Chapter Forty-Seven

CATCHING MY brEATH, I NARROWED my eyes on Dax. "Not particularly."

"Right, right," Dax said. "I'm sure you were too busy sucking Fox Fae cock to even care about me and the cell you left me to rot in."

Ignoring the taunt, I argued, "I wasn't intending to keep you there forever. Others called for your death after what you did, but I said to give you a chance to change and learn from your mistakes."

"Oh, I learned," Dax chuckled, gathering water in his hand. "I learned that Morardia is full of imbeciles who support a shit ruler, and the best way to wipe the slate clean for my rule is to let Elias do all the killing for me. You don't deserve to be Queen, and the Fae following me agree. So, do us all a favor and just fucking die!"

The water in his hand elongated and hardened into a sword, which he aimed right at my chest. Too bad water was just as much my element as it was his.

Gritting my teeth, I grabbed the blade, knowing that as soon as I touched it, it would turn back into water. The sword melted into liquid in the blink of an eye, making his eyes widen as his empty hand swung toward me. I grabbed his fist and punched the underside of that arm. There was no mistaking the sickening crack of bones as his arm bent at the wrong angle or unhearing the pained cry that left his lips. Not letting go, I yanked him closer and reared my knee up at the same time to slam it into his balls. He doubled over, and I took the chance to kick him hard, sending him rolling back.

He cried and huffed where he landed on the ground, but the sound changed as he began to chuckle. "You—You're too weak to actually kill me, Bria."

I held my head higher. "I am not a killer."

A figure stopped behind Dax, and the Water Fae looked over his shoulder at the sudden presence.

Rune leaned down with a wicked smile. "I am."

Rune knocked Dax sideways, and he landed hard on his back. Rune planted his foot in the middle of Dax's chest, and he pressed down. Dax sputtered as he tried to inhale, but Rune's weight kept him from breathing.

Sneering down at the flailing Fae, Rune said, "I wanted to draw out your death so badly for touching her. For degrading her. For threatening her. But, lucky for you, I don't have much time on my hands to deal with just you. So I'll make it quick. But not painless."

Rune shoved his claws into Dax's gut and shredded him from his abdomen, all the way up to his chest cavity. Dax's scream mixed into the sounds of the chaos around us, and the smell of his blood permeated the air with the rest of the fallen warriors'. Tears streamed down his cheeks from his gaping eyes, and saliva and blood dripped from his mouth as Rune's furious fists lit with flames and tore him to pieces.

Unable to stomach the sight, I turned away just in time to see two Fae closing in on me. Vines burst from the ground, encasing my limbs to hold me captive. I yanked on them as the second Fae poised her black tar covered dagger right at my heart.

With a gasp, I looked at the lake and jerked my chin. The water barreled forward just in time to swarm around me like a mad, watery tornado. The vicious water snapped the vines and hoisted me high into its spiraling current, carrying me away from the Land Fae.

When I landed, I found myself beside Dallas, who had just run an ice blade through a man. Her green eyes narrowed on me as she hissed, "I saw that, and it was too close for comfort."

"You don't have to tell me," I agreed. "I don't want a repeat of that, either."

I tried looking back to make sure the two Fae hadn't jumped Rune with their Nightbloom weapons, but, as if on cue, five Fae closed in on Dallas and me. We swatted, ducked, punched, and wielded our water so that we managed to come out mostly unscathed. Dallas had a nasty cut along her upper thigh from a thorny vine that one Fae had used as a whip, and my forehead was split open at my hairline from some debris made when a failed rock attack exploded.

I'd just gotten a grasp on my bearings when a handful more closed in on us. Just as panicked sweat broke out on the back of my neck, a wave of water blasted through half of them, courtesy of my mother, who joined Dallas and me. At the same time, a plume of hot fire consumed the other Fae trying to get close, and I turned to see Rune throwing the massive flames at those nearest us.

"Where's Angus?" I asked my mom.

She looked at me, and something akin to sadness and anger lit her blue eyes. "Gone. I handled it."

The news made my heart fracture just a sliver. I never was a huge fan of Angus, and it hurt that he chose Elias over us—apparently because of some issue he had with my dad. But to know that he was dead, that his life had been snuffed out, left a small ache inside of me.

I didn't know where everyone else was—hell, I didn't even know who was still alive—but I couldn't dwell on that now without completely losing my grip on the situation. A grip that was definitely growing weary as I weaved my way through fight after fight with more and more challenging opponents, searching in vain for Elias.

My limbs grew tired, and the punch I'd just tried to deal the Snake Fae in front of me didn't land right. He grabbed my wrist and yanked me forward, gripping my neck with his free hand. Snake Fae were dangerous for different reasons, depending on which kind you faced, and the one currently wrapping his hand around my neck must've been a Python Fae, because he squeezed . My air instantly cut off, and I fumbled to pry him off me to no avail. Pressure built as if my eyes were going to explode from their sockets if my neck didn't break first.

"Bria!" Rune's roar came from a distance.

The sound of his voice was enough to spark that last burst of strength I had. I swung my free arm up, and with the motion, a surge of water cocooned the Snake and me. I held the water around us in an attempt to deprive him of air like he was doing to me, but the determined Snake was keen on holding his breath until I was dead.

After all, he'd snap my neck before he'd lose air.

I had no choice. A portion of water above us glinted like shimmering ice, and with my mental command, the water blade raced down the water faster than the eye could track, and it severed the Snake's arm at the elbow. His grip around my neck ceased at the same moment that a plume of blood flooded the bubble. I quickly released us from the watery hold, and the Fae collapsed on the ground, gripping his amputated arm while bellowing out in pain.

I clutched my throat, choking as I sucked in air in hurried breaths. I scanned the scene around me. My mom and Dallas were both deep in their own battles, and Rune, who'd been trying to get to me, was being targeted from every angle. I battled fiercely with a turncoat Water Fae, who'd just leapt in front of me, while also trying to keep an eye on Rune up ahead.

Fae jumped on Rune's back, only for him to grab them and throw them over his shoulder. He lit some on fire, but more immediately took their place. Blood coated his hands and armor, and I couldn't tell if it was his or others.

He and I were both too focused on all the attacks coming our way that neither of us noticed the figure looming in the distance. Myra took aim at Rune's back with her black drenched arrow. She pulled it back in her bow.

I saw it too late.

"Rune!" His name left my lips in a scream unlike any sound I'd ever made. I shoved the Water Fae aside, racing toward him, but there was no way for me to make it in time.

He looked over his shoulder just as the arrow whizzed past the bowstring. It moved through time as though it was nonexistent. Precise. Quick.

But a Raven Fae was faster.