Page 45 of Shadows of Ruin (The Broken Prophecy #2)

Kade’s palpable rage strengthened as two more guards joined the other four at his feet, all snuffed out by his shadows.

I slammed my elbow into the guard pointing a dagger at me, and he winced in pain. He hadn’t expected me to fight back, and he stumbled enough so I could twist out of his grip.

Storm and Jax fought side by side, aiming their attacks at the guards that lined the room. We had survived worse odds before, we could do it again. I ran toward Kade, needing a weapon of my own, but was yanked backward.

“Enough,” King Dargan shouted. He reached forward, grabbing me by the neck with his free hand and hoisting me back in front of Kade.

He froze immediately, but the fighting around us didn’t stop.

Kade leveled his sword at us. “You will put her down now or I will destroy you, Father.”

“My boy, you have no idea who you are up against. I will drain you like your worthless mother,” the king spat.

Kade’s eyes widened, shock slacking his features .

His father grinned. “Ah, I am surprised you didn’t put that together. I hadn’t bent you to my will yet, so when the time came for the amulet to be reinforced with magic, I was hardly going to give up my life. I gave her life instead. Fueling Thames’s prison for just a while longer.”

Kade let out an anguished cry, charging his father, but the coward used me as a shield.

He held me to his chest, hand tightening around my throat. A shadowy tendril inched past me, snaking around my side, curling toward Kade’s father.

“When will you learn that allowing your heart into situations only causes pain,” his father hissed, squeezing my throat.

I couldn’t breathe. I kicked my legs.

In Dargan’s arrogance, he didn’t see Kade’s shadows until the moment they attacked.

Thrashing out and entangling with the king, he had no choice but to drop me to the ground. The fighting around us closed in as battle waged. I searched for where I could grab a weapon, not daring to take out my white dagger for fear the king may see it.

A dead guard lay feet from me, and I crawled forward, nicking the palm of my hand as I pulled his sword from his limp hand. Turning, I ran back toward the king and Kade. Raising my blade over my head, the king turned his head and threw his hand out in my direction, sending me sideways—not hard, but enough to push me from his fight with Kade.

“Lana!” Kade shouted, but more Guardians moved toward him purposefully. A group surrounded him, reaching to hold him back, but his shadows took them out. Yet the minute one fell, another Guardian stepped forward to take his place. They were pouring in from the door as if they were waiting in a never-ending supply.

“You cannot defeat me,” Dargan yelled excitedly .

A sword came toward me, and I blocked it vigorously, engaging my threat. I refused to back down. This would not be our final stand.

I lost sight of Kade in the chaos.

Stabbing my attacker in the stomach, I continued, trying to get close to the others.

Raya shouted my name. I whipped around to find a lumbering giant of a Guardian whipping his axe in an arc directly over my head. I jumped out of the way, spinning to shove my sword into him. In the time it took him to dislodge his axe from the floor, I had gotten a good hit into his arm.

The wound did nothing.

Raya met me at my side, looking pale and unsteady. She squeezed her eyes closed and grunted as if under pressure.

The giant paused, his eyes glossing over.

A whimper came out of Raya’s mouth before the man toppled over. She opened her eyes but immediately fell slack against me.

“Tell them I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“Don’t do that,” I said, dropping my weapon to drag her toward the side of the room. “Do not act as though this is the end.”

“I can’t—” Her eyes rolled as her head lobbed backward.

“No, no, Raya.” I laid her down, slapping her face. “Wake up. Wake up right now. Raya.”

Nothing I did mattered.

A boot kicked me hard at my waist, sending me flying sideways. I snarled, lifting myself up despite the arduous effort it took. The Guardian lunged, continuing his onslaught. As if I weighed nothing, he lifted me and slammed me against the wall.

His dark eyes gave away where his extra boost of power came from.

He was a dark one .

Far more in control than the crazed Fae. This Guardian had willingly turned.

I thrashed against his body, but it was no use. My vision blackened at the edges. I couldn’t lose consciousness. Not now, while everyone I loved fought around me.

A caress against my cheek came a second before I could breathe again. The guard collapsed, shadows pulling away from him as I gulped in air.

I fell to my knees. Kade stood feet away from me, still fighting his father.

Kade. I needed to get to him. To fight by his side.

Storm charged toward where the king and Kade faced off, taking Kade’s place as if planned, and Kade ran from the fight to my side.

He flung a wall of shadows around us, blocking the room as much as possible.

“How are there so many Guardians?” I asked.

Kade shook his head. “There are dark ones too.”

“We have to get out of here with the amulet or he is going to release Thames.”

Kade looked around, catching sight of this father, still clutching the amulet in his fist. It hadn’t stopped glowing since Kade’s blood touched it earlier.

“If I can kill my father, his magic will be sacrificed into the amulet. It should be enough to ensure Thames remains contained, and the responsibility of keeping him that way falls to me,” he said quickly.

“He’ll kill you if he knows your plan,” I argued, frantic, knowing he would sacrifice himself to save us all.

Kade cupped my face. “If that happens, you run. Flee the palace.”

“No.” I shook my head. “We fight him together.”

“Our world needs you, Lana,” he whispered.

I slammed my fist into his chest. “It needs both of us. I don't have magic to fight the king. ”

Kade crashed his lips to mine, tugging me in. The room fell apart around us in a bloody, never-ending battle, and yet my world calmed in this moment with him.

“It doesn’t need your magic. It’s you. With or without magic you will be the one to save our kingdoms.”

“No, Kade.” I fought to hold onto him, to keep him with me, but the bastard winked, pulling away.

“If I fail, grab the amulet and find a way out.”

I yelled after him again, uselessly. He jumped back into the fight with Storm against his father.

Kade landed an easy blow to the king, slicing down his arm. Dargan cursed, swinging for his son.

Guards flocked to him, piling on top of Kade. He’d used too much of his magic already.

His magic weakened as he did, even his shadows sputtered in and out.

I gripped the sword, running toward him, but the king’s magic wrapped around me, flinging me to the back of the room.

My head slammed against the wall, and I crumpled to the ground. I heard Kade cry my name. Scream it across the room. The noise rattled in my mind but sounded so distant.

I looked up from where I lay, my body feeling broken. Raya lay unmoving where I had left her at the side of the room. I wasn’t sure if I imagined her chest rising and falling or not.

Storm’s injuries from his torture hadn’t slowed him down, but as more Guardians fell into the room, hope sputtered out.

Jax was in his panther form, ripping and clawing at his fellow soldiers.

And Kade.

I lifted my head to see Kade held in front of his father, losing as he fought, outnumbered.

“Kade,” I shouted, pushing up from the ground where the king had tossed me .

The king laughed, five men pinning Kade as he thrashed in their arms, his shadows keeping three other guards at bay.

He’d run toward the king to stop him from this nightmare. To try to get that damn amulet to keep Thames trapped. Without hesitating, he’d risked himself. I couldn’t take it. The world quieted around me. My body shook, trembling.

Kade would live. He had to. Which meant I had to get up.

Determination clenched its claws around me, sparking, igniting, fueling something deep within that hadn’t existed before.

Get up. Get to Kade.

Or maybe it had always existed. Locked away.

With lover's touch, she shall ignite.

I couldn’t lose Kade.

Kade, who stole my heart too easily. Kade who protected me, even if it killed a part of him to do it.

Mine .

He was mine.

A well inside me filled, brimming with fury, rage.

With light.

Get up.

Storm shoved a guard away from me, and I rolled onto my hands and knees.

You are Illiana Dresden. The voice inside of me spoke, and I didn’t know if it was my own, or something more.

You are stronger than the darkness within you. You are stronger than any darkness.

I shook, straining to get onto my knees. I would rise here to fight the king. To save Kade.

But I would also stand on my own feet, even in pain, because I was worthy. I may not have magic. I may not ever have magic like those clashing before me, but I was strong in my own right. Never again would I allow the desires of powerful men to cause me to feel weak. To feel less than .

“I am Illiana Dresden,” I whispered to myself, rising off one knee.

“You will die here today, son.” The king swung his blade back, lashing out with a flame toward Kade at the same time.

He couldn’t have him. The king, the darkness, nothing could have him. Because he was mine.

Kade Blackthorn loved me.

I was worthy of that love and so much more.

I screamed, standing fully again. The noise exploded from a place deep within me, finally breaking free. A place where darkness could not touch. The hairs on my arms rose as time slowed around me.

With guards holding him back, Kade looked at me and I knew. What I’d known in the dark recesses of my soul yet hadn’t spoken aloud.

I loved him. Kade Blackthorn was mine.

My mate.

The realization dawned on me, and I detonated from the inside out with power, with love, with a fury I didn’t dare deny any longer.

With magic .

Light burst out of me, and my screams for Kade echoed around us as it sliced through the guards.

The others shouted my name, but I knew my light, my power wouldn’t harm those I loved.

It would, however, devour any who hurt them.

Any who hurt him .

I stood on steady feet, unable to see anything but white around us. When the light faded, the guards in the room lay dead. Scattered around, their limbs at unnatural angles. No more entered through the doorway either.

Kade stood alone, unbound by anyone now, hovering over the king.

“I have waited a long time for this,” he said, his voice dripping with hate and malice. “This is for what you did to my mother.” He stabbed his sword into the king as his shadow sword formed in his other hand.

“For this kingdom,” Kade shouted, stabbing his father again and yanking the shadow blade out, leaving the steel one rammed in his chest.

My body, so filled a second before, drained. I wobbled and fell to my knees.

Kade looked at me, eyes widening before he turned back to his father.

“And for ever thinking you could harm my mate and live.” Kade slammed the shadow blade down into the king’s chest with a sense of finality, his father not even coherent enough to utter a word in the end. Not even begging for his worthless life.

Kade turned, meeting my gaze. I wanted to run to him. Touch him. To ensure we were both okay.

The amulet lay toward my right, flung haphazardly in the chaos of our battle. I reached for it, wanting to secure its safety before whatever came next.

Before Kade or his shadows reached me, the ground shook, throwing us sideways.

“What the fuck?” Jax shouted from somewhere behind me.

My hand burned and I dropped the amulet in horror. I stared at the blood on my hand, realizing what I had done. Willingly.

The earth refused to yield. A sound like a bellowing roar, louder than anything I had screamed moments ago, surrounded us. I covered my ears, struggling to keep upright.

Kade crawled, feebly inching across the ground, desperately reaching for my hand.

A light smoke coated the room, swirling and hissing, making the roar even worse.

“Get away from it, Lana,” I heard Storm call.

I kicked the amulet across the room as I cried out in horror. It teetered on the ground before breaking into two pieces. Smoke billowed out of it, coating everything.

Thames . With the amulet destroyed, Thames would be free.

If Cassandra had been right, and the amulet kept his evil trapped, the magic holding Thames at bay in the void was now gone.

A shape formed in the misty haze.

Kade didn’t look at the amulet like the rest of us. Instead, he still tried to crawl toward me, calling my name as the earth shook, preventing him from making progress.

I had to get up. I tried to stand but couldn’t keep my balance as the earth trembled beneath us. The power shifting the world around us was too strong.

A laugh replaced the roar as the smoke solidified into a tall figure. A man.

His black hair hung in greasy, almost wet stringy clumps over his head. His thin face too sharp and angular.

He laughed again, finally blinking more fully into existence.

“What in the Fates’ names…” Storm made it to me, grabbing my arm.

“I need to get to Kade.”

“Stay there—” Kade shouted as the figure’s arms developed. “Don’t leave Storm’s side.”

“Do listen to your mate,” the figure said, his voice haunting and old. “Though they are such tiresome things. Mates.” He spit the word out like it left a bad taste in his mouth.

Kade’s shadows froze, going rigid as the lighter smoke surrounding the ominous figure lurched forward, wrapping around him.

“No,” I yelled, desperate to dig into my power. A magic I knew I now possessed. But there was nothing left. The initial burst had been too much too fast, and now that well I'd hoped to be endless sputtered. Empty .

I had no idea how to access it again.

“Kade!” I screamed. The world stopped shaking and I ran forward, Storm close behind me. I reached through the shadows, pain lancing up my arms as I did.

Thames’s power poured into Kade. I touched his exposed chest, his shirt ripped and torn.

“Fight it,” I screamed.

His eyes, even from here, darkened and grew wide as the shadows that weren’t his lifted, swirling around him. His own darker shadows clashing with the gray ones.

“Run,” he choked out. “I can’t fight off his power. Not this much.”

I shouted as I forced my body closer to his, ignoring the burning sensations on my arms threatening to consume me. “Please,” I begged.

Why wasn’t it working? My touch always worked before. He’d said it had. Why not now?

“Get her out of here,” he shouted to Storm through gritted teeth. Storm locked his arm around my waist, dragging me halfway out of the shadows.

Storm’s grunts let me know he wasn’t immune to the pain resulting from Thames’s magic, which meant Kade was suffering too.

The man laughed. “He’s mine.”

Storm removed me completely from the mist.

“I love you, Illiana.” Kade’s body was almost fully covered, only his dark eyes visible through the mist.

I tried fighting back. I needed to get to Kade. We couldn’t let Thames take him.

One second of stumbling. One weak moment from my own damn legs and Storm took over, throwing me over his shoulder and running for the door.

Kade’s face blipped out, and his shout from his own battle within broke me: “Run, Little Rebel.”

As Storm hauled me through the doors Jax held open, carrying Raya over his own shoulder, I heard Kade’s voice again, now a mere whisper in my soul.

“Please don’t let me catch you.”

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