2. Finn

TWO

Finn

N OW

From here, she looks like an angel.

An angel of death. Standing beside her devil.

As she stares down at me from Eldrion's roof, I can feel the power radiating from her. She is glorious.

I always knew she was destined to shine like this, but I thought all I wanted was to capture her light, absorb it, crack the shards of brightness open and fill them with my darkness.

Now, I see it.

From here, I see her clearly for the first time, and I know I want her beside me for what's to come. I don't just want to use her and discard her; I want to draw out the twisted pieces of her soul that I've seen in the dark. The part of her that enjoyed binding me and taking me and showing me the power that lives deep inside the basement of her being.

I want that part beside me when I take my revenge on Eldrion and his forsaken city.

I want to rule with Alana for the rest of eternity. Because the two of us together? When I am transformed and she is enlightened? We would be a force that could never be beaten.

"I'm coming to get you, Alana. Don't worry, I'm coming," I call up to her, and picture her eyes widening with relief. Because even though she is drawn to Eldrion, she loves me.

I made her love me.

I just didn't expect to love her back.

When I burst onto the roof, power and darkness surge through me like lightning through an onyx sky.

I know what I need to do.

It is so clear in my mind I can almost see it happening in front of me.

And there she is... Her glorious auburn hair loose over her shoulders, her body clearly naked beneath what looks like one of his robes.

She rushes towards me, almost smiling with relief, and I pull her into my arms. I motion for her to leave, to get to safety, and watch as Garratt shrugs at Eldrion. "Apologies, my lord. Business is business."

He starts to back away but Eldrion slams the door shut with a burst of power. "No one leaves!"

Alana turns to him, eyes flashing. For a fraction of a second, jealousy blooms in my gut; they share something. Something potent. I hadn't noticed it before but in this moment, I see it clearly.

It crackles in the air between them.

"What happened to ‘you can leave if you want to'?" she hisses, talking to him the way lovers talk when they have enraged one another.

"I changed my mind," Eldrion growls. His eyes grow darker, and he flexes his fingers at his sides. Above him, the entire sky seems to darken too.

As Alana tugs against me, I make a feeble attempt to hold her back, then allow her to stride forward, magic flickering in her hands.

Now this... this is what I wanted to see.

Anticipation flickers deep in my core. Like this, she is magnificent. The power, the confidence, the way she strides towards him like she isn't even the smallest bit afraid of him. Like she knows she can conquer him with the click of her fingers if she wants to.

"I need him gone," she calls over her shoulder at me, hurling a ball of violet light towards Eldrion which he easily deflects.

"I don't want to fight you, Alana. But you have to see what he's doing. He's manipulating you." Eldrion keeps his gaze locked on Alana, but I know he wants to turn to me and show me the hate in his eyes.

He wants me dead. He sees me. But I see him too.

The only difference is, I have always seen behind his mask and he has only just learned to look through mine.

"Says you!" Alana yells, throwing another ball of light at him.

"Alana, don't trust him!" I call out. "Remember what he is and what his people have done. Remember all the things I showed you."

They circle each other. She flicks her wrist and, just like that, a dozen tiny icicles form in the air. She sends them hurtling towards him, but he bats them away.

"You should have done that last night," he taunts her, "before you decided to fuck me instead."

His words land like acid on my skin and, for a moment, I feel as if her icicles hit me instead of him.

I knew she'd fucked him in the tunnels, and I knew she'd fantasised about him. But hearing those words from his mouth, knowing she came here to kill him and he ended up inside her instead... That stings.

Alana hesitates and glances back at me. Her lips quiver, as if she's about to tell me she's sorry and ask for my forgiveness.

In that moment, Eldrion hurls a vortex of shadow at her. She ducks beneath it and retaliates with her own purple smoke-like shadows that creep towards Eldrion.

I have never seen anything like it, and I have no idea how she is creating them. But as her power shimmers on her skin and flickers in her eyes, my jealousy fades.

She is doing this for me.

I made her like this.

She is mine, and he will not take her – or my victory – from me.

"I might not be able to kill you," she says coldly, "but I have no problem taking your powers from you."

My upper lip curls into a slow, delicious grin. Yes, Alana. Take his powers. Take them for me.

Her smoke winds up Eldrion's body as he fights back with all his might, his wings flaring out, roaring with fury. The shadows pulse with dark energy but Alana's smoke keeps pulling, draining away his magic bit by bit. He's weakening, I can sense it.

Eldrion does not fight back. Is he hoping she'll change her mind? Or is he completely naive to how powerful she really is?

When she doesn't stop, he gathers his shadows and hurls them towards her with a roar. "Don't make me hurt you, Alana!"

And this is it.

This is everything I need.

The stars and planets have aligned.

I have my chance.

Without hesitation, I leap in front of Alana, spreading my wings wide, and take the full force of Eldrion's attack. His shadow magic slams into my chest, sending me flying into the wall. I crumple to the ground as pain ricochets through my body. My eyes roll back, darkness descends, and I allow the pain to engulf me.

Everything is dark.

Pitch dark.

I am everywhere and nowhere at the same time. My body is riddled with pain but also feels lighter than it ever has before.

"I can't leave him." I hear Alana's voice – a whisper that soothes and tantalises me. As it settles into the deep crevices of my body, it turns into something else.

A flicker. A crackling sensation, like embers and ashes warming the inside of my bones.

Slowly, the embers grow hotter. Flames of pain flicker to life and lick the spaces between my ribs. The sensation spreads outward, flowing through my veins, smouldering on the surface of my skin.

When it reaches my wings, I try to move but I can't.

I feel them twitch and simmer, like slivers of tree bark being held over a fire. They curl and crackle.

It is happening.

They are changing.

I am changing.

As Alana holds me, I feel Eldrion's shadows, his magic, flowing into me. It worked. I have what I need from him now. I have what I needed from her.

Her warmth disappears. I hear her turning on Eldrion, I feel her magic flickering in the air around me.

I open my mouth to call for her, but her name turns to a sharp, disarming gasp of air, swelling in my lungs, burning my throat. Something shifts beneath me. The sensation of solid ground slipping away from me is overwhelming. I try to beat my wings, but I can't move them. I try to call her name again, but it does not come.

When my eyes finally flutter open, I realise I am floating. Rising.

I find Alana and watch her stagger back in shock as my body contorts and breaks and reshapes itself. I scream in agony, but as the sound bleeds into the air, it becomes not pain but triumph.

I am being reborn.

I am becoming what I was always meant to be; the creature that has been locked inside me for centuries.

A rush of pure, unadulterated power surges through me. I splay my arms, and my wings. They are black now, and large enough to block out the sun. And I know, hovering above Eldrion's castle, that nothing can touch me now.

I am the most powerful creature in the entire land.

And I will have my vengeance.

I watch as Eldrion tries to summon his precious shadows back to him, but they no longer obey his commands.

They are mine.

"They do not listen to you now, Eldrion," I hiss. "They listen to me."

I barely even need to think about what I want them to do to him; it is like they are me. They are inside my head. My body. My mind. My soul.

They are mine.

And they have Eldrion trapped.

With viperous strength, they coil around the fae lord, trapping him. Pinning him. Binding him with their darkness.

I focus my gaze on Alana. "Thank you," I tell her. "I could not have done this without you." I extend my hand.

She stares at me in dawning horror as she realises the truth. That I used her. That this was my plan.

"I want you beside me when I take the world back to how it was before."

Alana clutches her stomach. She shakes her head, her eyes growing damp with tears. Beside her, Briony is sobbing and trembling.

Weak. They are all so weak.

A sigh racks my chest. I really did think Alana might be better than this. Still, there is time for me to show her the error of her ways.

"Poor sweet girl." I laugh as she vomits on the floor. "I guess this means you won't be joining me after all?"

Alana rips her gaze away from me and blasts my shadows with her magic, begging Eldrion to help her.

He tumbles free, but it's too late.

I rise higher into the air, my wings filling the sky, shadows swirling around me. I breathe them in, let them swell in my lungs and fill the dark void in my ribcage, and then I am gone.

Do they think it's over?

Do they think this is it?

Sad, pathetic creatures.

I finally have the power I need. And I will use it to take everything I deserve.