Page 25

I laughed incredulously. Dodging the blast that crashed in a thundering boom to the ocean floor, I slung myself from splintered rock to splintered rock, gathering shadows in my wake and hurtling them back towards her. “To rule over what exactly? A pile of rubble and a dying species? ”

Her dark burgundy power cleared and revealed a cruel smile. “Oh no, Remi darling. That is where you are wrong. The fae will be reborn again and I will be their heroine queen that saved us all!”

I gathered more shadows to me, my gills opening wide and breathing in deep.

“And where does Deirdre fit in all this, oh mighty Queen Kira? I know she is behind all of it, it practically stinks of her rot.” I laughed again.

“Do you honestly think the former Queen of Faerie will idly sit by and watch you take her throne!”

Kira giggled. “It’s amazing how much you don’t know.

But then again that is what happens to cowards who hide in exile from their failures!

You are so pathetic. Deirdre doesn't care about the throne of Faerie any more. She is the blood witch now and no longer bound by a meager desire to rule over the fae when she can rule over worlds…universes even!”

My heart thundered at Kira’s words…worlds…universes. “Do not come back here!” I silently screamed to my shadows. “Find the shifter and take him to the child. She is the key to all of this and must be protected at all costs!”

I just hoped I wasn’t too late…a lock of blue hair floated in the distance…like I was too late for Bay.

I fed the shadows with the looming darkness of the wall, I was on my own now, equipped with only the shadow power every one of my kind possessed…

what I was born with. Shadow was darkness and darkness was infinite.

The first and the last, the beginning and the end—of all life and I knew how to use it well.

Kira watched the shadows gathering with a twinkle of mirth in her pink eyes.

“Only your innate shadows have come to the rescue have they?” She twirled a pink braid, confidence oozing from her vicious smile.

“I’ve been waiting, watching, listening.

But the rumors are true, aren’t they? You lost your powers the day of Morta.

Your sentient shadows have truly abandoned you. ”

I raised my brows and snaked the dormant shadows up my arms, a shield and sword molding in front of me.

“I don’t need them to take you on Kira, I never did.

” I gave her a pointed look. “Are you sure you want to do this? You can just give me the shifter now and we will leave this place.” And… taking Riella with me.

“It’s too late, Remi darling . You and the shifter are now part of the deal, your lives forfeit.” She shrugged, “not that I needed a deal to want to kill you.” She held up the blood crystal. “And with this, there is nothing you can do to stop me. ”

I gave her a taunting smile. “If that truly is the case, then I have a confession.” I licked at my needled teeth and watched her eyes spark with desire despite her resolve to kill me.

Water fae were such sensual beings. “My little pet shifter kisses better than you ever did, in fact every fae I kissed after you was infinitely better than your slimy fish lips.”

Taking advantage of her shock, I whipped forth a lasso of shadow from my formed sword and snapped the blood crystal straight out of her clenched hand.

From behind, another round of shadows pummeled into her back, shooting her towards me with no time to react.

Dodging to the side as she whizzed past me, my shadow sword slashed outwards and scraped harshly across her gut drawing first blood.

“Bitch!” She screamed, surprising me by sealing her wound instantly with her newfound power.

The water bubbled angrily around me and I narrowed my eyes at the thousands of ice shards suspended and poised to impale.

They shot through the water, a whistling hum the only indicator of their storm. Spinning, I weaved numerous shadow shields, deflecting every shard and sending them straight back to their owner.

She responded by melting them one by one back into the ocean and smiled widely at me, untouched. “Too easy, Remi darling .”

Wielding a thin fog of shadows, I created an impenetrable bubble barrier around my head just moments before I felt the water stir my hair.

She screamed with rage, her attempt to cut off my water supply denied.

I grinned and blew a kiss back at her.

Screaming again, the ocean heaved in response to her shrilling voice and I thrusted my shadows deep in the sand, deeper still into the rocks below. Preparing and bracing for the tsunami of water that threatened to crush me.

I swallowed down my cry of pain, feeling my shoulders dislocate under the harsh grip of the shadows anchoring me against the storm. A glint of red caught my periphery through the crushing ocean waters. It was the blood crystal tumbling rapidly across the sand towards me .

Dropping my anchors, I weaved shadow to scoop up the blood crystal at the same time as Kira wielded the waters to do the same. The two locked in a deadly game of tug of war.

Burgundy power crawled over the crystal and along my shadows that shuddered at the tainted power before snapping away. Desperately, I clawed at the rocky ocean floor to stop another surge of water from crushing me to certain death.

I screamed when my spine snapped horribly against an unforgiving surface.

Shen’s wall crumbled beneath my body, groaning and creaking while I was being forcefully embedded into its rocky mirage.

Pink tinged the water in the shadow bubble when my head slammed harshly backwards, splitting open my skull.

Additional debris sliced open my scales, and I raised my torn webbed hands in a pathetic attempt to shield myself.

Chipped green paint on my hands blurred in and out of focus. Lovingly and thoughtfully put there by a vibrant water fae I barely knew but was dead for meeting me all the same.

I blinked hard against the cruel fate of darkness and the sunburst pattern of the brightly lit burgundy power in the distance. Showcased in the center and laughing cruelly was Kira’s silhouette…a small shadow casted over her face by the tainted luminous glow.

I smiled and flicked my hand. The crazed laughter cut short by a loud slap of shadow across Kira’s face, snapping her head to the side and cutting open her black lips.

I choked on my own blood sniggering. “You never did master the art of silence. Consider this a review.”

Kira’s head turned slowly back to me, touching her lip with disbelief, the power of the crystal burning brighter in her eyes. “I…will…kill…you.”

There was no stopping the force of her power slamming deep into me, burrowing harshly into my body.

A scream ripped from my throat and my body contorted against the wall, attempting to find a way to escape the pulsating burgundy power sucking my life essence from me just like it had before—one hundred years ago.

Only this time, the power of the Sanguine wasn’t being wielded by the queen, but a mere pawn of a fae that would die just like all the others who played Deirdre’s games.

“Enough!” I roared and drew the remaining shadows around my entire body, wrapping myself layer by layer into darkness, cutting off the burrowing of the Sanguine power .

“You won’t be able to beat it Remi darling !” Kira cooed loudly.

I grunted against the savage power slamming repeatedly into my shield of shadow.

Weakening and stripping them layer by layer.

I breathed in the darkness and closed my eyes, a lone tear escaping into the swirling ocean waters.

I was going to die here…and for the first time in a long time—I didn’t want to.

“I'm sorry I wasn’t enough.” My apology was a broken whisper from my cracked bleeding lips and then…my shadows shattered.

Breathing in my final breath, I opened my eyes to see the remaining shards of shadow being swept away by the violent seas only to be replaced by thousands of burgundy tendrils ravenously tunneling straight for my tortured soul.