Chapter 31

Isoared over Aqua Lake, using my magic to guide the wind beneath my flaming wings and push me higher at speed as Lavinia directed her ferocious power my way.

The blast she sent at me made the air crackle with unnatural energy, a heat emanating from it which threatened to burn me if she landed a hit, Phoenix or not.

The attack had happened so quickly that I'd done little more than leap out of bed and race into the fight. I had no idea where anyone was. Darius hadn't been there when I woke, and I'd only seen Washer for around thirty seconds – just long enough to confirm our orders. He and Geraldine had plans in place for this kind of situation, drills that they'd been practicing with the army, and all he'd needed was my confirmation to act on whichever of those plans fit the situation best. Not that anyone could have predicted Lavinia might show up wielding a force beyond measure like this one.

Darcy was circling around behind her, red and blue flames building between her hands and I threw a torrent of freezing cold water at Lavinia to keep her focus on me, the water becoming spears of ice as it closed in on her. In war, all Fae customs of fighting one on one were cast aside – all was fair in battle and bloodshed after all, meaning both me and my sister were able to fight back against the shadow bitch as one.

Lavinia shrieked as she threw more of that unnatural power at me, the shadows shimmering so brightly that I couldn't look at them without hurting my eyes.

I tucked my wings and fell from the sky like a stone, forcing Lavinia to take chase as she fought to throw her newfound power in my direction.

I fell into the lake, the water hissing and bubbling as the flames of my fully shifted form met with it.

Beneath the water, I was little more than a flaming beacon, drawing her gaze right to me.

With a flick of my wrist, I created an illusion of my Phoenix form, forcing it away from me while I shifted back into my Fae form and used my water magic to propel me in the opposite direction at speed through the dark lake.

Lavinia's power struck the illusion, shattering it and hopefully buying Darcy a moment of time.

My eyes widened as I came face to face with Geraldine who stood within one of the underwater rooms in Aqua House, dressed in a shirt which I guessed belonged to Max. Her eyes were wild as she stared out at me and I reached for the glass, using magic to write a single word for her against the thick pane.

War.

Geraldine straightened, nodding firmly and clutching her fist to her heart, letting me know that she would join with Washer and take charge of the rebel army as best she could from here. I returned the gesture, wondering if I'd ever see my dear friend again before turning and propelling myself towards the surface.

I used my magic to breathe as I sped for the sky in my new position behind Lavinia. I hurtled from the depths of the lake and shot into the air just as Darcy's strike enveloped Lavinia in blazing flames.

I almost cried out in victory, but a blast of brilliant white light erupted from the centre of the fireball, shattering the flames and sending a shockwave of power tearing through the sky.

It hit Darcy first, sending her crashing into me and the two of us were launched away across the expanse of the lake where we slammed to the ground in a heap of limbs.

I cursed as I shoved myself to my feet, helping Darcy up beside me.

"What the fuck is that magic?" I growled, the sky lighting overhead as Dante's storm split the clouds apart with countless forks of lightning. For a moment, I could see Dragons, Manticores, Harpies, Pegasuses, and many more flying Orders illuminated within the thick clouds, fighting a battle in the sky.

It was chaos, carnage, our people caught unaware and attacked in their sleep. But we had trained for this, they were rallying as we spoke, the sound of horns blasting from the army encampment on R.U.M.P. Island in the distance. Our warriors were on their way but they needed to get here faster.

A howl drew my attention to the riverbank where a silver Werewolf led her vicious pack into battle, diving between a group of fleeing children and a herd of charging Centaurs.

Rosalie leapt at the leader of the brutal beasts, ignoring the arrow he shot right for her heart and somehow avoiding it before sinking her teeth into his throat. Seth's siblings were fighting with her in their Wolf forms, Hadley Altair shooting between his shifted comrades and driving his blade into the flanks of the Centaurs with precise strikes that sent them crashing to the ground for the pack to descend upon.

Screams filled the air from all around, our army scrambling to react to the sudden attack while Lavinia and her mass of followers swarmed through our shattered wards. It shouldn't have been possible for her to break them the way she had, but nothing of what she was casting tonight should have been possible. We'd thought Darcy's strike at her shadows had diminished her power, but this unfathomable magic changed everything.

"She has to die," Darcy snarled, shoving a lock of blue hair out of her face and spreading her wings as she prepared to launch back into the fight.

I nodded my agreement, and we exchanged a grim look, neither of us acknowledging out loud what we'd already begun to fear, because we had to be able to defeat her. The war couldn't end like this.

"I love you, Tor." Darcy squeezed my fingers between hers briefly.

"Love you more," I replied, gripping her back as I shifted again, my wings returning so we could take to the sky together. Steam hissed from my body as the lake water evaporated under the heat of my flames. "Now let's go kill that bitch."