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DIANA

R ed attacked us just like he had the first time around. His soldiers landed in different areas all over the camp’s center, striking hard and fast. But we were ready for them. I had given Ares intel on what to expect, and he changed up our fighting strategy. The guys would stay cloaked during the battle, so Red wouldn’t know they had escaped. Ares also reserved some of our troops to enter the battle with the prisoners when Red’s second wave arrived. When the moment arrived, I knew exactly what needed to be done to ensure Red’s demise.

Instead of meeting him on the roof, where we were cut off from the rest of the battle, I fought alongside my men and family in my dragon form. It was becoming my calling card, but I didn’t care. I felt my most powerful with scales, wings, and fire so hot it melted brimstone. My stones were imbued with a shield, courtesy of Fae PA, Lucifer, and Michael, and I felt like nothing could touch me.

I flew around the battle, torching red uniformed soldiers left and right. Bash casted a counting spell on O and me, so we didn’t have to keep count while fighting.

Twenty three, he linked me.

Twenty eight, I replied, giggling through the bond.

Has anyone seen Red yet? Ares linked the army’s mindspace.

A chorus of no’s followed, and I continued barbequing Red’s soldiers. I flew past Lucifer and Michael as they were fighting side by side. I swung back around, and blew on a fireball Lucifer made, tripling it in size before it met its target.

Those four don’t count. Dad threw that fireball, Oisín argued.

He picked up a soldier with one of his claws, puncturing him in the process. Then he swung it like a bowling ball and knocked three more over.

Then that didn’t count either. You said ‘torch’ not kill. Has to be death by fire, I clarified.

We’ll see what the counter spell results say at the end, he huffed as he flew away.

Fucking drama king.

I saw a flash of red out of the corner of my eye, but saw nothing when I swooped to get a better view. An intense, radiating strike of magic bounced off my scales, and I rose in altitude to get away from the ground. I knew what Red’s magic felt like… he was here.

I feel him. He’s here, I linked the mindspace. Everyone be on alert.

An unkindness of Morrigan’s ravens flanked my sides, traveling with me as I flew in a random pattern around the battlefield. Changing directions would throw Red off, make him work harder to find and attack me.

When do we move into the next phase of the plan? Zaz asked. I had cloaked him to look like a wolf shifter before we took our stations, and seeing him below me with his thick sandy fur was delightful.

I need to engage him in combat first, I reminded him. Then we close in.

Red unsuccessfully attacked me a few more times from the ground, but each strike was worse than the last. My goal was to rile him up and get him to the point where his magic was suffering from his frustration before I landed. I deked, flying away from him as I lowered in altitude and gained speed. I felt another hit bounce off my tail, and I flipped to fly in the opposite direction when I slammed into a clear shield.

That fucking bastard put a shield in the sky!

When I righted myself, I landed on the highest point I could find, my apartment building. I felt Ares’ presence up here, even though he had shielded himself to look invisible while he directed his army.

A minute later, Red faded in front of me. Before he could even speak, I unleashed a flame of blue fire at him at full force. I felt his protection magic melting away, until nothing was left. Then I stomped my claw on the ground, sending a wave of magic through the roof that knocked him on his ass.

“You think you’re special?” he asked me, rising to his feet again. “You are nothing but a?—”

“Scared little girl who followed her fool of a father in his quest to usurp my power!” I finished his statement for him in an exaggerated imitation of his voice. “You’re so fucking predictable. For fuck’s sake, come up with better battle banter.”

I reveled in his outrage at my supposed disrespect. He volleyed an orb of neon magic at me, which I promptly returned to him. He blocked it, but not fast enough. It brushed the left side of his face, taking a chunk of it on the way.

“Do you think you’re special?” I asked him. “You brag about how you’re going to take over the world for the strongest people and remake the world order…but where does all that megalomaniac, power-hungry energy come from? Are you a product of an awful childhood? Were you jilted by a past lover? Or are you compensating for something below average?”

“In case you missed it, she’s talking about you having a small dick,” Mal explained as he faded behind me. I morphed his hair to be a sleek chestnut color, and made his facial features Fae-fabulous, so Red was caught off guard by the unexpected backup.

I took his shock to throw a blast of magic around his ankles. It bound them together, sending him crashing to the ground. Mal casted another rope of magic, winding it up his body, then levitating him off the ground just in time. A tell-tale crash, like shattering glass, echoed through the air announcing the arrival of Red’s second wave of troops. They attacked from the edge of the forest, running into the camp at full force.

Unleash the second wave, Ares.

“You’re about to wish you actually died in that club fire, Diana. Your father’s army is about to fall,” he sneered.

“Hold on, keep watching,” I prompted him.

The freshly freed prisoners, some Costa Coven vampires, a sleuth of bear shifters, and a tribe of Quelier carbon copies flooded the field from the opposite direction, meeting Red’s troops in the middle.

“How…how is this possible?” he asked.

“We’re the Morningstar dynasty. We make everything possible,” I replied cooly.

Within minutes, Red’s second wave was dwindling. Steam billowed from his ears, and I felt his magic swarming, searching for a way to break him out of our trap.

Phase two, I linked my guys. It was time to finish this fight, once and for all.

Desmond, Zaz, and Bash faded to the rooftop, followed by Lucifer and Michael. Ares revealed himself in his full godly glory, and the rest of us followed suit. We formed a circle around Red right before he broke my magic’s hold on him and dropped to the ground.

Red’s jaw dropped when he saw my men outside of the Pit’s prison.

“And you thought we’d never see each other again?” Lucifer mockingly asked.

Red lashed out with a weak strike, and my father didn’t bother blocking it. He let it roll off him, and fizzle onto the floor.

We all joined hands, powersharing as a group. I felt everyone’s magic rushing through my veins, like a hit going straight to my head. As I looked at the piece of shit in the center of our circle, I remembered how he sent his men after me when I was a regular mortal woman, for circumstances out of my control. Then I thought about how he almost killed me in the airport, turned Mal and Desmond against me, hunted us all relentlessly, harassed my family, kidnapped Nonna, and tried to kill Zaz. He also made me push myself to my absolute limits…and doubt myself. He was a dark, tumultuous storm cloud that hung over me for months.

I remembered how he wanted to torture my men on that stage. How he hurt so many mortals without any regard for their lives…like they were lesser. He ruined our statue of secrecy, and although we put a bandage on the issue, we’d never be able to go back to the way things were.

My fury and rage culminated into something I had never experienced before. Something deadly and painful to carry inside me. I unleashed it on him, expelling the magic from my body in one deadly strike to Red’s chest.

Red’s death was anticlimactic. He fell to the ground, and the little life he had promptly left his body. My magic blew a hole clean through him, and pale, viscous blood oozed from the wound. Zaz crouched down, using his healing magic to confirm his death.

“He’s gone,” Zaz said, smiling at me. He got up and wrapped his arms around me in a huge hug. “You did it, honey.”

Lucifer and Desmond used their fire magic to cast a rapid flame that incinerated the body within seconds. Q’s familiar black fog curled around the battlefield, taking out the few enemy soldiers left behind. For all intents and purposes, the war was over.

A shrill roar and thunderous cheers in the distance caught my attention. Oisín and the raven shifters flew through the sky in figure eights as the soldiers on the ground cheered. Some of our buildings were on fire and the camp center was torn up, but it seemed our casualties were low. All in all, this version of our final battle was everything I had hoped for.

I unfurled my red wings, flying high in the sky over the battlefield. Everyone grew quiet as they waited for me to say something.

“Red is truly dead and gone, his body nothing but a pile of ashes on the ground. Instead of pissing on them like I wanted to, I want to take a moment and reflect on our accomplishments. To be grateful. To send a silent thank you to every single being who sacrificed to make this war a success. To those who gave their lives for this cause.”

I paused for a moment of silence, and as their heads started to lift, I continued on.

“Today and tomorrow, we shall celebrate, but then we’ll get to work. The war may be over, but a new era is just beginning. The time for rebirth and rebuilding is upon us.”

Lucifer joined me, giving me a side hug as he waited for the crowd’s applause to die down. “We have fought for a new world, and we’ll make it happen, together. The Morningstar era starts now!”

The Morningstar era. The end of war. A time where my men and I could finally enjoy the life we always wanted. Together.