The one on the right laughed, a tinkling sort of sound. “Back on track—do you hear her?”
The one on the left raised its voice, presumably so it could be heard throughout the room, “Our kingdom has never been more prosperous. Our subjects have never experienced a more pleasant lifestyle than what we are currently providing them. It is only vile creatures like you who seek to bring it down. It is people like you who interrupt our perfect harmony.”
“Perfect harmony? Holy hogwash, Batman.” I laughed and hoisted the fire higher. They weren’t trying to put it out, so I would push the issue. “Who are you trying to fool? You idiots try to kill anything that pushes back while brutalizing common folk. You abuse power, think you’re above the law, go off the handle in response to any perceived threat, justified or not, and cannot find something so simple as a name to a magical person affiliated with a great many creatures right under your nose. You are losing your grip on—”
Magic crushed down onto me, twisting my guts. It felt like a white-hot blade dug into my stomach and tried to rip out my heart. Someone screamed behind me, and I thought it might be Penny. A body hit the floor, then two, and I wondered if it was Callie and Dizzy.
I stood my ground, taking the pain. Owning it. Pushing past it. When bonding Darius, I’d been on the brink of death. I’d nearly bled out, a necessary part of the bonding process. I’d felt what it was like to walk the line, and I’d come out the other side stronger for it. Not easily ruffled. Not apt to panic.
Harnessing my inner fire, wrapping myself in ice, I rose to the challenge. I rose to their magic. I was my father’s daughter. Running through my veins was the blood of the ruler of the Underworld and, with it, the blood of gods. My power equaled theirs, but my might didn’t stem from that. It stemmed from my experiences. My ability to survive. My ruthlessness when threatened and my undying loyalty to my loved ones.
I was the Underworld—I was love and lust, hate and violence. I could forgive, but I could also wield my wrath with no impunity.
In a blinding flash of power, I struck back. The ground rumbled. The windows shook, then exploded outward. Those by the walls quailed, sinking. The magic all around me throbbed, fighting.
Run, Emery thought, and I knew the best I could hope for was to get out from under these elves. They were more experienced, and experience would ultimately decide the victor, but damn it, I wanted to go head to head and come out swinging.
Run! Penny thought.
The spell they unleashed widened my eyes. It filled the room and then some, blistering in its intensity, nearly as powerful as the magic coursing through me and the elf royalty. The natural dual-mages had godly power, and they were showing their might.
The spell slammed into the onlookers before rushing for the thrones. Agonized screams drowned out the crackling of fire. Eyes popped out and bodies twisted. Bones broke, snapping as arms and legs curled in on themselves. Skin continued to melt from the other spell, and now it peeled away in strips, like from an invisible potato peeler.
“Go,” Emery said, grabbing my arm and yanking. “Go!”
I spun and pushed Penny forward before bending to haul Dizzy up to his feet. Emery helped Callie, and we sped for the door. A wall of elves waited for us, trapping us in.
Our magic together, Penny thought.
She’d handle the togetherness part, I knew, so I swelled my ice magic and readied to shove it in front of us. A spell wafted up, latching on to my power and adding it to the might of the natural dual-mages.
“Ignite with your fire,” she yelled back, clearly forgetting she didn’t need to verbalize her thoughts.
I did, starting with a spark and burning hot. That spark turned into an electrical explosion that likely meant Penny was close enough to Charity to borrow her magic too. A concussion of air blew out from Penny, crashing into the wall and flinging it backward. The doors got caught in the push, ripped from their hinges and frame. They banged and tumbled into the room beyond, squishing bodies as they did so.
In the waiting room, power surged and swords swung, four elves to every fae, and more coming into the room from the other side. The elves were attempting to subdue the fae somehow, maybe tie them up, I didn’t know, and I didn’t plan on sticking around to find out. The fae wouldn’t be killed. We would.
“I blame the Seers for this,” I said to absolutely no one, wasting no time, hefting Dizzy into a wedding-night hold and sprinting for the hall. Penny stayed close behind me, a natural runner, and Emery thankfully kept up, carrying Callie.