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“You really are a fucking coward, having everyone else do your dirty work,” I sneered.

“You are nothing more than a fucking coddled, spoilt brat who can’t stand that the only thing you’re known for is hosting a damned party.

You have always been, and always will be, that little boy who clearly didn’t get what he wanted despite having literally everything.

You’ve betrayed not only your mother, but your father, your siblings, and everyone here.

Not just those still standing with Nyx, but even your own people.

Because hopefully they’ll see now what a weak fucking child you are.

You are no king, Dante. You have no real power.

You’re all talk and mind manipulation. You think any of these people would still be standing with you if it weren’t for you being in their heads? ”

Fury burned within me. I felt Orion’s need for more time. I’d give it to him.

Dante took a step back as I pulled out of Hawk’s embrace. He reached for me, but I waved him off. Let Dante see the damage of someone else’s attack. Hell, let everyone.

I was done cowering.

I was done playing by their rules .

They wanted power, then I’d give it to them.

I felt Her presence again, tickling the back of my mind as I delved into myself. The threads of my bonds were still dormant, but I reached further, going deep into the well of magic living within me. I skimmed the surface of that power, of everything that lived within me.

Charms from Adrian, easily formed in the palm of my hand. Visions from Rowan, clear in the back of my mind. Taste of memories from Maeve, just a drop of blood away. The shift from Elias, rippling beneath my skin. Shadows and dream-walking from Orion at my fingertips.

And yet I reached further for the power granted to me by Nyx. It was more than just lightning.

It was life.

I returned my attention to Dante. I held his stare as the magic from earlier crawled up the walls of the ballroom, weaving across the ceiling and over the floors.

The electricity moved like snakes, returning to me, slithering up my body to burrow into my skin.

It was like a hit to the heart with a defibrillator.

The power kicked in, and my hand shot back out, fingers curled into a fist.

The wound on my side started knitting itself back together. Dante’s eyes dropped to the gaping hole in my dress, lips pursing. He might have been rattled before, but his eyes turned stormy now. “They’re dead.”

I cocked my head. The creatures closest to me moved back, and the energy throughout the ballroom shifted. Darkening. I reached for Orion’s control over the shadows and let them cover the ballroom as the rest of my power knocked out Dante’s wards and charms.

“No,” I replied, and turned to throw a bolt of lightning at the doors leading into the ballroom.

The shifters there dove as magic struck the great double-doors, sending them flying into the hallway beyond.

I turned to the wall of windows where the orchestra sat, lifted my other arm, and called upon a protection charm for their section as I destroyed the windows, too.

I didn’t need to speak for the creatures of Nyx to understand my command. Escape now and get free . Orion had been right. They wouldn’t be able to fight. But they could clear out before they were hurt.

Slowly, I turned back to Dante; his chest heaved, jaw clenched, as he watched the chaos unfold. “Surrender or die,” I said, directing the lightning back at him.

“You would spare me?” He laughed, shaking his head. “You are weak.”

“I only give the option so that your siblings and father may choose your fate, Dante.” The magic swelled within me again.

This time, I let it burn brighter. “But you will pay for what you have done. For my mother and my sisters and my friends. Either way, you will not be free once I am done with you.”

“You truly think that?” He took a menacing step towards me; Hawk pressed himself into my back, and from the corner of my eye, his wings spread out behind him. Dante took us both in with a growl. “I have been planning this longer than you have been alive.”

“Clearly not well enough,” I replied. “Otherwise, you would have known what was coming for you. You would have known that the Goddess wouldn’t let you take the crown.”

“Soon enough, we won’t even have to worry about the Goddess or her crown ,” he said, that arrogant smirk returning. “Soon enough, you both will be obsolete in this new world of mine.”

My stomach dropped, but I held back from responding. “Death it is then.”

I have them, little flower. Run .

I gathered everything I had into the strike of lightning.

It built into a bright, burning bolt, one filled with every ounce of anger and pain the male across from me had inflicted not just upon me, but everyone I cared about.

The betrayal against his mother, against Nyx, built it into something more.

And then I released it.

The bolt of lightning crashed into him, sending him flying through the air and into the large red curtain behind the dais.

There were yells of anger that followed, but my ears rang with Orion’s warning. Despite how powerful it had been, I knew it wasn’t enough to end him. My stomach twisted with the thought.

I took Hawk’s hand off my hip, clutching it as Vanya appeared in my periphery. The illusion she’d been building. With one glance at me, she released it.

And chaos ran free.