He jolted before he squeezed my fingers in answer, and he began to absorb Alastor’s and my joined magic.

Leanora’s magic ripped at my skin, burning and splintering until it felt like my flesh was being peeled off.

I yelped in pain but kept my hand tucked in Elias’s when he turned to me.

I kept my attention focused on Leanora, whose assault was constant without break or weakness, but unfiltered power that knew no end.

Her magic seeped through my skin, into my veins as fire that thrashed and boiled inside me. Into my bones that felt fragile and hollow yet somehow hurt. My skull seemed to tremble at the pain that hit and reverberated in my head.

Biting down on my lower lip, I let the tears fall down my face as I pushed more magic into Elias. Trusting Eiran and his words of fate.

In front of us, Everly screamed. With a bone sticking out of his leg, George fell to the ground on a howl of pain.

My magic ebbed as I watched him crawl to Everly, who fought one of the nyxx while she too tried to get back to George.

He heaved in a harsh breath, blood dripping from his nose and mouth.

A lirio grabbed him by his feet just as George’s arms started to buckle at his weight.

A crack of another bone breaking echoed in my ears.

I heard the way he called for Everly. The way he extended his hands to her while the lirio worked his body, breaking bones with slow precision. The pain in his black eyes was not from the physical pain but from being unable to reach his mate, who fought for her own life against the nyxx.

With a leap that sent her higher than any human could jump, she stuck her dagger into the nyxx’s head. Her magic joined the dagger, and she split the creature’s head in two.

From above, Nalari crashed into the lirio, and when George fell to the ground, a tangle of broken limbs, Everly rushed to him. She took him in, her despair something palpable, making her magic explode around her and kill the creatures closest to her.

Elias’s eyes darkened further, his features hardening with determination. His fangs, already pulled down, grew, and blood dripped from his mouth and nose.

In my head, I heard Leanora’s laughter. Her taunting words grated along my mind, puncturing deep fissures in my heart. She believed I’d lose Elias to his primal instincts, even if she fell. He didn’t know how to control it or come back from it.

“Elias,” I shouted.

If he heard me, he didn’t react. I pulled my magic from him, and he stumbled forward. He angled his head in my direction, an animalistic move that made me shiver.

“Elias,” I whispered.

He angled his head to the side, running his tongue across his teeth.

“You promised you’d come back to me,” I said.

He blinked and turned away, again focusing his magic on Leanora. I felt Elias’s magic start dwindling, but he pulled more from deep within himself. His magic sputtered until he got a better grasp of it. He thrust what remained of himself onto the mage.

I saw Everly’s magic drain as her face grew ashen.

Regardless, Everly picked up George’s fallen sword and held it in one hand as she held the dagger in the other.

Staggering, she held her position, protecting George.

George moved, trying and failing to stand with her as he hurled his own magic around them.

Killing many but not enough.

I pulled more of Alastor’s magic and sent more of my own. Ignoring the blood that dribbled down my nose, I watched. Listened.

I listened to my magic and the nonsense words the orb had whispered to me that hadn’t made sense at the time. This time, though, I understood. This wasn’t going to work, but I knew what would.

Dropping Elias’s hand, I stopped pulling from Alastor’s magic.

Instead, I stepped away from Elias and toward Leanora—toward the rageful black of her magic that meant to destroy and rule worlds that did not belong to her. I continued to listen, to learn.

My magic heated my fingers. It seemed to grow stronger, and when I summoned Leanora’s magic as my own, it came willingly.

I continued to call to it, my skin growing tighter as the power in my veins grew.

Rather than keep it, I channeled it to Elias and sensed how it mended while Leanora continued tearing through him with her magic, unknowing of what I took from her.

I sent a piece of my magic to hunt for my fae friends and brother.

Finding them, I channeled more of Leanora’s magic to them .

I pulled and pulled, stealing what she’d stolen from Alastor and so many other fae. I drew from her, twisting and yanking. And when I noticed something else, something more, I took that too.

That something felt different—stronger and more vibrant—like a living force without a home.

Leanora paused her onslaught, turning slowly to me with surprise etched on her pale, sunken face.

She stumbled on her feet before she fell to her knees and slouched forward.

I reached for the gun I kept holstered at my hip, but Elias stopped me with a hand on my shoulder.

His fingers reached for the other side of my waist, stopping only to nuzzle his nose over my throat, where he sniffed me.

He drew out my dagger and gripped it hard enough that his knuckles whitened.

His smile was feral, his snarl low and savage. He took the few steps to stalk toward Leanora, his magic coiling tightly around him. He let that magic out, snaking it around her weakened body and lifting her to her feet.

Her breaths were ragged, but her eyes still blazed with that ancient hatred she’d held and fed for so many years.

While Elias circled her, I pulled the last bits of her magic from her and sent it to Alastor, along with that something different that I was certain belonged to him.

Elias stopped to sniff her, and he pulled his lips so that his fangs were on full display.

He whispered something in her ear and dug my dagger into her throat so that only the hilt, dripping with blood, showed.

His magic held her up while she clawed at the dagger.

Pass after pass, she brushed her fingers past the hilt, never able to get ahold of it.

Finally, Elias’s magic dropped her. She fell on the snow, filled with blood and gore and so much death.

Too much.

I turned from the choking mage, whose breaths wheezed from her in painful spasms. I felt her life as it was dragged from this life to another, where Eiran waited for her.

My only hope was whatever her afterlife looked like, she’d suffer.

At the thought, the tattoo Eiran had gifted me on my shoulder tingled in acknowledgment.

Around us, the fae still fought the lirio and nyxx. Whether they knew their queen was dead or simply didn’t care, the fight went on mercilessly. Blood bathed the once pristine snow where George and Brenton had run sleds for the kids of my town.

With his head angled to the side, Elias stalked toward me.

I stilled as he sniffed my face and across my neck.

When he stared back at me, his black eyes taking me in, I cupped his face, but he pulled away with a guttural snarl.

I stepped closer to him, and despite his warning growl, I took his hand and placed it against my chest, where fear ravaged my heart.

He let out another low growl. I tapped the back of his hand before I bit into my finger. Once I drew blood, I brought my finger to him while he kept his palm against my chest. He clasped my wrist with his other hand and brought my finger to his mouth.

“I’m yours,” I said, keeping my eyes on his. “You’re mine.”

He drew my finger from his mouth to circle his tongue around it. This growl was that of pleasure, and his eyes returned to their beautiful violet color for an instant.

“Elias,” I said his name, wanting to hear him say mine.

Although he remained quiet, he tucked my hand in his.

Exhausted, I somehow managed to keep the barriers around us and Elias’s mom safe for now while our friends fought.

I whirled around when I heard a gunshot behind me, then gripped Elias’s arm when I saw the people, the humans of my town, rushing toward us.

Ready to fight these creatures and get our home back.

“They’re not frozen.” I pushed the words out with a single breath, both surprised and relieved.