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Chapter Fifteen

Alaric

For a fraction of a second, relief hit me when Cali landed in front of us. The Furies were few in number compared to the Moroi and the Velesians, but they were ruthless in battle, and there was nobody as skilled—and terrifying—as Calypso Rayne.

But then those mesmerizing golden eyes slid from Samara’s tear-streaked face to the chaos erupting around us, and I realized we weren’t saved—we were fucked. Because something had driven Cali over the edge, and now she was nothing but wrath made flesh.

“Shit!” Kieran swore from the other side of Samara, clearly coming to the same realization as Cali’s predatory gaze zeroed in on the rangers tasked with apprehending us.

Carmilla seized the opportunity to turn tail and run, not that her horse needed much encouragement. Over half the rangers lost their battle with their mounts as the horses took off running after the new Moroi Queen. A few tripped over upraised roots, dumping their riders.

“Stall her!” Carmilla commanded over her shoulder, not showing any concern for the rangers she was leaving behind for what would likely be a gruesome death.

I tried to pull Samara back to shove her behind myself, but the leash Cali held over her own magic finally broke. Shadows exploded across the clearing as an alien presence speared my mind, and time seemed to stop only to jump forward and then freeze again.

It felt like someone had placed a vice around my head and was slowly cranking it tighter, all while a rage that was not mine burned hotter than any fire. At some point, I fell to my knees, and I was faintly aware of ripping my nails as I tore at the ground.

Cali vanished into shadow only to reappear behind the rangers, who were clutching their heads and screaming. Her sword flashed. Heads rolled.

More rangers poured into the clearing, only to fall as Cali’s magic ripped their minds to shreds, leaving them as easy pickings for her blade.

I didn’t know how House Devereux were fairing, but I hoped they didn’t do something foolish like try to attack Cali.

Taking down Furies when they lost themselves like this required far greater numbers than anything we had at our disposal.

It also required careful planning, the element of surprise .

. . and the knowledge that you would have to sacrifice some of your own to land a killing blow.

Kieran was kneeling next to me, his face locked in a pained grimace as blood leaked from his nose and ears. There were only three people still standing in the clearing. Cali. Samara. Nyx.

The Furie’s molten gaze fell on Nyx, who still seemed to be wavering between Moroi and Strigoi—their eyes mostly midnight blue, but a few light strands remained.

I didn’t know what it meant, if they could truly come back from turning Strigoi, if they’d want to after what they’d been forced to do—but none of that mattered if we didn’t survive the next few minutes.

“Samara!” I half whispered the warning before groaning as another wave of Cali’s magic hit me and that vice squeezed a little tighter. Warm blood dripped from my nose. “Not. Your. Friend.”

I loved Samara Harker with every bit of my pragmatic heart, and I understood her well. Her greatest strength—and weakness—was that she was loyal to a fault. She did not give that loyalty lightly, but once she did, there was no taking it back.

Even if the person who held it turned into a monster.

When Furies lost themselves, they didn’t become mindless beasts. They remained what they’d always been —apex predators who took out the biggest threats first. And right now, Cali had decided that Nyx was the threat that needed neutralizing.

She took a step towards the broken ranger while Nyx held their ground, a silent snarl on their face, even as the flicker of something else danced in their eyes.

Cali’s golden stare held nothing but cold detachment.

I tried to get up—to do what, I had no idea—but a sharp pain cut through my mind, immediately driving me back to my hands and knees.

In a desperate attempt, I tried to let my bloodlust rise to combat Cali’s magic, but I’d kept it too ruthlessly locked down . . . so it did not answer when I called

All I could do was watch helplessly as Samara smoothly moved to stand in front of Cali, putting Nyx at her back. Internally, I screamed at the risk she was putting herself in. Cali was not her friend anymore, and only a fool would let a Strigoi be at their back.

Nyx’s muscles tensed for a second, and I knew they were about to launch themself at Samara’s exposed neck and back, but then they squeezed their eyes shut and jerked their head, stumbling backwards.

When their eyelids fluttered open a second later, more light blue was threaded through the dark.

Slowly, Nyx took another step back, as if they were trying to remove themselves as a threat.

“Cali,” Samara barked. The pressure on my mind eased slightly. “Enough.”

“What are you doing?” I asked tightly. Reasoning with Furies in this state was useless. We needed to figure out how to retreat. Maybe get Cali to chase after Carmilla . . .

Samara ignored me. Of course she did. Gods, I was going to strangle her when this was done.

“All these years,” Samara sneered, “everyone has been saying you would fall. ‘ Calypso Rayne is already half mad and too powerful. Better to put her down now ,’” she mocked as she stepped closer to Cali, who had gone stock-still. “I was the harlot, Rynn the screwup, and you the mad bitch.”

The magic bearing down on my mind came back, and I growled as I tried to push against it. Kieran crawled closer to me, and we both grimaced as we looked at each other before focusing once again on the reckless woman who held both our hearts.

Samara’s hand shot out to grip the front of Cali’s bloodsoaked vest. “We do not yield!” she snarled into her friend’s face. “Pull yourself together! Everything is fucked right now, and I can’t do this without you.”

I hated the way her voice broke on that last word. So fucking do something about it, asshole, I chided myself.

Cali’s clawed hands gripped Samara’s, piercing her flesh, but she didn’t attack her friend. To my amazement, Samara was actually getting through to Cali, even though everything I knew about Furies said that should be impossible when they were in this state.

We just needed to give Cali another push.

Shoving aside the pain that still had a grip on my mind, I rose to my feet.

Cali’s head snapped towards me. “I think I know where Rynn might be,” I said quickly but clearly before rushing to get the rest out.

“There is much we need to catch you up on, Cali, and Samara is right, we will need your help because you will be able to retrieve Rynn faster than any of us.”

I was embellishing a little. Okay, a lot.

I suspected I knew where Rynn was because it was the only place that made sense.

Assuming I was right about her being in the far northern reaches of the Velesian realm, Cali was our only hope of reaching her because we definitely wouldn’t make it there on foot.

Kieran got to his feet next to me but didn’t make a move towards Cali. We’d both experienced a Furie’s wrath before, but that time had been only the barest splash of it, and that Furie had never been given the chance to come back. She’d been hunted down and exterminated.

Samara would never allow that to happen to Cali though, and against all odds, it did feel like Cali was drawing her rage back. I could still feel it on the outskirts of my mind, but the blood was no longer pouring from my nose, and I was capable of thinking for more than a few seconds at a time.

Which was why I was able to contemplate the way Cali had moved.

In addition to the strange mental attacks Furies could invoke, they all had a little bit of shadow magic.

That was the true reason they’d always felt apart from the Moroi and Velesians.

Their shadow magic was just a little too similar to the wraiths that haunted these lands.

Over the generations, the Furies had learned to lock down their magic. They only wielded their mental attacks as a last result, and most refused to touch their shadow magic altogether.

Except Cali.

She’d always been the exception. Much like Samara was somewhat of an exception amongst the Moroi, as she frequently flaunted her bloodlust. And Rynn had her own eccentricities that set her apart from the rest of the Velesians.

It was almost like fate had drawn the three of them together. Bonded them on some deep level that no one else could touch.

I normally didn’t believe in such things, but it was hard to deny it as the most powerful Furie in existence clawed back her magic, looked at her friend, and wept.

I didn’t know what to do, so I looked at Kieran.

He looked at me wide-eyed. “This is outside my area of expertise.”

Great.

I rubbed the back of my head and turned away from Samara and Cali. Something told me the Furie wouldn’t want anyone to see her cry, and I really liked my head being attached to my body.

Kieran moved to huddle next to me. “Go check on Roth,” he said quietly. “I’ll make sure Nyx is . . . alright.”

Nyx was definitely not alright.

I jerked my head in a nod and strode towards the Devereux clan. Other than a few patches of dark red hair, I couldn’t even see Roth past all the muscled bodies guarding them.

“Samara has it under control,” I told Taivan and Desmond as I approached. They’d put themselves in front of their sibling with Severen and Celestina guarding their children from the sides.

“Does she?” Desmond rasped.

“She does,” I said flatly.

The brothers traded a look that said they didn’t quite believe that, but then they both let out twin shrieks as Roth grabbed them by the ears and yanked.

“I’m officially out of patience.” Roth shoved past their brothers and crashed to a halt in front of me, their eyes a burning orange. “Move, or I’ll move you.”